(MissionNewswire) Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian organizations and countries around the globe in honoring the International Day of Charity celebrated each year on Sept. 5. The date was chosen by the General Assembly of the United Nations to commemorate the anniversary of the passing of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 “for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace.”

As part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015, the U.N. has recognized the importance of eradicating poverty in all forms. Nearly 30,000 Salesian priests, brothers, sisters, and novices are working in more than 130 countries around the globe bringing education, workforce development, and social programs to poor youth and their families. They work in some of the most challenging circumstances and are among the first to respond during humanitarian crises or natural disasters.

“All of the youth in Salesian schools and centers come from situations of poverty,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “While education is always our primary focus, we know youth are dealing with much more than just needing access to education. Salesian missionaries work to meet basic needs like shelter, food and medical care while also working to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who need it most.”

In honor of the International Day of Charity, Salesian Missions highlights unique educational and social programs that are helping poor and at-risk youth meet their basic needs, receive an education and find a path out of poverty, bringing them hope for the future.

BENIN

Foyer Don Bosco in Benin serves children in complex situations, including those who have been abandoned.

Children at Foyer Don Bosco, a home for abused and abandoned children in Kandi, Benin, have received food support thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions. The funding provided food support for 36 children, as well as cleaning products and medicines for the infirmary. Ten girls and boys have also benefited from the purchase of toolboxes for various trades.

Foyer Don Bosco serves boys and girls in very complex situations, including those who have been abandoned by their families, victims of abuse, and victims of forced marriages. The area of Kandi often has an influx of children who are on their own. Children are sometimes sold on the black market and exploited in the workforce. A transit home was started with the support of UNICEF to host these children, while guiding them to other homes or trying to find their families.

Foyer Don Bosco was created for children who have nowhere else to go or need to stay for long periods of time. In collaboration with the juvenile courts of Benin, minors who are in conflict with the law and in high-risk situations are assisted by the Salesians. The border police also intercept children being trafficked from Niger and Burkina Faso.

CAMBODIA

Students from the St. Anne Orphanage in Cambodia were granted scholarships thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions.

Students from the St. Anne Orphanage were granted scholarships to attend Don Bosco Vithayalai in Battambang, Cambodia, thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions. The scholarships were provided in February 2022 and May 2021.

Children attending Salesian schools in Cambodia have faced a number of issues including abandonment from their families, abuse, child labor and trafficking, and migration. As a result, they often miss school and fall behind academically. Salesian schools ensure that young students are able to attend school even if they are unable to pay for it.

HAITI

In Haiti, families across several Salesian programs and educational centers received rice-meals following a devastating earthquake on Aug. 14, 2021.

More than 3,700 families across several Salesian programs and educational centers in Haiti had access to better nutrition thanks to a partnership between Salesian Missions and Rise Against Hunger. In the second half of 2021, two shipments were sent to Haiti to support nutritional efforts after the devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Aug. 14 killed more than 2,000 people and left thousands injured and homeless.

Families connected to Notre Dame du Rosaire Parish and Saint Ann Parish, along with students from Fondation Vincent and Don Bosco Lakay in Cap-Haïtien and in Port-au-Prince, were among the recipients. Don Bosco Lakay has specialized facilities depending on the type of assistance needed. At Foyer Lakay, children live as a family for a period of four years until the completion of an apprenticeship in a technical profession. The Lakay Program for Street Children provides shelter and educational services for street children in Cap-Haïtien and Port-au-Prince. There are also vocational training programs where youth are able to study and gain the skills needed for long-term employment.

INDIA

The Ekalavya Children’s Home in India serves school dropouts, rescues child laborers and provides basic needs for at-risk children.

Children living at the Ekalavya Children’s Home were supported by donor funding from Salesian Missions. The home was created by the Salesian-run People’s Action for Rural Awakening for disadvantaged children in Konaseema, located in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, India.

The home, which can accommodate up to 50 children, was started to support school dropouts, rescue child laborers, and provide a home for at-risk children, those living on the street, or those who have run away from dysfunctional families. Ekalavya Children’s Home is a child care institution licensed under the Juvenile Justice Act. Every home for children at risk needs to be licensed by the Women Development and Child Welfare Department of the state government.

Ekalavya Children’s Home is located behind a railway station in Rajahmundry. Children who have run away use the railway station for travel and to beg for money to survive. Salesian staff members have good relationships with the railway police department to rescue children from the station and bring them to the courts and then onto the Ekalavya Children’s Home.

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Sources:

Photos courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

BENIN: Children receive food support thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions

CAMBODIA: Students at orphanage granted scholarships

INDIA: Donor funding from Salesian Missions supports Ekalavya Children’s Home

HAITI: Food shipment supports more than 3,700 families after earthquake

Salesian Missions

U.N. – International Day of Charity

The post INT’L DAY OF CHARITY: Salesian Missions highlights life-changing social programs for poor youth and their families first appeared on MissionNewswire.

(MissionNewswire) Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian organizations and countries around the globe in honoring the International Day of Charity celebrated each year on Sept. 5. The date was chosen by the General Assembly of the United Nations to commemorate the anniversary of the passing of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 “for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace.”

As part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015, the U.N. has recognized the importance of eradicating poverty in all forms. The U.N. noted, “Poverty presents an enormous global challenge for the international community, as it is a significant threat to sustainable development. In the spirit of global solidarity, the 2030 Agenda is focused on how best to meet the needs of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens and acknowledges the role that the private sector must play in supporting the various organizations who have undertaken philanthropic efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda.”

Nearly 30,000 Salesian priests, brothers, sisters and novices are working in more than 130 countries around the globe bringing education, workforce development and social programs to poor youth and their families. They work in some of the most challenging circumstances and are among the first responders during humanitarian crises or natural disasters.

“Education is always our primary focus, but we know youth, their families and their communities are dealing with much more than just needing access to education,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “Salesian missionaries work to meet basic needs like shelter, food and medical care while also working to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who need it most.”

In honor of the International Day of Charity, Salesian Missions highlights unique educational and social programs that are helping poor and at-risk youth meet their basic needs, receive an education and find a path out of poverty, bringing them hope for the future.

BOLIVIA

Each year 150 boys and girls access the services of the Don Bosco Center for Malnourished Children in San Carlos, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

The Don Bosco Center for Malnourished Children in San Carlos, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, received funding from donors of Salesian Missions to help support children and families in need. Currently, 150 boys and girls access the services of the Don Bosco Center for Malnourished Children each year. The length of stay at the center is determined by the degree of malnutrition that the child faces.

As part of a new treatment model for children, mothers are involved in the recovery process. To make this easier, the center has set up temporary accommodations for the mothers and clearly defined their roles and responsibilities during their stay.

The mothers participate in training workshops on malnutrition and its prevention, caring for their children, growth, health, and preventive medicine. They are then able to apply what they have learned until it becomes a daily habit.

One of the mothers taking part in the program is María Choque. Her daughter Estefany arrived at the Don Bosco Center for Malnourished Children at the end of 2020 with severe malnutrition. Estefany received the necessary care until she fully recovered. The center has become her second home. It took her close to three months to regain the appropriate body mass index for her age.

ERITREA

Don Bosco Technical School provides education to 400 boys and girls in Dekemhare, Eritrea.

Salesian missionaries working at the Don Bosco Technical School in Dekemhare, a town roughly 25 miles southeast of the capital city of Asmara in Eritrea, have been able to buy two cows and food items thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions.

Don Bosco Technical School provides education to 400 boys and girls. The school offers technical courses in automotive work, general metal, general mechanics, carpentry, building construction, woodwork or furniture making, electricity, electronics, and surveying. In addition, students take information technology and academic courses. Each trade course of study is two years long and at completion, students sit for a national exam. They also enter into military training for six months and are assigned a job by the government.

In addition to the technical school, Salesian missionaries have aspirant training and a youth center. Overall, Salesian missionaries hope to have funding for additional cows and to enlarge the barn to increase the self-sustainability of Salesian initiatives.

INDIA

Don Bosco Care Home serves at-risk youth and those with a positive HIV diagnosis in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India.

Don Bosco Anbu Illam, located in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India, received donor funding from Salesian Missions to help support its Don Bosco Care Home program, which provides for youth who have HIV/AIDS. Don Bosco Care Home serves at-risk youth and those with a positive HIV diagnosis. Currently, there are 47 boarders at the home.

Youth are also are able to access medical care. Regular medical check-ups are provided by a team of doctors who come to Don Bosco Care Home and conduct medical camps where youth can access critical antiretroviral therapy treatments (ART). Youth who do not live at the home, including those who attend the local polytechnic college, also have access to the program’s ART treatments.

At Don Bosco Care Home, youth are also able to access psychological support through counseling and psychotherapy sessions. Trained and experienced social workers and counselors conduct these sessions where youth are able to address their mental health needs and are motivated to lead a positive life.

VIETNAM

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, people who have been quarantined have no way to provide for their families, and many are relying on the assistance of Salesians.

Salesian parishes in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, have set up transit stations to distribute water and other necessities for people in lockdown during a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has impacted the city in recent weeks. Those who have been quarantined have no way to provide for their families, and many are relying on the assistance of Salesians to get by during this time.

When a special quarantine order was issued in Ho Chi Minh City on July 9, Salesian priests and younger confreres with the Rinaldi Theologate community brought drinking water to families. They worked in collaboration with young migrants and the Pastoral Council of the Don Bosco Xuan Hiep Parish. Three large water tanks were transported to isolated areas, where families took the water from the tanks and transferred it to special containers. In addition, basic necessities were also distributed. Other Salesian parishes in Ho Chi Minh City, including Ben Cat and Ba Thon, have also carried out the same initiative.

Salesians in the city of Da Lat and in the communities of K’Long contacted garden owners to collect vegetables and send them to Ho Chi Minh City. To date, vegetables have been sent to the Rinaldi Theologate community and the Don Bosco Xuan Hiep Parish where Salesians have been distributing them to people in need.

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Sources:

BOLIVIA: Malnourished children and mothers receive support through donor funding

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

ERITREA: Funding to buy cows aids school’s self-sustainability efforts

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

INDIA: Youth with HIV/AIDS receive support to focus on the future

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

Salesian Missions

U.N. – International Day of Charity

VIETNAM: Transit stations help distribute water and food to people in need

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS) 

The post INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CHARITY: Salesian Missions highlights life-changing social programs for poor youth and their families first appeared on MissionNewswire.

As part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015, the UN has recognized the importance of eradicating poverty in all forms. The UN noted, “Poverty presents an enormous global challenge for the international community, as it is a significant threat to sustainable development. In the spirit of global solidarity, the 2030 Agenda is focused on how best to meet the needs of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens and acknowledges the role that the private sector must play in supporting the various organizations who have undertaken philanthropic efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda.”

Nearly 30,000 Salesian priests, brothers, sisters and novices are working in more than 130 countries around the globe bringing poor youth and their families education, workforce development and social programs. They work in some of the most challenges circumstances and are among the first responders during humanitarian crises or natural disasters.

“Education is always our primary focus, but we know youth, their families and their communities are dealing with much more than just needing access to education,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “Salesian missionaries work to meet basic needs like shelter, food and medical care while also working to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who need it most.”

In honor of the International Day of Charity, Salesian Missions highlights its unique educational and social programs that are helping poor and at-risk youth meet their basic needs, receive an education and find a path out of poverty, bringing them hope for the future.

INDIA

Sixty families in six villages in the Rambrai area of Meghalaya, India, received solar lighting thanks to funding from Salesian Missions donors. Their rural homes had no electricity, and children were unable to do their homework and study for exams in the evenings. Mothers also struggled with getting things done at home in the evenings. The project impacted close to 360 youth, as each family had multiple children at home who struggled to keep up with their schoolwork.

Bosco Tech Nongstoin’s electrical department installed the solar lighting and helped families learn to properly care for the lights in their homes. The new solar lights are ensuring children can continue with their studies and working to reduce dropout rates. With the solar lights, families are saving money they had been spending on kerosene lamps, or they can spend the money on other needs of the family.

The solar lamps are also a clean energy source and are decreasing the pollutants from the smoke of the kerosene lamps. Through this project, families were taught about the importance of solar energy for the environment. Now that these families have the lights and the education on how to maintain them, they can provide replacement parts as needed over time.

MALAWI

St. Don Bosco Parish in Lilongwe, Malawi, received funding from Salesian Missions donors to buy maize to help families in the out-stations of the parish. In total, 382 families received the maize. At the Don Bosco Church, 280 families from 28 small Christian communities benefited along with families connected to Salesian centers in Mbunu, Kundi, Kangonoma, Chipeni and more.

Father Mulenga Oswald, St. Don Bosco Parish priest, said, “We sincerely thank Salesian Missions donors for their support, which enabled us to reach out to needy families of our parish. Salesian Missions prompt response helped us to mobilize and assist the people that needed help most.”

In Lilongwe, Salesian missionaries provide many programs to help support poor youth and their families. The Don Bosco Youth Center offers counseling workshops, seminars and educational literature that addresses the multitude of challenges faced by youth in the region. The program focuses on life skills training and the avoidance of high-risk behavior such as substance abuse and gang participation.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

Salesian missionaries in Gizo, the capital of the Western Province in the Solomon Islands, inaugurated the St. John Bosco Primary School. The ceremony was attended by 205 students who will attend first to fifth grade at the new school. Parents and community representatives were also present.

The new school has six classrooms and a multipurpose room, as well as three houses for school staff. The construction project also included a cemented path, enabling children to walk free from injury to and from the buildings.

The children attending the school come from communities located in the area most affected by the 2007 tsunami. This includes the fishing village of Nusabaruku and other small villages in the coves behind Nusabaruku. People must travel to Gizo from these small villages by boat. The new school is located on the top of the hill known locally as Millionaire Point, which has now been renamed Nusa-Bosco (Bosco Island).

SOUTH SUDAN

Salesian missionaries at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, who are operating the Don Bosco Gumbo camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Juba, South Sudan*, have access to food, hygiene products and other items to help care for the well-being of those in the camp. The camp is home to 9,742 people, the majority women and children with no husbands or fathers, the elderly, and orphans. The camp was established in January 2014 after the outbreak of civil war in December 2013.

During the escalation of violence in South Sudan, St. Vincent de Paul Parish welcomed fleeing families and offered them a place to settle. Throughout the past six years, Salesian missionaries have been accommodating, feeding, educating, and offering medical treatment to the sick and vulnerable in the camp and across the Gumbo host community. A camp manager and supervisor were trained to provide management and oversight of the IDP camp.

The spread of COVID-19 in South Sudan has made the situation in the camp more difficult. The virus is happening during the lean season in the country when food insecurity is always at its worst. A swarm of locusts was also observed in several locations in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria State, posing further threats to food security and livelihoods. The humanitarian situation in the country is predicted to worsen in the coming months as a result of COVID-19, the desert locust invasion and continued inter-communal violence.

With funding from Salesian Missions, Salesian missionaries at the camp were able to provide food aid rations for 275 internally displaced families. Each person received 10 kg of ground flour, 1 kg of salt, 1 liter of cooking oil and 5 kgs of beans per month. Missionaries were also able to distribute plastic roofing sheets, blankets, floor mats, soap and sanitary plastic jugs to 275 of the most vulnerable households.

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Sources:

INDIA: New solar lighting allows 360 youth to be able to study at home in the evening

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

MALAWI: Salesian Missions donors provide funding for maize for 382 families through St. Don Bosco Parish in Lilongwe

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

Salesian Missions

SOUTH SUDAN: Salesian Missions provides funding to support Don Bosco Gumbo with nutritional assistance for 275 vulnerable displaced families

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Salesian missionaries launch new St. John Bosco Primary School for 205 students in Gizo

ANS Photos (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS) 

UN – International Day of Charity

*Any goods, services or funds provided by Salesian Missions to programs located in this country were administered in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control.

The post INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CHARITY: Salesian Missions highlights life-changing educational and social programs for poor youth and their families first appeared on MissionNewswire.