(MissionNewswire) Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian and other international organizations in honoring International Day of Families celebrated each year on May 15. The day is organized by the International Federation for Family Development in partnership with SOS Children’s Villages International and in collaboration with UNICEF and the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Families have had a challenging year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Nations has noted that family homelessness is on the rise, including in some European countries, where it has consistently been above 20 percent of the total homeless population.

On its website regarding the day, the U.N. has said, “Families have become the hub of intergenerational interactions that support us in this crisis. Under economic duress poverty deepens. In times of uncertainty stress increases—often resulting in growing violence against women and children. That is why the support for vulnerable families—those who have lost their income, those in inadequate housing, those with young children, older persons and persons with disabilities—is imperative now more than ever.”

Salesian missionaries around the globe provide for youth and their families who are facing challenges related to poverty, lack of education, hunger and homelessness. Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, said, “While our primary focus is on education, we also aim to provide other wrap-around services that help youth and their families lead healthy and productive lives while making a positive impact on their communities.”

In honor of International Day for Families, Salesian Missions is proud to share some of its programs around the globe that provide education and services that support poor youth and their families.

ECUADOR

Since the start of the pandemic, the Don Bosco Mission in Quito, Ecuador, has helped families in need.

Salesian missionaries are providing food and support to migrants, particularly those from Venezuela, at the Salesian Solidarity Canteen in Quito, Ecuador. Since November 2020, more than 80 families have benefited from the support, which is provided in compliance with all health and safety measures. This initiative has received support from the Salesian Mission Office in Ecuador.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Don Bosco Mission in Quito has helped families in need. Early on, Salesians distributed $60 vouchers to dozens of Ecuadorian families living in poverty and extreme poverty in various parts of the country. The vouchers were granted three times, enabling families to purchase basic necessities from supermarkets close to where they live.

In areas where there are no such supply centers, Salesian missionaries created an alliance with neighborhood stores so that people could buy fresh food at affordable prices and, at the same time, avoid the risk of contracting the coronavirus. When the project started, the goal was to support close to 1,000 families. However, given the number of people in need, the Salesian initiative extended to 1,800 families.

GUATEMALA

After a devastating hurricane, families in Guatemala were provided kits of food, clothes, blankets and personal hygiene items.

Maya Q’eqchi’ Indigenous families in the rural area of San Pedro Carchá, Guatemala, have received support after the devastating effects of Hurricane Eta, thanks to donor support through Salesian Missions. Hundreds of poor Indigenous families lost their gardens, farms and homes due to rising floodwaters caused by the hurricane.

A few people who had mobile phones called Salesian missionaries for help, but it was impossible to reach the community because the roads were blocked by the flood. Later, Salesians were able to reach people by walking through mountainous paths. Families were provided kits of food, clothes, blankets and personal hygiene items. Some who had lost their homes sought shelter with relatives and friends while others improvised shelter with only a piece of nylon for the roof.

Salesians provided funding for prefabricated houses on land safer from floodwaters. There was also donor funding to help these families start their family farms and vegetable gardens. Through donor funding from Salesian Missions, Salesians have been able to assist 48 families with small farmhouses and vegetable gardens, but hundreds more families are in need.

ITALY

Families in Sampierdarena, Italy, received a shopping card to help with financial hardship and food shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 70 families in Sampierdarena, a major port and industrial area of Genoa in northwest Italy, have received a shopping card from the local Salesian parish for 35 euros a week for the next three months. This is a concrete measure to help many people facing financial hardship and food shortages because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding for this initiative comes from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through Salesians for Social and the Salesian International Volunteer Service for Development (VIS).

Those who received the financial help are originally from Senegal, Tunisia, Ecuador, Eastern Europe and Italy. They have lived in Sampierdarena for years. Many had stable jobs and were able to care for their families before the pandemic.

Father Pierdante Giordano, the local Salesian parish priest, committed himself to this initiative with the help of volunteers from the parish Caritas group, the local VIS group and Salesians for Social. Families were evaluated by need and number of children as well as other economic factors.

“For now, we are supporting 180 families, with 72 families the most in need,” said Fr. Giordano. “Many of the families are already relying on the local food banks for their daily food. The shopping card will enable them to have additional support.”

PHILIPPINES

Don Bosco Pasil, in Cebu City, Philippines, launched a garden so families have fruits and vegetables without having to use their limited money to buy them at the store.

Don Bosco Pasil, in Cebu City, Philippines, launched the Mamma Margaret’s Garden last year. Pasil is one of the villages in Cebu City that is highly populated and the houses are densely packed. Availability of land for planting is very limited so the project used recycled plastic bottles to plant fruits and vegetables.

Salesian Brother Julius Ysulan and Brother Raffy Besonia run the garden and provide weekly educational sessions on environmental issues. With the harvest, families have fruits and vegetables without having to use their limited money to buy them at the store.

This garden is one of many initiatives launched during the pandemic. Several Salesian organizations in the Philippines started farming and gardening projects to help provide food relief to families in need. An 8,000-square-meter soccer field at St. John Bosco Parish, located in Tondo, Manila, had its first harvest festival where anyone could pay and harvest vegetables. The initiative launched in October 2020 and was spearheaded by the Department of Agrarian Reform, along with the Department of Agriculture, St. John Bosco Parish and the Manila local government. The project resulted in the first urban farm in Manila.

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Sources:

ECUADOR: Migrant families receive food and support

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

GUATEMALA: Donor funding supports Indigenous families in need after hurricane

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

ITALY: Shopping cards help prevent hunger for families

Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Genova

PHILIPPINES: Garden initiatives provide food relief to families in urban areas

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

Salesian Missions

United Nations International Day of Families

The post INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FAMILIES: Programs provide aid to families in need first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“While our primary focus is on education, we also aim to provide other wrap-around services that help youth and their families lead healthy and productive lives while making a positive impact on their communities,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions.

In honor of the International Day for Families, Salesian Missions is proud to share some of its programs around the globe that provide education and services that support poor youth and their families.

INDIA

Don Bosco Development Society provides hope and support for those who have few resources and little hope for the future. The Salesian-run organization is working in communities in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, India. The organization runs a group to help women access skills training and other support to help them launch their own businesses.

Sharmila Thale recently accessed support through the self-help group. She resides with her family at Wadala in Mumbai. A few months ago, she lost everything due to a fire caused by an electrical short circuit. The fire destroyed all that she had, including her home, household items and other belongings. When her family was nearly homeless, she approached Don Bosco Development Society and Father Rolvin D’Mello, the organization’s executive director, for help.

Don Bosco Development Society was able to come to her aid. Thale shared her dream of starting a small sandwich business to provide for her family. Don Bosco Development Society first trained her to manage the small-scale business, and then provided a sandwich maker thanks to sponsorship from the partner organization Auxilium India in Seregno, Italy. This helped Thale start a small stall where she began selling different types of sandwiches. Today, Thale earns around Rs 900 per day.

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

On the outskirts of Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo*, the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center serves 600 youth each day, many from a local working-class neighborhood. The center recently created a dressmaking workshop to help educate young women in the community who have an interest in the subject.

Salesian missionaries want to ensure that young women have the same access to education and skills training as young men. The training course is working to attract women, including single mothers and those who left school. The course includes both cutting and sewing classes and helps young women gain employment as seamstresses.

In addition to the training as seamstresses, the first 35 trainees in the program will also receive help to start a small income-generating business at the end of the course. The goal is to help these young women support themselves and their families and feel like active and recognized citizens in society.

SWAZILAND

The Salesian-run Manzini Youth Care in Swaziland was established in the 1970s and provides services to marginalized youth. The services include free primary school for children who have dropped out of school due to poverty, two vocational training centers for older youth, residential care for former street children and a drop-in school for street children when they first come in off the streets. Manzini Youth Care also serves the communities surrounding the city of Manzini to help residents improve their living standards, sanitation and food security.

Partial and full scholarships are provided for more than 350 children who live at home but whose parents cannot afford school fees. Youth access education in a range of fields including carpentry, sewing, bakery, welding, electronics, mechanics, refrigeration, upholstery, panel beating and spray painting, printing and screen printing, hair care, auto electrical, and plumbing.

Youth are trained by successful business leaders in the field for one year. After that youth are encouraged to start their own businesses to generate income. The Manzini Youth Care Bosco Study Center provides business classes for students who are in grade 12 to help them launch these businesses. Students take courses in the morning and work in the afternoons.

UNITED STATES

The Don Bosco Community Center, one of only a few food pantries in the Village of Port Chester, New York, United States, is providing an average of 230 meals a day to support people who can’t otherwise shop because of the statewide order to stay in place and the closure of local businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Don Bosco Community Center has been providing local community services for more than 80 years, benefiting low to moderate income residents, as well as advocating for immigrants and their families. During normal operations, the Don Bosco Community Center provides a soup kitchen, food pantry and educational programming for youth and adults.

It also offers services to new immigrants and Port Chester’s long-time residents who have lived near or in poverty for years. Services are open to all adults including parents in need, the elderly, the unemployed, the working poor, immigrants, day laborers and the homeless.

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Sources:

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

INDIA: Don Bosco Development Society helps woman start her own sandwich business to help support her family

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: Don Bosco Vocational Training Center launches new dressmaking workshop to teach women how to be seamstresses

Salesian Missions

SWAZILAND: Salesian-run Manzini Youth Care provides education and social development programs to aid poor youth and their families

Photos courtesy of Manzini Youth Care

UN International Day of Families

UNITED STATES: Don Bosco Community Center provides 230 meals a day to support families in need in Port Chester, New York

*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.

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