(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Tech in Jakarta, Indonesia, has received an award from Amazon Web Services for making an exceptional contribution to the improvement of the lives of youth and young women who are otherwise not working or receiving training. Don Bosco Tech has trained thousands of students, transforming their lives and empowering marginalized communities.

A Salesian noted, “For over a decade, Accenture Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a trusted partner of Don Bosco Tech, has played a fundamental role in supporting this initiative, financing and enabling the annual training of more than 7,000 youth in the service sector and technical industries. This collaboration allows for positive and lasting change within the poorest communities.”

Salesian missionaries are considered the largest private provider of vocational and technical training in the world. Around the globe, there are nearly 1,000 Salesian vocational, technical, professional and agricultural schools — giving youth the skills for stable employment.

According to the World Bank, Indonesia’s poverty rate is 9.03% in 2024, the lowest in a decade. This is a decrease from 9.36% in March 2023. The number of poor people in Indonesia also decreased by 0.68 million people, bringing the total number of poor people to 25.22 million.

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ANS – Indonesia – Don Bosco Tech receives an award from Amazon Web Services for helping young people and women without work

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Indonesia

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(MissionNewswire) A new Salesian residence for students is currently under construction in Purwodadi, Java, Indonesia, where Salesians operate a middle school called the SMP Bhakti Mulia. Currently, 31 students live in a makeshift boarding house using old classrooms in the school as their accommodations. The new boarding house is designed to accommodate up to 60 youth.

An opening ceremony to kick off the construction took place on Sept. 24. It began with the blessing presided over by Father Vincentius Prastowo, superior of the Salesian Vice-Province of Indonesia, who laid the first stone together with Father Hendrikus Tolok, rector and principal.

A Salesian explained, “All of the students, teachers and school staff participated with great enthusiasm. With the help of numerous friends of Don Bosco, Father Yohanes Boedirahardjo Soerjonoto, the economer, mobilized local resources for the new building through various activities. We are excited about the new residence and having a more comfortable living environment for our students.”

The project was also financially supported by the Rector Major’s Solidarity Fund, which supported the purchase of the land, and with support from a foundation in memory of Fr. John Lee through the Salesian Mission Office in South Korea, which will support the construction of the buildings.

According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed 2.76 million more Indonesians into poverty, bringing the country’s poverty rate to the highest level since March 2017. Due to job loss and business closure, there are 27.5 million people living below the poverty line as of September 2020. This is up significantly from 24.8 million a year earlier.

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ANS – Indonesia – Opening ceremony for a new Salesian residence and college in Purwodadi

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Indonesia

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(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries in Tigaraksa, located in Tangerang Regency, Indonesia, operate a training center called Balai Latihan Kerja for poor youth in the region. The center is unique because about 93.7% of the 150 current students are Muslim and 95% of the teaching staff are Muslim.

A Salesian missionary explained, “The students came to know Don Bosco through the presence of Salesians, and they even called themselves the Bosconian Youth. It is certainly a unique thing to see Muslim youth wearing a headscarf and claiming themselves to be Bosconian youth. For them, Don Bosco is a great man and a good person who is loyal to helping the small, weak, poor, marginalized, and disabled young people in the world. Don Bosco’s presence among Muslims in this area has changed the paradigm of local youth to see universal human values. We are all different in ethnicity, race and religion, but because we are humans, love is everything. The human person is very valuable because it is a creation that deserves attention.”

Hundreds of students and alumni recently attended events for Don Bosco’s Day, which is celebrated the first week of February every year. Father Advent, the director of the center, noted that the theme of the day was in line Rector Major’s Strenna “The dream that makes you dream.” Don Bosco’s Day event was filled with modern and traditional dance, drama, games, and live music.

Father Andang, rector of the Salesian Don Bosco Community of Tigaraksa, invited students and alumni to dream together to achieve a better future. He reminded them that Don Bosco’s first dream at the age of 9 had opened a wide path for him to become the father, teacher and friend of youth throughout his life.

According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed 2.76 million more Indonesians into poverty, bringing the country’s poverty rate to the highest level since March 2017. Due to job loss and business closure, there are 27.5 million people living below the poverty line as of September 2020. This is up significantly from 24.8 million a year earlier.

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ANS – Indonesia – Muslim students dreaming with Don Bosco

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Indonesia

The post INDONESIA: Christian and Muslim students come together first appeared on MissionNewswire.

(MissionNewswire) Sacred Heart of Jesus Post-Novitiate Salesian community in Sunter, North Jakarta, Indonesia, has been taking steps to increase environmentally friendly practices. Salesians are composting leftover vegetables and fruit from the kitchen and no longer throwing garbage outside of their community. Everything is being utilized on the grounds and much of it has become fertilizer. New plastic drums are being used to process other waste.

Salesians are also collecting used beverage bottles to recycle, which keeps them from going into the ocean. In addition, the money earned from recycling turns into social funds for the community.

To get started, Salesians developed an agreement with Angga Rizyan, coordinator for Plastic Bank Indonesia, a private organization that collects and recycles plastics. Plastic waste, especially plastic bottles, is difficult to decompose. The bottles need to be collected and processed properly.

Now, Salesians and people in the nearby community regularly collect plastic bottles. After growth in the number of plastic bottles collected, a storage facility was built. Two Salesians were assigned to work with the bottles in the storage facility. They remove the caps from the bottles, separate the plastic wrapping and flatten the bottles so that they fit in sacks. If there are a lot of bottles, the whole community works together.

Plastic bottles have been delivered to the Plastic Bank’s team twice. The first collection garnered 216 kilograms (about 476 pounds) of plastic bottles. The second included 385 kilograms (about 849 pounds) of both plastic bottles and water cans.

Brother Bernardinus Mei said, “The most positive thing has been reducing plastic bottles being wasted or scattered everywhere. There is an awareness now to collect plastic bottles, thereby reducing waste. People who routinely collect plastic bottles also participate in protecting their yard and the environment. If everyone has the same awareness, then gradually we will all be able to provide environmental protection to our surroundings and prevent plastic pollution in the oceans. The bottles are also collected and processed for new materials.”

According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed 2.76 million more Indonesians into poverty, bringing the country’s poverty rate to the highest level since March 2017. Due to job loss and business closure, there are 27.5 million people living below the poverty line as of September 2020. This is up significantly from 24.8 million a year earlier.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Indonesia – Turning Plastic Bottle Wastes into a Blessing

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Indonesia

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(MissionNewswire) Bosco Eco Enzyme, an initiative of Salesians in Jakarta, Indonesia, has been calling on community members to ferment organic kitchen waste to improve air and water quality. Liquid from the fermentation of organic waste mixed with molasses or various sugars can also be used as a natural household cleanser or for wound treatment. The process of fermenting the organic waste into the useful enzymes takes about three months.

Salesian missionaries are working to improve the water quality of an 11-hectare lake located on the parish grounds by pouring the liquid, known as Eco Enzyme, into the water. Every week, Salesians with the parish collaborate with several “Eco Enzyme communities” and the local government to pour 66 gallons (250 liters) of Eco Enzyme into the lake. They continue to examine the water for improvements as the project continues.

“This sure is a big project and commitment. But we hope that by pouring our heart and works into this joint project, which serves as a concrete manifestation of ecological conversion, it will bring blessings to the earth and to us—humans who inhabit it,” said Father André Delimarta, a Salesian from Indonesia.

The initial Bosco Eco Enzyme project was launched two years ago when Salesian missionaries encouraged community members to begin fermenting waste. They conducted webinars and lectures about making Eco Enzyme and its benefits. Over the course of the project, the community has used Eco Enzyme to purify water and air in places affected by natural disasters such as the 2021 earthquake in Samarinda.

Everyone has been invited to take part in this project. The community has not only become a driving force in helping to improve local water and air but also a place of welcoming non-Catholics and helping them feel connected to a project for the common good.

According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed 2.76 million more Indonesians into poverty, bringing the country’s poverty rate to the highest level since March 2017. Due to job loss and business closure, there are 27.5 million people living below the poverty line as of September 2020. This is up significantly from 24.8 million a year earlier.

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ANS – Indonesia – Eco-enzyme to improve the river water

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Indonesia

The post INDONESIA: Community works to improve water quality first appeared on MissionNewswire.

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries have been working in Sumba, a predominantly Christian island in Indonesia, for the last 20 years. The community, led by Father Adie Prinanto Laurensius, has the aspirantate, the pre-novitiate, a vocational training center and a secondary technical school that offers opportunities for internships. There is also Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the first organized center of Past Pupils of Don Bosco in the country.

Recently, Salesian missionaries have been focused on the technical school. The first stone for a new building was laid during a ceremony in July. The new building will accommodate 216 students, increasing from the current 140 students. Added space will also allow for adequate equipment and improve the quality of education offered.

This project was conceived five years ago and was carried out thanks to the commitment of the Salesian Vice Province St. Luigi Versiglia of Indonesia together with Don Bosco Mondo and the German government. The new building will take roughly 10 months to complete.

The Salesians are regarded as the single largest provider of vocational and technical training in the world. They offer more than 1,000 vocational, technical, professional and agricultural schools around the globe. This training provides youth the practical skills to prepare for employment and helps them lead productive lives while becoming contributing adults in their communities. These programs go beyond educating. They also assist youth with making connections within industries and preparing them for the process of searching, finding and retaining employment.

“We know that access to education lays the foundation for a better future for all youth and that work must continue even as we face a global health crisis,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco “In many countries around the globe where poverty is high and access to education is not universal, it is crucial that Salesian missionaries continue to offer technical and vocational training to as many youth as possible to ensure that they have access to long-term stable employment. The expansion of the technical school will ensure that many more youth have access to the education they need.”

According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed 2.76 million more Indonesians into poverty, bringing the country’s poverty rate to the highest level since March 2017. Due to job loss and business closure, there are 27.5 million people living below the poverty line as of September 2020. This is up significantly from 24.8 million a year earlier.

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ANS – Indonesia – New opportunities for Vocational Training and ecological activities in Sumba, where Salesian charism increasingly takes root

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Indonesia

The post INDONESIA: Technical school expands to meet student needs first appeared on MissionNewswire.