Since the Ebola outbreak started, the World Health Organization has reported more than 14,000 Ebola cases in Sierra Leone and close to 4,000 deaths from the virus. The Salesian-run Don Bosco Fambul in Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown, is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in local communities. Now the organization has turned its attention to helping care for children who have been left orphaned and assisting those whose rights have been violated.

The Salesian Missions report found that 82 percent of Sierra Leone’s children between the ages of 4 and 12 have been victims of violent punishments. More than 70 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 are forced into child labor. Some 10,000 children are working in mines and many others are working in places where they are exploited and made to work for more than 12 hours a day. In addition, child abuse and teenage pregnancy have increased and hundreds of children have been accused of witchcraft and blamed for the deaths of their family members. The report notes that the lack of political commitment, family disintegration, loss of values and overall poverty have led to these child rights violations.

“It is true that many things have been done to improve and protect children, but since the Ebola crisis, Sierra Leone has remained sorely tried and the facilities that care for children are weak,” says Ana Munoz, spokesperson the Salesian Missions Madrid. “Protecting the children and young people of Sierra Leone is the way to build a better country and a better future.”

Don Bosco Fambul has been working for the prevention and detection of child rights violations as well as providing care and social integration for children and youth at-risk. Since 2010, the organization has provided a countrywide phone counseling service. At one time, nearly half the calls focused on teen relationship issues. Since the outbreak of Ebola in 2014, the counseling line has turned into a widely used resource for Ebola prevention and support.

The organization began advertising its free hotline as a preventative defense against Ebola in May 2014 and youth were encouraged to call to access critical information about the virus. Since that time, more than 25,000 calls about Ebola have been answered and fielded. The data gathered as a result of the calls has helped the country’s national registration office identify Ebola hotspots and crisis regions. Through the hotline, Don Bosco Fambul brought hope to the children and adolescents of one of the poorest country in the world during a terrible time of crisis.

Youth living on the streets in Freetown face emotional trauma and are in need of support, basic necessities and education. Providing crisis intervention services, long-term counseling, shelter, nutritious food and an education, Don Bosco Fambul has reached out to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region, many of whom had been abandoned by parents, the government and those who were supposed to protect them.

In addition, Don Bosco Fambul has been running a Girls Shelter for the past two years. Here, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter’s services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment while working to empower them to overcome the discrimination they have faced and gain a greater awareness of their rights. After having suffered tremendous disadvantages and violence in their past, these opportunities for a brighter and more stable future have been welcomed.

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Violations of Children’s Rights have increased since Ebola

Don Bosco Fambul

World Health Organization – Ebola Stats Sierra Leone 

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Migrant populations face many challenges when leaving their home countries in search of safety, work and a better way of life. In 2014, the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR) noted that more than 3,500 African migrants died in the sea on their journey to Europe. In response, the Salesian Youth and Development organization in Madrid, Spain has launched an awareness campaign called #StopNaufragios (Stop Shipwrecks) denouncing the inhumanity of these trips by migrants to Europe. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the cooperation among Southern countries that are working to eliminate the extreme poverty that forces people to flee their homelands.

“The human capital of a continent cannot be allowed to disappear, drowned in the waters of the Mediterranean, while Europe looks the other way,” says Manuel De Castro, president of the Salesian Youth and Development organization. “It is not just a problem of safety at sea nor of the mafia who engage in trafficking and get rich on the suffering of others. This a problem that will be solved only when, through the development of these impoverished countries, their inhabitants can reach a sufficiently dignified life and will no longer need to leave their country.”

The campaign will include various activities to raise awareness and financial support for educational projects facilitated by Salesian missionaries in countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali, Togo, Ghana, Niger, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Sierra Leone and others. Salesian missionaries will focus on bringing training and awareness to the most disadvantaged youth, informing them of the dangers of travel while providing alternatives that include educational programs to improve future opportunities.

One of the dangers facing migrants as well as other youth in impoverished countries is child trafficking. At the end of May in Valencia, Spain, Salesian missionaries from the Salesian Missions Office in Madrid participated in a round table conference on child trafficking in Africa organized by Global Networking for Rights and Development, an international non-governmental organization established in June 2008 with the aim to enhance and support both human rights and development by adopting new strategies and policies for real change.

In addition to Salesian missionaries, the conference included Joseph Chalengi, president of the African Economic, Social and Cultural Union, Mohamed Lemine Haless, president of Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, a non-governmental organization in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in Northern Africa and Professor Ximo Revert of the University of Valencia.

After the group screened, No estoy en venta (I am not for sale), a documentary created by the Salesian Missions office in Madrid which focuses on the experiences of victims of child trafficking in Africa, Ana Munoz, spokesperson of the Salesian Missions office, noted that child trafficking is the slavery of the new century and spoke about the work being done by Salesian missionaries to combat the issue.

“We at the Salesian Mission Office in Madrid cannot stop the traffickers and put them in jail, but we can accommodate and help children and families, and we can inform the public about the phenomenon and work with governments and the security forces to eradicate this scourge,” added Muñoz.

The conference attendees focused their work on addressing the  problems at the root of child trafficking, strategizing new ways to work with countries in Africa to spread awareness of the issue and provide better access to education while working to strengthen educational systems and help families out of poverty.

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Sources:

Photo: Massimo Sestini / The Italian Coastguard (courtesy of the United Nations)

ANS – Spain- Child Trafficking, a Scourge for the Present and the Future of Africa

ANS – Spain – Salesian Youth NGO launches #StopNaufragios campaign

The post SPAIN: Salesian Missionaries Develop Awareness Campaign to Prevent Migrant Deaths at Sea, Child Trafficking first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Youth who are robbed of their freedom are often aware of their rights being systematically violated but lack the resources and support to challenge and change their circumstances. While sending a minor to prison or a rehabilitation center should be the last resort, in many places it is common practice. For example, in Kenya, more than 1,800 children are detained because they are homeless and live on the streets. In addition, close to 500 are being held because they are not under the control of parents and another 600 for begging.

To bring awareness to these issues, Salesian Missions in Madrid has launched the Youth IN-Justice campaign to highlight growing concerns surrounding the juvenile justice system and the needs of incarcerated youth.

“There are alternatives to a child or a youngster entering a prison or a reformatory center,” says Ana Muñoz, spokesperson for Salesian Missions Madrid. “The great challenge is to understand that in order to end these practices, we must provide supports like education and social development programs to help youth break the cycle of poverty and incarceration.”

Salesian missionaries have a long history of working with poor youth and those who have been incarcerated. Programs focus on rehabilitation as well as education and skills training so youth are able to provide for themselves once released. At the Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, Don Bosco Fambul, one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, provides a range of services to help incarcerated youth. Prison life in Sierra Leone offers very little hope for rehabilitation or reintegration back into society once a prison term has ended. According to humanitarian watch groups, prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding and inadequate food as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates die from overcrowding, illness and violence.

All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. The population of Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but had over 1,300 inmates at the time of the report with the number continuing to grow.

“My life in the prison of Pademba Road was a continuous torture,” says Johnny, a former prisoner who was 14 years old at the time of his incarceration and whose only crime was being homeless and sleeping on the streets. “I was in a cell with adults who were criminals. All I would get to eat was a plate of rice and a cup of black tea without sugar. The other prisoners would take away my sandwich at breakfast and other things from my plate of rice. They would not allow me to sleep at night as I had to fan for the elder ones. In the morning, it was my turn to clean the can that we used as a toilet. But the worst thing was the sexual abuses which I was a victim of for two years. I complained against them but no one listened.”

In addition to providing legal support and working to gain early release for incarcerated youth like Johnny, Don Bosco Fambul provides education and counseling services for youth inside the prison. Through the establishment of a long-term partnership between the prison and Don Bosco Fambul, a new youth counseling center for prisoners will be staffed with two social workers and three assistants for four hours each day. The goal of the center is to give youth and their families the necessary tools for rehabilitation and reintegration upon release.

Don Bosco Fambul is also providing food and water to more than 70 inmates of Pademba Road Prison each day while offering counseling services, medical assistance and stress therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms have ended.

“Incarcerated youth must see hope for the future if we expect to deter them from crime and other dangerous behavior,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “A goal of Salesian missionaries is to do everything possible to keep youth out of detention centers. For those already incarcerated, Salesian programs help them to use their time in prison constructively and, through counseling, begin to address what brought them there in order to prevent their return.”

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Sources:

ANS – Spain – One million children in the world are deprived of their liberty

UN – Facts on Juvenile Justice

(Stock photo)

The post SPAIN: Campaign Launched to Highlight Struggles of Youth Unfairly Kept in Juvenile Justice Centers first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesian film, directed by Raúl de la Fuente, is a part of the “I’m not a witch” campaign launched in 2014 by Salesian Missions Madrid to address the ongoing child abuse and violence faced by children in Togo and other areas of Africa and Asia as a result of poverty and tribal traditions. The campaign works with families, communities, governments and the international community to raise awareness while highlighting the root causes and conditions that lead to accusations of witchcraft and the resulting violations of children’s basic rights.

“Yo no soy bruja” tells the story of several children accused of witchcraft and highlights the work of Salesian missionaries who care for them in many of their programs. One child’s story featured in the film is that of Georgette, a girl in Togo who was accused of witchcraft by her stepmother. Georgette’s hands were badly burned and scarred for life after her stepmother submerged them in boiling water, purportedly to determine if she was a witch. Today, Georgette lives at the Don Bosco Center in the city of Kara in northern Togo.

“The people who do this must not remain unpunished,” says Ana Muñoz, spokesperson for Salesian Missions Madrid. “Thousands of boys and girls like Georgette are maltreated and even killed in Africa through practices like this. Children that are a bit more lively or smarter than others or children with disabilities or illness are sometimes accused of witchcraft.”

At the Don Bosco Center in Kara, Togo, Father José Luis de la Fuente, along with other Salesian missionaries, counter the deeply rooted cultural beliefs that routinely demonize children and blame them for illnesses, deaths and other misfortunes that are more accurately the outcome of overwhelming poverty. The Don Bosco Center offers a loving home where youth can recover from their physical and emotional wounds. In addition, the Center provides opportunities to break the cycle of poverty though through education and training.

More than 80 percent of Togo’s rural population lives in conditions of poverty making the country one of the world’s poorest, according to UNICEF. Children in the country suffer the most with close to 50 percent of those living in poverty under the age of 18. One in eight children will not reach their fifth birthday, and the number of children who drop out of school because their parents cannot afford to educate them is high. Children are also forced to work in exploitative and dangerous conditions in order to help support their families.

Salesian programs in Togo provide youth a place to live, nutritious meals and counseling along with education and job skills training. The goal is to help youth develop a sense of hope for their future and learn the skills necessary to lead independent, productive lives.

Sources:

ANS – Spain – The short film “Yo no soy bruja” finalist in the Espiello Awards

ANS – Spain – The Salesian Mission Office in Madrid launches the “Yo No Soy Bruja” campaign

Salesian Missions – Mission in Focus: Help Rescue Them from Blame

UNICEF – Togo

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