Salesian Missions is the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, which is widely considered the largest private provider of vocational and technical training in the world. Programs focus on helping vulnerable youth in some of the poorest places on the planet by providing access to educational opportunities that match the local workforce development needs. This work directly impacts that areas of need identified by Secretary U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“I believe employment and decent work, particularly for young people, are the backbone of development. Yet we are facing a great test of our time—an epidemic of youth unemployment. In countries rich and poor, unemployment rates for young people are many times those of adults—and, of course, joblessness is the tip of the iceberg.”

In remarks to the UN International Labor Organizations in Geneva, UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon urged governments as well as trade unions, employers’ organizations and the private sector at large to invest more in youth employment initiatives and engage with youth-led organizations. He also called for organizations to empower youth to obtain the skills necessary for employment and stressed the need for more gender equality in the workforce.

Working in more than 130 countries around the globe, Salesian missionaries focus on education and workforce development at more than 850 Salesian-run vocational, technical, professional and agricultural schools and programs. Youth are given the practical skills to prepare for meaningful employment while learning how to lead productive lives and become contributing adults in their communities.

In response to the UN Secretary General’s call-to-action, Salesian Missions has highlighted some of its programs dedicated to youth workforce development.

EL SALVADOR 

Salesian-run Don Bosco University in San Salvador, El Salvador, made significant strides in its aircraft maintenance program. For the first time in the company’s history, FedEx donated a Boeing 727 aircraft to the university last July. The donated plane is providing hands-on training tool for hundreds of aviation students at Don Bosco University. Students will have the opportunity to take skills learned in the classroom and apply them while learning about the mechanical aspects of large aircraft. Don Bosco University has also has entered into a cooperative agreement with Broward College in Davie, Florida that will further the aviation program at the university.

INDIA

Located in eastern India, the Don Bosco Self Employment Research Institute in West Bengal is helping poor youth break the cycle of poverty by educating and rehabilitating school dropouts and providing them with access to livable wage employment and self-employment opportunities.

The Institute offers several vocational training programs including electrical house wiring, fabrication and welding, garment making, refrigeration and air conditioning, construction and information and communication technology. These programs are offered to both new students and those who have been working in their trades for years but have never received a formal education. Many are in need of updated training and additional certification in order to receive promotions or advance their own businesses.

SIERRA LEONE

Salesians at Don Bosco Fambul in Freetown, Sierra Leone, have 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 the victims of sexual assault. Girls that access services at the shelter are also able to enroll in educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network. These educational programs train young women in the skills necessary to find and retain employment. As part of their rehabilitation at the Girls Shelter, the young women take coursework in hotel management, hairdressing and tailoring. The training helps to empower them to overcome the discrimination they have faced and gain a greater awareness of their rights. It also helps to build character while allowing the young women the freedom to make decisions that affect their lives, improve their health and boost their work prospects.

SUDAN

To meet the needs of the millions of out-of-school youth, Salesians in the Sudan are working to educate poor youth and provide them a path out of poverty. The Salesian-run Don Bosco Technical School in El Obeid, the capital of the state of North Kordofan in southern Sudan, has been providing services and educational opportunities for poor youth since 2001. Since its inception, more than 1000 youth have received education, training and workforce development services. Don Bosco Technical School offers a variety of programs to best meet the needs of the youth it serves. Soon after the school opened, one-year intensive training programs began in auto mechanics, general mechanics, welding, electricity, building, carpentry and plumbing. These programs trained students to become qualified professionals, ready to join the workforce. And with career counseling and job placement services provided once students complete their studies, close to 70 percent of the more than 600 graduates of these programs have found stable employment in their chosen fields.

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Sources:

UN – Ban urges greater investment to tackle global epidemic of youth unemployment

UN – Weak global economy strangling job employment creation, UN reports

The post GLOBAL: Salesian Missions Responds to UN Statement On Importance of Youth Workforce Development first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Last year, the Salesian-run Don Bosco University in San Salvador, El Salvador, made significant strides in its aircraft maintenance program. For the first time in the company’s history, FedEx donated a Boeing 727 aircraft to the university. The donation of the plane was coordinated with help from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

The donated plane will serve as a hands-on training tool for hundreds of aviation students at Don Bosco University. Students will have the opportunity to take skills learned in the classroom and apply them while learning about the mechanical aspects of large aircraft.

More recently, Don Bosco University has entered into a cooperative agreement with Broward College in Davie, Florida that will further the aviation program at the university. The agreement brings two professors at Broward College, Emilio Lizarraga and Tomás Garrido, both international experts in avionics, to Don Bosco University to aid in the setting up of both theoretical and practical lesson plans to help in program development for the maintenance, servicing and storage of the Boeing 727. In addition, the professors are training 12 individuals, including teachers at the university and staff of the AEROMAN Company and of the El Salvador Air Force, to assist them in familiarizing themselves with the aircraft.

“We want to train the teachers and staff on the ground and to adjust the equipment and everything that is needed for the aircraft to be used for teaching”, said Edgardo Cruz Zeledon, director of the aeronautics department at Don Bosco University.

This initial training is part of a five year agreement which will help broaden the scope and expertise of both higher learning institutions. It is anticipated that Salesian staff will also visit Broward College and there is the potential for an ongoing international student exchange program. Professor Lizarraga noted the benefits for both, adding that one of the biggest challenges for the aeronautics sector is that it requires significant financial backing to cover the expense of spare parts, tools and the support needed to run the programs. The cooperation between the schools allows for the program to be more financially feasible.

Once fully operational, Don Bosco University’s airplane school will benefit more than 300 poor youth enrolled in the course for aircraft maintenance, as well as students in mechanical engineering, mechanical electronics and automation.

Since 2005, Don Bosco University has been recognized by the Civil Aviation Authority in El Salvador as a Center for Aeronautical Maintenance. The university offers expert educational programs and has been at the forefront in training for aircraft maintenance. The university has been known for technological innovation in these programs and hands-on training in highly specialized laboratories. Courses are also offered in propulsion, avionics, instrumentation and physics.

By teaching skills such as aircraft maintenance, mechanics, electronics and engineering, Don Bosco University offers advanced educational and employment opportunities for vulnerable youth, which in turn prepares students for participation in their country’s continued economic development. The newly donated FedEx plane and cooperative agreement with Broward College will further support the university’s goals.

“Sooner or later, in the course of vocational education, students need to stop studying and get their hands dirty,” says Adam Rudin, manager of the Salesian Lay Missioners program at Salesian Missions. Rudin had traveled to El Salvador to represent Salesian Missions when the plane was delivered last June. “Thanks to FedEx and Broward College, hundreds of students at Don Bosco University now have the opportunity to practice what they have been taught.”

See related article:

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Sources:

ANS – El Salvador – Visit of Aviation Experts from Broward College

Salesian Missions – EL SALVADOR: FedEx Donates 727 to Salesian University Where At-Risk Youth Learn Aviation Mechanics

World Bank – El Salvador

The post EL SALVADOR: New Partnershp with Broward College Help Provide Training to Salesian Aeronautics Teaching Staff first appeared on MissionNewswire.