Home to a wealth of history, stunning architecture and Machu Picchu (one of the Seven Wonders of the World), Cusco and the surrounding area is a popular tourist destination. Close to 1.3 million people reside there locally with almost 25 percent of its population under the age of 15. Salesian missionaries are very active in the region through schools, missions, shelters, a nursing home and oratories. The newly established oratory will allow the missionaries to meet the needs of more youth and families in need.

“Salesian missionaries working in Peru have provided life-saving support and education to poor youth and their families through the years,” says Father Julio Acurio Yupanqui, Salesian youth director at the new oratory. “Salesian programs in the country focus on education and workforce development, helping to ensure that young Peruvians have access to the education and technical skills training that will enable them to find and retain long-term stable employment.”

This region of Peru is also home to a successful Salesian agriculture program. Although the area is difficult to access, coffee, cocoa and coca are cultivated in the Yanatile valley and the nearby basin of the river Lacco. The Salesian mission in Quebrada Honda is made up of the parish of Mary Help of Christians and the Experimental School for Agriculture and Livestock which educates more than 160 students, nearly half of whom board at the school.

The goal of the school is to provide young farmers with a basic education as well as advanced studies in the latest agricultural practices and modern technologies while moving towards efficiency in farming by exploring and testing new techniques in agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and animal husbandry. The school provides both classroom education and hands-on agriculture and livestock training on a working farm on the school campus. Salesian missionaries at the school hope the agriculture degree program will entice more local youth to choose agriculture as their long-term livelihood.

Peru faces high levels of income inequality and has more than a quarter of its population living in poverty, according to the World Bank. Poverty levels are significantly higher in rural areas but urban areas struggle most with inequality, most notably metropolitan Lima. Poverty in the country is made worse by a shortage of productive farmland and a lack of job skills among women entering the workforce as well as a lack of adequate housing, nutrition and education.

Peru has also been plagued by hunger and disaster. According to the World Bank, close to 25 percent of children in the country are chronically malnourished. Communities continue to rebuild after an 8.0 earthquake in August 2007 which killed more than 500 people in the central coastal cities of Chincha, Pisco and Ica and injured hundreds more. The earthquake destroyed close to 60,000 residential and commercial buildings, leveled hundreds of acres of farmland and left countless Peruvians without means of livelihood.

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Sources:

ANS – Peru – The Salesian Oratory of Cusco opens its doors to bring love to children and teenagers

World Bank – Peru

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World Food Day brings attention to the plight of the world’s hungry and undernourished and provides an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the complex solutions. This year’s theme is investing in agriculture for food security.

According to the UN report The State of Food Insecurity in the World, agricultural growth is particularly effective in reducing hunger and malnutrition. Most of the extreme poor depend on agriculture and related activities for a significant part of their livelihoods. Agricultural growth involving smallholders, especially women, will be most effective in reducing extreme poverty and hunger when it increases returns to labor and generates employment for the poor.

This World Food Day, Salesian Missions highlights Salesian agricultural programs, which include more than 90 agricultural schools around the globe.

BOLIVIA:

In Bolivia, training in agriculture practices inspires transformation of communities. At the Muriyana Agricultural School, more than 600 high school students and 100 advanced students are receiving training while learning to integrate their work into the local community. An estimated 20,000 people in the communities benefit directly from this program as a result of the school’s extension and community outreach programs.

ARGENTINA

In Argentina, the Salesian-run Pascual Gentilini Agricultural School celebrated its 85 year history teaching agricultural skills to poor youth. Today, the Agricultural School’s curriculum also includes lessons in community service, vegetable gardening, cooking, maintenance, music, annual crops, cultivation of tea, fruit farming, zootechnics, bee-keeping, cattle-raising, leadership training and social work. Agricultural technical training encompasses one to six years of study and the youth at the school are enthusiastic students, eager to learn modern methods of farming together with business management.

CAMBODIA

Two new agricultural schools were announced in 2009.

ECUADOR:

In Ecuador, through a microfinance credit program from Salesian Missions, indigenous and rural populations have access to funds for agricultural and microbusiness activities. Currently, 12,000 people are taking advantage of this opportunity in 85 different communities.

HAITI:

In Haiti, the Salesian Agricultural School in Cap-Haitien provides sought-after agricultural skills to more than 140 students who will contribute to the rebuilding of Haiti. Salesians are also working to develop programs that aid community development and contribute to the advancing of opportunities for the poor and underserved. Recently, Salesians proposed a project which included enhancing food security by improving agricultural production and productivity in agriculture schools in Fort Liberté, as well as Cap Haitien and Gressier.

RWANDA:

In Rwanda, food insecurity is a major issue, according to the World Food Program. At least 22 percent of households (2.2 million people) are food-insecure, and another 24 percent are highly vulnerable to food insecurity. Today, Salesian Missions includes agriculture in its vocational training programs – to ensure that youth of Rwanda learn better agricultural practices as well as keep the school self-sustaining in the face of the country’s food shortages.

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“We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with Brazil and take advantage of our countries’ relative expertise in agriculture,” said Mark Feierstein, Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at USAID. “By combining efforts, our countries can help others improve nutrition for rural communities and increase incomes for poor farmers.”

In Haiti, the partnership will primarily focus on sharing new technologies and implementing exchange programs and training opportunities. The three governments will: 1) test new varieties of maize, rice, beans, cowpeas and other crops; 2) implement new farming systems that use less water, fertilizer, and seeds; 3) improve mango production; 4) adopt technologies to store and process grains and vegetables; 5) enable farmers to use their land to sustainably produce both food and wood; 6) conduct exchange and training programs for farmers and researchers; and 7) promote nutrition, specifically for mothers and children.

“This partnership leverages the expertise of Brazilians and Americans to make a difference in food security in the region and directly help Haitians,” noted Paul Weisenfeld, Assistant to the Administrator for the Bureau of Food Security at USAID.

The partnership builds upon the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative to help nearly 567,000 vulnerable Haitian women, children, and family members escape hunger and poverty and to provide 176,000 children with services to improve their nutrition and prevent stunting and child mortality.

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See related article about the Salesian program: Opportunity Grows at Agriculture School in Haiti

See ProgressInHaiti.org for more stories of progress in Haiti.

The post HAITI (USAID): U.S., Brazil Partner to Improve Food Security in the Americas first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The report, which was presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council, found that “Agroecological” (or “eco-farming”) projects have led to an average crop yield increase of 80 percent in 57 developing countries. The average increase in Africa is even higher at 116 percent. Ecological agriculture focuses on organic and sustainable practices rather than the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

According to the U.N., as world food prices continue to climb, feeding the world’s population will become increasingly difficult. It estimates that the world, now populated by 6.7 billion people, will expand to 9 billion by 2050.

“We urgently need to adopt the most efficient farming techniques available,” says Olivier De Schutter, U.N. special rappoteur on the right to food and the author of the report. He adds, “Today’s scientific evidence demonstrates that agroecological methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting food production where the hungry live – especially in unfavorable environments.”

The report notes several examples of agroecological projects including one in West Africa. There, stone barriers built alongside fields have slowed down runoff water during the rainy season, allowing an improvement of soil moisture, the replenishment of water tables and reductions in soil erosion.

“Sustainable agriculture practices have the power to transform communities and countries,” says Jaime Correa-Montalvo, director of the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “This report shows the importance of ensuring small farmers are given the support they need through hands-on training on farming systems that promote the adoption of environmentally safe appropriate technologies that are affordable and culturally acceptable.”

Salesian Missions currently operates more than 90 agricultural schools in developing countries around the world.

“Agriculture schools in Ecuador train their students on farming methods with the goal of increasing crop yields,” says Correa-Montalvo, adding that the Paute-Uzhupud and Cayambe Salesian Schools in Ecuador and the Muyurina Agricultural School in the city of Montero in Santa Cruz, Bolivia serve 562; 1,128; and 800 students, respectively.

Correa-Montalvo concludes, “As the spotlight on food and farming techniques grow, we will continue to focus on the sustainable and ecological methods that best serve each individual community.”

Related articles: Opportunity Grows at Agriculture School in Haiti

Sources:

Eco-Farming can double food production in 10 Years, says new UN report

UN expert makes case for ecological farming practices to boost food production

The post UN Report Highlights Importance of Eco-Farming to Feed World’s Hungry first appeared on MissionNewswire.

An innovative vocational education program targets refugee youth for job skills training to enhance their livelihoods and achieve self-sustainability. The Salesian Missions program, “New Beginnings,” is financed by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

“Refugee youth are some of the world’s most vulnerable youth,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions. “They often have survived incredible violence, struggled to find food and shelter in the refugee camps, and then find that there is little opportunity for education.  We are working to change that.”

This month, the “New Beginnings” program begins in Kenya, focusing on youth at the Kakuma Refugee Camp. Kenya is home to 340,000 refugees, and hosts the largest refugee population in eastern Africa. Kakuma Refugee Camp currently houses approximately 70,000 refugees from Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and several other countries in East Africa. Refugees continue to arrive without a sustainable income. The program will target 900 youth ages 15-30 with an emphasis on those who are the primary wage earners for their families. A particular goal is to recruit women, and empower them with the skills and confidence to enter the workforce.

“It is critical that students receive training where there is a demand for workers,” explains Fr. Hyde. He adds that training will include three month and 12-month certificate programs which will be offered in market-driven courses such as carpentry, computers, dress-making, electrical installation, auto mechanics and agriculture. English will be taught, as well as classes in gender-based violence awareness and prevention.

The program will assist students interested in starting small businesses or cooperatives after completing their courses. It will include support for business management questions, additional training if needed to keep up with the market, and assistance in the job placement process.

“We’ll provide micro-grants, or capital such as tools or equipment, to students who develop effective business plans,” says Fr. Hyde. “We believe that once a student, always a student.”

Salesian Missions’ first U.S. Department of State funded “New Beginnings” program was launched in 2005 in Colombia, with a focus on providing vocational training, job placement, and healthcare assistance to persons displaced by the country’s ongoing civil conflict. Last year an additional New Beginnings project commenced in Tamil Nadu, India, providing vocational skills, human development, and job placement assistance to Sri Lankan refugees. In both India and Colombia, students received and continue to receive training in skill areas ranging from video production to carpentry to wind turbine repair and maintenance.

Salesians around the world operate an extensive network of schools: more than 1,316 elementary; 1,400 intermediary and secondary; 32 colleges and universities; 300 industrial skills trade/vocational; 90 agricultural; 860 nurseries; 220 clinics and hospitals; and 1,670 social assistance centers and programs for orphans and street children.

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Photo: Matija Kovac/Wikimedia Commons

Sources: International Labour Organization , UN International Year of the Youth

The post KENYA: Refugee Youth Find “New Beginnings” with Job Training first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesian Missions has been providing agricultural education in Muyurina for over fifty years, according to Matt Welsh, program officer with Salesian Missions. Although the school’s academic and technical programs had grown in size, scope and diversity, many of the original structures that were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s were in desperate need of repair.

When Salesian Missions approached USAID’s American Schools and Hospitals Abroad Program regarding the possibility of assisting with this project in 2006, Muyurina had grown by leaps and bounds since its early days of operation. Today,it is a school of nearly 800 students, offering a range of degree programs, including a post-secondary program that is recognized by the Catholic University of Bolivia.

The new Multi-Use Center provides meeting space for the school and is available for a fee for local clubs and community groups to hold events and retreats in the space.  The fee is used as infrastructure support and to subsidize tuition for students.

In addition, this project provided much needed renovation to the school’s electric and water systems and the purchase of agricultural equipment helps to provide a better educational experience for the youth in attendance.

“The agricultural school offers more than just agricultural training,” said Welsh. “This is part of a larger program that also offers traditional secondary education and other vocational training, in addition to feeding programs for area children.”

“Many of the children attending the school come from an agricultural background but often their families have never received formal agricultural education and training,” said Welsh.

“The academic preparation provided enables youth to implement farming methods that are more efficient, which increases crop yields and delivers a food supply more readily accessible to their families and communities.”

Salesian Missions currently operates more than 90 agricultural schools around the world and has been providing educational, vocational and health programs for youth in Bolivia for more than 100 years.

Salesian Missions provides not only educational opportunities in more than 130 countries around the globe, they address core needs.

“The core of our mission is to provide educational opportunities to the poorest of the poor. When the youth receive training, they stay and contribute to the local economy and the needs of their communities,” said Welsh. “This delivers benefits for years after they leave our institute.”

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“Investing in agriculture in developing countries is key as a healthy agricultural sector is essential not only to overcome hunger and poverty, but also to ensure overall economic growth and peace and stability in the world,” said Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Program, in an Oct. 14 United Nations press release announcing the economic crisis has lead to a sharp increase in hunger, affecting the world’s poorest.

Salesian Missions currently operates more than 90 agricultural schools around the world. The plans for the two new schools in Cambodia – one in Poipet and the other in Battambang – should be in place early next year, according to Matt Welsh, program officer with Salesian Missions. When the schools actually open is largely based on when the necessary funds will be raised, he added. (Those interested in finding out how they can help should go to FindYourMission.org.)

“We are in the process of developing model farms at these two sites, where villagers will be provided relevant training in modern farming methods with the goal of increasing crop yields,” said Welsh who oversees specific Salesian Missions programs in Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia.

Like their counterparts in other countries, the agricultural schools will serve youth ages 15 to 20.

“These are young people from marginalized, disadvantaged families, who do not have the resources to send their kids to school otherwise,” said Welsh, who added that the schools are estimated to serve more than 100 students at a time.

“Salesian Missions has provided schools like these all over the developing world,” said Welsh. “Not only can they provide skills training, but also food for students and their families.”

Salesian Missions provides not only educational opportunities in more than 130 countries around the globe, they address core needs. The agricultural schools offer more than just agricultural training – they are often part of a larger program that also offers literacy education and other vocational training, in addition to feeding programs for hungry children.

“The core of our mission is to provide educational opportunities to the poorest of the poor. When the youth receive training, they stay and contribute to the local economy and the needs of their communities,” said Welsh. “This delivers benefits for years after they leave our institute.”

Salesians have been operating vocational training programs around the world for nearly 150 years and were invited by the Cambodian government in 1991 to establish a vocational training institute in Phnom Penh.

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