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PARAGUAY: Donor funding through Salesian Missions provides updated library for Don Bosco School students, community

(MissionNewswire) Thanks to donor funding through Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Don Bosco School in Minga Guazú, Paraguay will have an improved library for students and the entire educational community. The school provides quality education to more than 1,200 students in all levels including nursery school, preschool and first through ninth grades, as well as scientific and technical education.

The school’s library facility, books, furniture and resources are outdated and inadequate for students and teachers. Students will benefit from access to the internet where information is current and more readily accessible. The library also  lacks updated materials for teachers to help them in their lesson planning and education for students. The environment is  less than ideal for students and teachers to come together and focus on research and studying.

The donor funding will provide facilities improvements to the library including comfortable furniture and work spaces for students, as well as computers. Funding will also be provided to update books, resource materials for students and teachers, magazines and other reading materials. This includes new children’s and youth literature, which the library has not had before.

The library will be an essential part of the Don Bosco School. Students will be able to access additional reading and materials to accentuate their classroom education. The space will serve a quiet place for students to study and connect with teachers who can provide them extra help. Once fully updated, the library will be used to its fullest potential as a center for the entire educational community.

“Thanks to generous donor funding, the Don Bosco School will have a better, more fully functioning library that students and teachers can access,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This new library will aid the learning environment at the school as well as give students and teachers the materials they need to be most productive. Salesian education provides a foundational education along with advanced studies so students can acquire the vocational and trade skills needed for later employment.”

Salesian missionaries have been working in Paraguay since establishing a church in Asunción in 1896. Through the years, missionaries have operated educational programs to help advance the skills and knowledge of the indigenous population in the area while promoting strong cooperation with leaders of the indigenous culture. Local Salesian programming supports laws in favor of the indigenous populations, the recovery of original lands, sustainable development, the appreciation of cultural values in each ethnic group and the fostering of internal leadership.

Paraguay is among the poorest countries in South America. According to UNICEF, almost 23 percent of its population of 6.5 million people live in poverty earning less than $1 per day. The gap between the small upper class and the large lower class is extreme and offers virtually no social mobility.

Conditions of poverty drive youth into early labor and a lack of literacy, in addition to a weak educational foundation, compounds the problem. Those in poverty face overcrowding, low quality housing and a lack of access to basic household services. Paraguayans who only graduate from primary school are twice as likely to live in poverty as those who have access to and complete secondary school.

Salesian Missions publishes special projects like this on its websites for interested donors. To view the projects currently in need of funding, visit www.salesianmissions.org/projects.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions

UNICEF – Paraguay Statistics

World Bank – Paraguay

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