Rural life in Guatemala is often associated with extreme poverty. However, rural Q’eqchi are among those in the community looking to improve their lives. Through Salesian programs, Q’eqchi are learning new skills that can lead to additional income for their families while increasing the capacities of their communities.

The Don Bosco Center is the male counterpart to a local educational project for girls known as Talita Kumi which was started by a Salesian missionary from India, Father Jorge Puthenpura, and is now run by the Salesian Sisters of the Resurrection. This program works to raise the status of women and empower them to become household and community decision-makers.

“Both of these educational efforts are part of the much broader mission developed by the Salesian community in Guatemala,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian educational programs have been very successful with the number of schools in the region doubling, allowing for more children than ever before to have the opportunity for a brighter future.”

Under the leadership of Salesian missionary, Father Anthony De Groot, the Don Bosco Center has also developed an extensive teacher training program. Father De Groot came to the Carchá mission in the Alta Verapz region of Guatemala in 1975 and has been helping youth break the cycle of poverty and improve their lives through education ever since.

Upon his arrival in Guatemala, Fr. De Groot was immediately struck by the extreme poverty and deprivation in the mountain communities. What started for him as an effort to provide support to remote villages neglected during a civil war, turned into an educational revolution resulting in the training of hundreds of teachers while offering poor youth a second chance.

“Determined to make a difference, Fr. De Groot began visiting the villages to build hope and offer support,” adds. Fr Hyde. “After a while, he realized much more needed to be done especially for the sake of the children. He started to build schools and initiated a teacher training program.”

Today, more than 850 local students are enrolled in a series of teacher training courses. Upon receiving their teaching certificates, these students will go on to teach in some of the 600 villages throughout Guatemala that participate in the program.

Rural poverty hasn’t changed much in Guatemala during the last 20 years, according to the World Bank. Close to 75 percent of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line and almost 58 percent live below the extreme poverty line which the World Bank defines as struggling to afford even a basic basket of food.

For the country’s indigenous population, the poverty rates jump even higher with almost 90 percent facing crippling poverty and few resources. Salesian missionaries have been working in Guatemala for many years, particularly with indigenous populations, to help break the cycle of poverty and provide access to basic needs and education.

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Sources:

World Bank – Guatemala

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Sharing a 500-mile-long border with Syria, southeastern Turkey has more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees, as reported by the United Nations. Salesian missionaries are providing services at three sites within Syria while also providing for Syrian refugees in Turkey. While many Syrian refugees stay in towns on the Turkey-Syrian border, many find their way to big cities like Istanbul where Salesian missionaries operate a program that currently serves close to 400 Syrian refugees.

The Don Bosco Center opened its doors 20 years ago as a temporary response to a wave of refugees from Iraq. With conflict continuing in the region today, new refugees and asylum seekers arrive every day. Currently, there are 350 children enrolled in the center, mostly from Iraq and Syria, who are being taught English as well as other traditional school subjects such as mathematics, geography and music. Students have access to sports and dance programs intended to help them connect with their peers and find enjoyment and comfort in their new surroundings. In addition, the program provides counseling both for youth and their families to help them overcome the challenges and traumas they may have faced.

“Salesian missionary work in Istanbul serves a critical purpose providing refugees links to service providers and comprehensive assistance as they transition, for an unknown period of time, into local society,” says Neill Holland, program officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “Without a doubt, the biggest Salesian success is the safe space created for youth who have experienced trauma in their home countries. At the Don Bosco School and community center, refugee youth take part in recreation activities with Turkish youth which allows them to move beyond their hardships while giving them a chance to forget their worries and be children once again.”

Basima Toma, one of the center’s teachers, provides English language lessons to approximately 40 students. Toma, her husband and their four children are adherents of the Chaldean Catholic religion and lived in Baghdad, Iraq, until a Christian-owned business near them was attacked and destroyed, leaving them concerned for their safety. In 2013, the family moved to Turkey where they have found a renewed sense of security.

“Now I do not fear for my children,” said Toma, in a recent Catholic News Service article about the Don Bosco Center. “I put my head on my pillow and am not afraid when they are not with me.”

Like Toma, most of the teachers at the center are refugees or asylum seekers. Father Andres Calleja Ruiz reports that students relate better to and feel more comfortable with teachers that have gone through some of the same experiences and understand the suffering they may have endured. The teachers also speak Arabic, the native language of most of the refugee students, which is helpful in the classroom.

“Here we do not ask anyone what religion they are or to what political movement they belong,” says Fr. Calleja.

In addition to educating refugees, the center provides a safe space where they can sing and play. Many young refugees had never been to school or attended only sporadically because of war in their countries. Salesian missionaries at the center work to provide youth a sense of regularity and opportunities to catch up on their missed school years and childhoods. For one student, Sarah Mohammed, the Don Bosco Center is the only place where she and her sister are able to gain an education and learn both English and Turkish. The sisters and their family were forced to flee from Aleppo, Syria more than a year ago after an explosion near the girls’ school.

An estimated 9 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011, taking refuge in neighboring countries or within Syria itself. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 3 million have fled to Syria’s immediate neighbors Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. Another 6.5 million are internally displaced within Syria. Refugee camps in these bordering countries are overflowing with families in need of basic supplies, adequate shelter and safety as well as technical skills training so they can begin to earn a living in their new host countries.

Recently, close to 150,000 Syrians have declared asylum in the European Union, while member states have pledged to resettle a further 33,000 Syrians. The vast majority of these resettlement locations, 28,500 or 85 percent, have been pledged by Germany.

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Sources:

ANS – Turkey – Studying, singing and playing, after fleeing their homes due to war

CNS – Salesian center offers haven for Iraqi, Syrian children in Istanbul

UNHCR – 2015 UNHCR country operations profile – Turkey

The post TURKEY: Don Bosco Center Provides English Language Classes and Education to More Than 350 Refugee Children first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Celebrated each year on August 19, the day was established by the United Nations to recognize those who face danger and adversity in order to help others and was designated to coincide with the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. The theme of World Humanitarian Day 2015 is, “Inspiring the World’s Humanity” and highlights humanitarian organizations around the world while inspiring people to become active messengers of humanity.

“On World Humanitarian Day, we honor the selfless dedication and sacrifice of workers and volunteers from around the world who devote themselves – often at great personal risk – to assisting the world’s most vulnerable people,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in a statement on World Humanitarian Day 2015. “This year, more than 100 million women, men and children need life-saving humanitarian assistance. The amount of people affected by conflict has reached levels not seen since the Second World War, while the number of those affected by natural and human-induced disasters remains profound. On this Day we also celebrate our common humanity. The families and communities struggling to survive in today’s emergencies do so with resilience and dignity. They need and deserve our renewed commitment to do all we can to provide them with the means for a better future.”

From the recent earthquakes in Nepal and flooding in Myanmar to the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Salesian missionaries are on the forefront of relief efforts and operate programs in more than 130 countries around the globe. Missionaries provide immediate assistance but also remain in countries in need to assist families, rebuild communities and restore livelihoods long after other organizations have left.

“Because Salesian missionaries live within the communities they serve, they are perfectly positioned to respond in times of crisis,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our programs help to provide food, clothing and shelter to those in need and our missionaries remain through the long recovery process after a humanitarian crisis to help families rebuild their homes and salvage their livelihoods.”

In honor and celebration of World Humanitarian Day 2015, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight its humanitarian efforts that have benefited more than 450,000 people since the start of 2015.

MYANMAR FLOODING

Salesian missionaries have been providing emergency relief and helping flood victims displaced by the heavy monsoon rain and flooding that has affected Myanmar this summer. Nearly 1 million people have now been affected by the widespread flooding across the country since June. Myanmar government officials have reported that close to 100 people have died and 1.2 million acres of rice fields have been destroyed. Heavy rains in early August caused by Cyclone Komen worsened the already precarious situation and led to intensified flooding across much of the country. Salesian missionaries living and working in the region are responding to the situation with aid for the flood victims, many who have lost everything. The regions most affected include Chin, Rakáin, Magwe and Sagaing which the Burmese government declared a state of natural disaster. The Salesian house of Kalay, a boarding school in the region of Chin, is located at the center of one of the most flood-stricken areas but did not suffer any damage. The Salesian community in the region is already actively engaged in emergency relief work and also planning long-term rebuilding and education and social development initiatives to help flood victims.

NEPAL EARTHQUAKES

Salesian missionaries immediately responded with food, medicine and temporary shelter after a devastating 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal on April 25 and a second earthquake struck on May 12. More than 8,000 died and close to 20,000 were injured as a result of the earthquakes and their aftermath. Forty of Nepal’s 75 districts were affected, 16 of them severely, with homes, schools, buildings, cattle, fields ready for harvest and other property destroyed. More than 500,000 people were displaced and remain in need of shelter and other assistance.

Salesian missionaries are building temporary schools and addressing long-term training needs as part of their reconstruction and relief efforts. To date, more than 21 temporary learning centers have been completed. In a recent evaluation meeting with Nepalese government officers and other non-government organizations, it was acknowledged that the temporary learning centers built by the Salesian missionaries and students from the Salesian-operated technical school, Don Bosco Thecho in Kathmandu, Nepal, were of such high quality they could possibly serve as permanent school buildings.

SYRIAN CONFLICT REFUGEES IN TURKEY

Sharing a 500-mile-long border with Syria, Southeastern Turkey has more than 1.6 million Syrian refugees, as reported by the United Nations. Salesian missionaries are providing services at three sites within Syria while also providing for Syrian refugees in Turkey. While many Syrian refugees stay in towns on the Turkey-Syrian border, many find their way to big cities like Istanbul where Salesian missionaries operate a program that currently serves close to 400 Syrian refugees.

At the Don Bosco Center in Istanbul, Salesian Father Andres Calleja Ruiz leads special programs for refugee children and youth from Syria as well as for a growing number of families fleeing ISIS persecution in Iraq. Because most refugees do not speak the local language it is difficult for children to attend school and adults to find work. At the Center, Salesian missionaries provide a school for more than 350 refugee children where they learn the English language and traditional school subjects such as mathematics, geography and music. Students have access to sports and dance programs intended to help them connect with their peers and find enjoyment and comfort in their new surroundings. In addition, the program provides counseling both for youth and their families to help them overcome the challenges and traumas they have faced.

Technical skills training is a critical component of Salesian work in Istanbul. Many refugees leave the country’s border towns and refugee camps and make their way to Istanbul hoping to find employment and a more stable life. If they fail to find work, refugees are often left in dire circumstances. The Don Bosco Center’s technical skills training program is a critical safety net for those in need.

WEST AFRICA EBOLA OUTBREAK

The recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the most deadly on record, has infected close to 21,200 and killed more than 8,400 across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Salesian missionaries in both Sierra Leone and Liberia immediately responded with health prevention education and humanitarian assistance in the form of food aid and medical supplies as well as soap and other cleaning and disinfecting products to help slow and eventually stop the spread of Ebola. The Salesian-run Mother Patern College of Health Sciences, one of five colleges that make up the Stella Maris Polytechnic University in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, was on the front lines of the Ebola crisis with all 63 of its staff reassigned to address the Ebola outbreak. Education was an important step in stopping the spread of the disease and Salesian missionaries in Liberia and Sierra Leone went door to door providing education on Ebola and passing out prevention materials. Salesian missionaries also continue to provide ongoing support, shelter and education to Ebola orphans, those children who have lost parents, and for some, their entire families, as a result of the deadly disease.

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Sources:

ANS – Spain – “In the midst of calamities, we reassert our commitment to the poor”

World Humanitarian Day 2015

The post GLOBAL: Salesian Missions Highlights Humanitarian Efforts on World Humanitarian Day first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The program is designed for poor and at-risk youth from Santiago de Cali who wish to train as kitchen assistants, work that is highly desirable given the current employment situation in the area. More than 230 youth have graduated from the program with nearly 80 percent of graduates finding employment directly after graduation. The program is 100 percent donor funded and made possible through financial support from the private sector, Colombia’s National Learning Service (SENA), the Governor of Valle del Cauca and the restaurant industry.

Through the Food for All program, students learn a variety of kitchen skills to prepare them for employment while gaining access to life skills training as well as interviewing and resume assistance. An emphasis is placed on building relationships with students from different backgrounds and parts of the region.

“Years ago it was almost impossible to imagine that a young person from a poor rural area could find work in one of the Colombia’s urban centers and now this happens every day,” says Father Germán Londoño, director of the Don Bosco Center. “This program works to develop a sense of trust between students and in turn they begin to trust their communities and their communities trust them. A lot of young people who have gone through this program have set up their own businesses and have reformed their lives. If you learn how to cook well, life is good, and it elevates the spirit.”

In 2008, Rosa Inés Naranjo, then 42 years of age, had lost her job and felt like she had lost everything. After becoming aware of the Food for All program, she decided to explore the idea of turning her love of cooking into a career, something she had dreamed of but never imagined could become a reality.

“The kitchen is a joy,” says Naranjo. “In the kitchen we laugh a lot, learn a lot, get to know each other and discover many things. The kitchen gives peace and happiness, and it’s a place where we forget our problems and focus on the food we are offering to people. If someone says that what you have prepared is delicious, it gives us great satisfaction.”

Many youth enrolled in the Food for All program lacked the education and skills to find viable employment and had nowhere else to turn. Some had previously turned to life on the streets, violence or criminal activity. Through this program and others operated by the Don Bosco Center, participants are given a second chance.

“Youth in Colombia struggle to gain an education and lead productive lives,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Because of conditions of poverty, youth are vulnerable to exploitation and criminal activity. Education provides a path out of poverty and helps youth gain the jobs skills necessary to find meaningfully livable wage employment.”

Close to 33 percent of Colombians live in poverty, according to the World Bank. One in five children in the country have no access to education and 800,000 children reside in refugee camps. The number of street children has reached epidemic proportions and thousands of at-risk youth have been recruited as child soldiers.

In addition, many orphaned youth in Colombia live in poverty and have lost their parents to natural disasters, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other diseases, war or domestic issues. Some children remain living with a single parent, struggling to survive and are often pulled out of school to earn income for the remaining family. Other youth live in shelters or on the streets.

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Sources:

ANS – Colombia – “Did you know that there is ’Food for All’ in Cali?”

World Bank – Colombia

The post COLOMBIA: Food for All Program Trains Disadvantaged Youth for Work as Kitchen Assistants first appeared on MissionNewswire.

In 2014, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) produced A Global Report on Trafficking in Persons which offered the first global assessment of the scope of human trafficking and what is being done to fight it. Based on data gathered from 155 countries, the report shows that more than 1.2 million children worldwide are victims of child trafficking which accounts for just over 20 percent of all trafficking victims. In some parts of Africa children are the majority and in parts of West Africa, children make up nearly 100 percent of trafficking victims.

The report also notes that close to 80 percent of human trafficking is for sexual exploitation with the victims being predominantly women and girls. A surprising finding from the report is that in nearly 30 percent of the countries assessed, women make up the largest portion of traffickers. The second most common form of human trafficking, accounting for 19 percent, is forced labor. Although, research notes that this may be underrepresented because forced labor is frequently harder to detect than trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Child victims of trafficking are forced into all types of labor including work on farms, in sweatshops, construction, hotels and restaurants and in private homes as domestic servants. Some are forced to beg on the streets and are used as child soldiers. Others are sold into sexual slavery and forced into prostitution.

In Benin, a country in West Africa, Salesian missionaries are focusing their work on providing hope and healing to victims of child trafficking. According to UNICEF, Benin remains one of the poorest countries in the world with close to 70 percent of its population living in poverty. About half of all children between the ages of five and 13 are engaged in some kind of forced labor in the country and almost 20 percent are chronically undernourished. Youth in Benin also face overwhelming challenges in combating poverty, one of the root causes of child trafficking.

The Don Bosco Center in Porto-Novo, the capital city of Benin, cares for more than 200 victims of child trafficking, many who have been sold into slavery by their parents for the equivalent of $30 or less. Nearly 40,000 girls and boys are forced into agricultural or domestic labor each year within the country of Benin alone.

“Trafficking isn’t the children’s wish … and it’s a terrible situation for the girls and boys who suffer it. It kills their hope,” says Marc Tsanda, a child psychologist who works on behalf of rescued youth at the Don Bosco Center.

Tsanda’s work is featured in a recent documentary called, “No Estoy en Venta” (“I am Not for Sale”), produced by the Salesian Missions Office in Madrid, Spain. In the film, he and his colleagues expose the child trafficking that occurs in Benin and in communities across in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America and elsewhere.

Often invisible to society, innocent children are shipped across borders ending up alone in a foreign land where they are forced into labor, exploited, abused and often starved. With no connection to their homeland, they lose their language, self-identity and hope for the future.

“Once they get these children into another country, the traffickers can do what they want with them,” says Father Juan José Gómez, director of the Foyer Don Bosco youth hostel at the Don Bosco Center. “The children have absolutely no rights. Sometimes, they may only eat once a day and that’s only if they’ve worked ‘hard enough.’”

Jules, a boy whose story is highlighted in the documentary, is one of thousands of children in Benin who has endured such horror.

“One day, my father brought me to his friend’s house,” he recalls. “And the friend brought me to Nigeria, to a lady’s house. The lady gave my father’s friend money—and then he left me there, alone. I didn’t know why. And I was scared.”

“The children don’t understand,” confirms Carine Agossou, another psychologist working at the Don Bosco Center. “They say, ‘why have they done this to me?’ And when it’s the people who should be protecting them—the people who should be keeping them safe and sound—that’s very hard to accept.”

Agossou points to poverty first and foremost as the reason parents sell their children. Many families live in conditions of extreme poverty and don’t make enough money to meet their basic needs. Under such desperate conditions, the idea of trading a child for cash becomes a consideration and innocent children like Jules pay the price.

Fortunately for Jules, after years of brutal domestic servitude, he took a chance and escaped, eventually finding his way back across the border where he found the Don Bosco Center in Porto-Novo. At the center, he enjoys safe shelter, nutritious meals and the chance to reclaim his lost childhood. When he is ready, Jules will return to school and begin building the foundation for a future he once thought was impossible.

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Sources:

ANS – 16 April: World day against child slavery

Salesian Missions Madrid – Documentary “I am not for sale”

UNICEF – Benin

UNODC report on human trafficking exposes modern form of slavery

The post BENIN: Salesian Missionaries Provide Hope and Healing to Victims of Child Trafficking first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Each year, June 20 marks World Refugee Day, a day that honors the plight of millions of refugees and internally displaced people around the globe. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, noted that at the end of 2014, more than 50 million people had been forced from their homes worldwide. Almost 80 percent of those displaced are women and children.

Established in 2001, World Refugee Day is coordinated by UNHRC and focuses on honoring the courage, strength and determination of men, women and children forced to flee their homes under threat of persecution, conflict and violence. Each year, the day focuses on a particular theme that highlights specific circumstances faced by refugees. This year’s theme, “Get to know a refugee – Ordinary people living through extraordinary times,” aims to bring the public closer to the human side of the refugee story.

“All around the world we are seeing families fleeing violence,” said High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres in a recent statement about World Refugee Day. “The numbers are massive – but we must not forget that these are mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. People who led ordinary lives before war forced them to flee. On this World Refugee Day, everyone should remember the things that connect all of us – our common humanity.”

To mark World Refugee Day 2015, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight programs around the globe that provide life-changing education and support for refugees and internally displaced people in need that were developed by Salesian Missions and funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Salesian Missions, headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, is the U.S. Development Arm of the international Salesians of Don Bosco.

COLOMBIAN REFUGEES

In recent years, more than 450,000 people have fled the violence of Colombia to neighboring Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama and Costa Rica. Salesian Missions’ New Beginnings initiative, which started in 2011, has provided more than 1,000 Colombian refugees in these four countries vocational and human development training as well as job placement services.

Many of the Colombian refugees began the program with no marketable skills. Without the prospect of a job, it was hard for them to create stability for their families and build new lives. The New Beginnings program grants each refugee 260 hours of technical training as well as 40 hours of human development workshops. The training programs, coupled with the job placement services, allowed these victims of violence and chaos to start over and build a stable, hopeful future for themselves, their families and their new communities.

SRI LANKAN REFUGEES IN INDIA

For the fifth year, Salesian Missions has received funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration to conduct its New Beginnings program for Sri Lankan Refugees in Tamil Nadu, India. To date, close to 2,500 refugees have received vocational training scholarships through the program. Since 1983, ethnic violence in Sri Lanka has forced tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils from their homeland in search of safety and a new life in Tamil Nadu, India. According to UNHCR, there are close to 140,000 Sri Lankan refugees in 65 countries, with almost 70,000 in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.

Refugees face many challenges as they begin to make a new life in their host countries. Sri Lankan Tamils are unique in that their host population in Tamil Nadu is also ethnically Tamil. While Sri Lankan refugees share a common language and customs with their host community, they still struggle to gain marketable skills and find livable wage employment.

Since 2010, Salesian Missions has been providing its New Beginnings program for young male and female Sri Lankan refugees who have been living in refugee camps in 15 target districts in India. In 2015, Salesian missionaries are serving 550 individuals by providing vocational training through a network of nine Salesian-run Don Bosco schools spread across Southeast India. In addition, 550 women are benefiting from refugee camp-based small business incubator programs. The New Beginnings program provides market-conscious vocational and technical skills training that results in livable wage employment, allowing trainees to better support themselves and their families. Many refugees enter the program with few, if any, job prospects or with a history of low paid part-time work experience which is typically unskilled and often dangerous and exploitative.

REFUGEES IN KENYA

Kakuma was established in 1992 near Kenya’s border with South Sudan and was a place of refuge for unaccompanied minors fleeing warring factions in what was then southern Sudan. Today, the Kakuma refugee camp has more than 180,000 refugees, well over the 120,000 person capacity for which it was built. More than 44 percent of the refugees at the camp are from South Sudan and arrived after fleeing the country to escape conflict and violence.

Kakuma is operated by UNHCR in collaboration with Salesian missionaries in the country as well as several other humanitarian organizations. The camp offers refugees safety, security and life-saving services such as housing, healthcare, clean water and sanitation. Salesian missionaries at Kakuma refugee camp operate the Holy Cross Parish and the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center where 1,044 young men and women are receiving critical employment and life skills. There are many courses available and those studying welding, carpentry and bricklaying often utilize their new skills helping to build infrastructure within the camp. Salesian missionaries are currently seeking funding to build a new school on a donated plot of land at the refugee camp in order to meet the growing demand.

Salesian missionaries at the camp also operate the Helping Children to be Children program which gathers refugee children and leads them in games, songs and classes held outdoors on the camp grounds. As part of the program, children are offered the opportunity to draw and learn to speak English. Close to 3,000 children benefit from this Salesian program which currently has no steady funding and is run primarily by refugee volunteers.

SYRIAN REFUGEES IN TURKEY

Sharing a 500-mile-long border with Syria, Southeastern Turkey has more than 1.6 million Syrian refugees, as reported by the United Nations. Salesian missionaries are providing services at three sites within Syria while also providing for Syrian refugees in Turkey. While many Syrian refugees stay in towns on the Turkey-Syrian border, many find their way to big cities like Istanbul where Salesian missionaries operate a program that currently serves close to 400 Syrian refugees.

At the Don Bosco Center in Istanbul, Salesian Father Andres Calleja Ruiz leads special programs for refugee children and youth from Syria as well as for a growing number of families fleeing ISIS persecution in Iraq. Because most refugees do not speak the local language it is difficult for children to attend school and adults to find work. At the Center, Salesian missionaries provide a school for more than 350 refugee children where they learn English language skills and traditional school subjects such as mathematics, geography and music. Students have access to sports and dance programs intended to help them connect with their peers and find enjoyment and comfort in their new surroundings. In addition, the program provides counseling both for youth and their families to help them overcome the challenges and traumas they have faced.

Technical skills training is a critical component of Salesian work in Istanbul. Many refugees leave the country’s border towns and refugee camps and make their way to Istanbul hoping to find employment and a more stable life. If they fail to find work, refugees are often left in dire circumstances. The Don Bosco Center’s technical skills training program is a critical safety net for those in need.

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Sources:

World Refugee Day 2015

The post WORLD REFUGEE DAY: Salesian Missions Highlights Educational Programs Assisting Refugees around the Globe first appeared on MissionNewswire.

At the Don Bosco Center in Istanbul, Salesian Father Andres Calleja Ruiz leads special programs for refugee children and youth from Syria as well as for a growing number of families fleeing ISIS persecution in Iraq. Because most refugees do not speak the local language it is difficult for children to attend school and adults to find work.

At the Center, Salesian missionaries provide a school for more than 350 refugee children where they learn English language skills as well as other traditional school subjects such as mathematics, geography and music. Students have access to sports and dance programs intended to help them connect with their peers and find enjoyment and comfort in their new surroundings. In addition, the program provides counseling both for youth and their families to help them overcome the challenges and traumas they have faced.

“Salesian missionary work in Istanbul serves a critical purpose providing refugees links to service providers and comprehensive assistance as they transition, for an unknown period of time, into local society,” says Neill Holland, program officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “Without a doubt, the biggest Salesian success is the safe space created for youth who have experienced trauma in their home countries. At the Don Bosco School and community center, refugee youth take part in recreation activities with Turkish youth which allows them to move beyond their hardships while giving them a chance to forget their worries and be children once again.”

Technical skills training is a critical component of Salesian work in Istanbul. Many refugees leave the country’s border towns and refugee camps and make their way to Istanbul hoping to find employment and a more stable life. If they fail to find work, refugees are often left in dire circumstances. The Don Bosco Center’s technical skills training program is a critical safety net for those in need.

The skills training program trains refugee families in local trades and technical skills and assists them in finding stable employment in their new host country. As a result of evacuation and host country labor laws as well as a lack of established social and professional networks, many refugees urgently rely on the training program to locate long-term employment. In addition to skills training, Salesian missionaries provide needy refugees with emergency relief in the form of shelter, safety and medical assistance.

“Refugees, like those fleeing Syria and other areas, are particularly vulnerable to economic insecurity, subject to long-term unemployment and high costs for basic necessities like shelter and food,” adds Holland. “Refugees seeking local employment out of the need to support dependent family members are significantly at risk of exploitation and compromising situations.”

More than 200,000 people have been killed and millions more have fled their homes in search of safety since the outbreak of civil war in Syria in March 2011, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The conflict has taken its toll on young Syrians with U.N records indicating 2,165 recorded deaths of children under nine years old and 6,638 deaths of children aged 10 to 18 years. With often poor reporting, the numbers are suspected to be much higher.

Close to 6.5 million people are internally displaced within Syria. More than 2.5 million have fled to the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and just under 100,000 have declared asylum in Europe. Others have taken refuge in Northern Africa. Refugee camps in these bordering countries are overflowing with families in need of basic supplies, adequate shelter and safety as well as technical skills training so they can begin to earn a living in their new host countries.

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Sources:

PBS – Syrian Refugees in Turkey

UNHCR – Syria Refugees

Wall Street Journal – U.N. Says Syria Deaths Near 200,000

The post TURKEY: Salesian Missionaries Aid Close to 400 Syrian Refugees in Turkey first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“For eight months we have been experiencing terror and death in the city of Bangui and throughout the Central African Republic,” says Pierre Pytonie Kozongo, sports coach at the Don Bosco Center Sports Academy in Damala, in an article published on the website of the Salesian-run Spaces of Peace project. “While others have fled, seeking refuge or revenge, the Don Bosco Center has been using sports as a way of bringing people together and overcoming their fears.”

The Salesian Center in Damala has an orphanage, youth center, professional center and high school. At the center in Galabadja, Salesian missionaries offer primary and secondary education along with a college and professional training program. A youth center and medical clinic are also available.

The Spaces of Peace project operates out of both centers and offers youth safe places to learn, work and play. It also offers one meal a day to more than 1500 students during their school day, helps 700 students with school supplies and scholarships and assists 120 older youth gain the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

In addition, Salesian missionaries offer sports, musical training and summer camps, among other activities, where youth of all ages, cultures and religions learn to live and work together peacefully. Through the Spaces of Peace sports programs, youth are taught team work and social skills while gaining opportunities to grow and mature.

“For a group of sixty young people, sporting activities provided the reason for them to meet, play, relax with others and take care of their health,” explains Kozongo. “We, the coaches, were like parents. We followed the development of our young people, and in particular, we were with those experiencing family misfortunes, or those who had been traumatized by the circumstances. The young people encouraged one another to find reasons for confidence in the midst of violence and fear.”

Thanks to an ongoing partnership between the Real Madrid Foundation and Salesian missionaries, footballs, shirts and other items have been donated to help the sports program succeed. The young athletes have shared with each other their experiences of war and have developed friendships through their participation in the program.

Despite more than two years of ongoing violence, Salesian missionaries continue to work diligently for the young and poor in the Central African Republic. Since violence broke out in December 2012 between Séléka rebels and Christian anti-balaka militia groups, thousands have died, more than 650,000 have been internally displaced (with more than 232,000 in the capital city of Bangui alone) and 300,000 have fled across the borders as refugees. Due to the conflict, close to 2.2 million people have needed humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations (UN).

During the height of the conflict, the Salesian center in Galabadja had been host to 20,000 displaced people and the one in Damala had taken in an estimated 50,000. Many arrived at the Salesian centers injured and in desperate need of medical attention. While the situation has improved and many have left the shelter of Salesian centers, the situation remains precarious. Those still internally displaced are homeless and have no other source of shelter and food other than what’s provided at the centers. Resuming educational and social development programs helps youth regain a sense of normalcy and allows them to move past the violence and focus on more productive activities.

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Sources:

ANS – Central African Republic – “We use sport as a way of bringing people together and overcoming their fears”

United Nations – Central African Republic: Ban welcomes official deployment of UN mission

*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 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Salesian Spaces of Peace Project Helps More Than 1,500 Youth with Nutritious Meals, Sports and Educational Programs first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Many orphaned youth in Colombia live in poverty and have lost their parents to natural disasters, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other diseases, war or domestic issues. Some children remain living with a single parent, struggling to survive, and are often pulled out of school to earn income for the remaining family. Other youth live in shelters or on the streets.

Neglect, discrimination and malnutrition affect orphans more often than their non-orphaned peers. Research shows that orphans are more likely to live in conditions of poverty, be forced into child labor, recruited as child soldiers and subjected to exploitation and violence. Orphaned youth are also less likely to be enrolled in school.

At the Don Bosco Center in Ciudad Bolivar, one of the most dangerous areas of Colombia’s capital city, Bogotá, Salesian missionaries provide education, skills training and social development services to poor youth. Many families living in Ciudad Bolivar came to the city to escape the armed conflict between paramilitary groups and revolutionaries operating in Colombia. Many continue to arrive in the city with little education and few chances for employment or a stable future.

More than 15 years ago, Salesian Father Jaime García recognized a need for job skill training for youth in Bogotá and expanded the Don Bosco Center to offer professional and vocational education. In addition, Salesian missionaries made connections within the local labor market to help youth transition from the classroom directly into employment.

Each year since the expansion, more than 800 youth have been accepted into professional and vocational training courses to become electricians, carpenters and mechanics. In 2010, Salesian missionaries became aware of a need for skilled labor for the automobile and transport industries while noting that youth from Ciudad Bolívar were often rejected in the employment selection process. The missionaries identified a gap between the professional needs of these industries and the lack of education in these fields for youth seeking employment.

In 2013, a new program was inaugurated at the Don Bosco Center offering a professional degree course in automotive mechanics. Named, Pacto Motor, the program was made possible thanks to the support of the Salesian organization, Via Don Bosco in Belgium and the French foundation, Saint Paul Apôtre. More than 150 youth, or 98 percent of Pacto Motor’s first graduating class, found employment after successfully completing the program.

“The Pacto Motor program at the Don Bosco Center has been a great success,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “The automotive sector has access to well-trained technical staff and youth have access to free high-quality training that leads to stable employment.”

During the 2014-2015 school year, more than 900 students are engaged in professional training courses at the Don Bosco Center. As a result of the Pacto Motor program’s success, the Colombian Ministry of Labor is using the Salesian training model to develop additional pilot projects focused on employment industries in other cities in Colombia.

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Sources:

ANS – Colombia – The Salesians, contract for employment

World Bank – Colombia

The post COLOMBIA: New Pacto Motor Automotive Training Program Placed 98 Percent of Graduates into Automotive Work first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesians have been working to restore hope in South Africa, particularly among poor youth. From empowering youth (particularly girls and young women) to building schools and teaching trade skills, the Salesians have a long history of affecting change in the country.

Most recently, the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians joined forces to create the Don Bosco Center at Ennerdale, in the outskirts of Johannesburg. The Center was 12 years in the making and combined separate programs run by the two organizations, one a skills training program and the other a school. The goal was to create one center offering both services to greater benefit the local youth.

In late May, the new buildings of Don Bosco Center were completed and opened. The Center is dedicated to the memory of Father Declan Collins, an Irish missionary dedicated to working with street children, who was murdered in 2002. His murder aroused anger and great sorrow among the communities he helped. Far from deterring them, his death motivated the Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to pursue his dream with greater commitment and collaboration.

“There are many children and youth on the streets not attending school or finding employment,” explains Father Robert Gore, administrator of the Southern African Vice-Province. “A single program was envisioned to provide schooling and trade skills to the poor youth in the community.”

Through the assistance of donors helping to establish the new center, a plot of land was acquired and a number of new buildings erected. Even before they were completed they were occupied by children and older youth anxious to attend school or learn a trade. Don Bosco Center offers courses in hydraulics, carpentry, bricklaying, plastering, computers and electronics.

Today, there are 200 children attending the school and 60 young people enrolled in the various professional courses. Another 60 youth are attending classes to complete their secondary schooling.

“The Salesians see a need in a community and develop programs to meet that need,” adds Father Mark Hyde, executive director of South Africa, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Education is the greatest tool in combating poverty and the collaboration of the two communities will strengthen and enhance the ability to help youth achieve educational success and break the cycle of poverty.”

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Sources

ANS – South Africa – Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians working together for disadvantaged young people

UNICEF – Poverty Rates in South Africa

The post SOUTH AFRICA: Salesians Collaborate to Open New Don Bosco Center first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Upon his arrival in Guatemala, Fr. De Groot was immediately struck by the extreme poverty and deprivation in the mountain communities. What started for him as an effort to provide support to remote villages neglected during a civil war, turned into an educational revolution resulting in the training of hundreds of teachers while offering poor youth a second chance.

The Salesians are working hard to reduce poverty in Guatemala where, according to UNICEF, the percentage of children living in poverty has not improved over the past 20 years. One in five families makes less than $1 a day and rural communities are desperate for new programs and resources that will benefit their impoverished citizens.

“Determined to make a difference, Fr. De Groot began visiting the villages to build hope and offer support,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “After a while, he realized much more was needed to be done especially for the sake of the children. He started to build schools and initiated a teacher training program.”

Today, 835 local students are training to become teachers by enrolling in a series of courses that span a three-year period. Upon receiving their teaching certificates, these students will go on to teach in as many as 600 villages throughout Guatemala.

In addition to the teacher training program, the Don Bosco Center offers classes in basic school subjects, giving special attention to technical skills that are useful in the local economy.

The Don Bosco Center is the male counterpart to a local educational project for girls known as Talita Kumi, started by a Salesian missionary from India, Father Jorge Puthenpura, and now run by the Salesian Sisters of the Resurrection. This program works to raise the status of women and empower them to become household and community decision-makers.

“Both of these educational efforts are part of the much broader mission and activities developed by the Salesian community in Guatemala,” adds Fr. Hyde. “Our educational programs have been very successful. Since the teacher training program was initiated, the number of schools in the region has doubled, and more children than ever are getting the chance to build a brighter future.”

Learn more about Salesian Missions programs in Guatemala >

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Sources:

ANS – Guatemala – A new male, indigenous Congregation is born

Salesian Mission – In Guatemala: An Educational Revolution

Saleisan Missions – Guatemala

UNICEF – Guatemala

The post GUATEMALA: Teacher Training Program Gives Youth Second Chance first appeared on MissionNewswire.