INDIA: Ambulance to meet needs of street children
Don Bosco Navajeevan receives donated ambulance for medical and emergency needs of street children
INDIA
(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Navajeevan, located in Hyderabad, India, received a donated ambulance for the medical and emergency needs of street children and orphaned and marginalized children thanks to General Insurance Corporation of India. The donation was made possible in collaboration with BoscoNet and Bosco Seva Kendra.
The ambulance was presented during an online meeting. Devesh Srivastava, chairperson and managing director of General Insurance Corporation, praised the efforts of the Salesian organization in reaching out to the neediest in society. Father Noel Maddhichetty, director of BoscoNet, acknowledged that the initiatives of General Insurance Corporation are helping to create hope for people in need, especially in the rural areas of India during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Father Remalla Thomas, director of Don Bosco Navajeevan, thanked donors for their efforts in offering the much-needed ambulance. Don Bosco Navajeevan offers a range of vocational and technical training programs including electrical, carpentry and welding, tailoring, baking, garment making, and printing press skills. The organization works to ensure that poor youth have an opportunity to gain an education.
In addition to education, Don Bosco Navajeevan provides a youth center that places special emphasis on rescuing and rehabilitating children engaged in child labor. The program also offers shelter to child laborers and street children. Once a child arrives at the center, he or she receives shelter, food and clothing and is then eligible to participate in Salesian programs that focus on education and life skills training. The goal is to help the children break the cycle of poverty and go on to lead productive lives free from abuse and forced labor. Supplementary classes at Don Bosco Navajeevan cater to those who have missed school and have fallen behind academically.
India has the world’s fourth largest economy but more than 22 percent of the country lives in poverty. About 31 percent of the world’s multidimensionally poor children live in India, according to a report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. A multidimensionally poor child is one who lacks at least one-third of 10 indicators, grouped into three dimensions of poverty: health, education and standard of living.
Salesian missionaries living and working in India place special emphasis on rescuing and rehabilitating children engaged in child labor. There are Salesian-run programs throughout the country that have helped hundreds of thousands of vulnerable youth through the years, and this work continues today.
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Sources:
Photo courtesy of Don Bosco India
Don Bosco India – General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) Donates Ambulance for Don Bosco Children
Salesian Missions – India
World Bank – India
