Youth learn skills, build relationships with their peers and engage with supportive adults 

(MissionNewswire) The Mary Help of Christians Parish in Comayagüela, Honduras, facilitates a Salesian youth volunteer program, which provides youth an opportunity to be engaged in acts of service. This year the volunteer program camp had the theme of the Rector Major’s Strenna 2022 “Do all through love, nothing through constraint.” The 70 participating volunteers delved into its meaning and used it as a guide for volunteer initiatives.

Father Ángel Prado, provincial of Central America, gave a video message to the participants. In it he said, “Dear young people, I would like to congratulate you on your willingness to do good and to give all your energy, time and affection to the good of the Church. But remember that you have to do it out of love because you love the Church and the young people you are addressing.”

Volunteering provides youth an opportunity to give back to people in need within their community. Through service, youth learn skills, build relationships with their peers, engage with supportive adults and build confidence through the activities.

In another project to help youth build skills, Mary Help of Christians Parish collaborated with World Vision and the Mexico Fund – Youth Building the Future in Honduras to launch the NINIS project. The project offered youth, ages 19-29 who do not study or work, the opportunity to acquire technical skills and financial support.

“Providing youth in Honduras with technical training is the first step in helping them achieve self-sufficiency,” 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 second largest country in Central America, Honduras is one of the poorest and most crime-ridden countries in the Western Hemisphere with 60 percent of its population living in poverty, according to the World Bank. Rough geographic terrain in the country has limited the development of transportation, keeping much of the rural population isolated. Poverty and food scarcity are severe in rural areas and one out of every four Hondurans struggles with chronic malnutrition. In addition, one out of every five Hondurans lacks access to adequate health care.

Salesian missionaries have been working in Honduras for more than 100 years operating schools, youth centers, and medical clinics to help support and educate poor youth and their families. In addition, thanks to an ongoing partnership between Salesian Missions and Rise Against Hunger, an international relief organization that provides food and life‐saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable, thousands of people in need are receiving crucial medical aid and nutritious food through Salesian programs in Honduras.

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Sources:

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

ANS – Honduras – Volunteering for love of the Church and young people

HONDURAS: Unemployed youth benefit from skills training

Salesian Missions – Honduras

World Bank – Honduras