(MissionNewswire) Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian organizations and the international community in celebrating Global Day of Parents, which was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012. The day, celebrated each year on June 1, honors parents throughout the world and provides an opportunity to appreciate all parents for their commitment to children.

This year the U.N. is focused on the role that parents have played during the pandemic. The U.N noted, “As the anchors of the family and the foundation of our communities and societies, parents have the responsibility of sheltering their families from harm, caring for out-of-school children and, at the same time, continuing their work responsibilities. Without support from parents, children’s health, education and emotional well-being is at risk. By introducing family-friendly workplace policies and practices, companies and organizations will be in a better position to promote children’s safety and well-being and provide systematic support to employees.”

In their work in more than 130 countries around the globe, Salesian missionaries provide support to the parents of the children in their programs. Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, said, “Supporting parents is essential for children’s well-being and to helping youth stay in school and focus on their studies. While our primary focus is on education, we also aim to provide wrap around services that help youth and their families lead healthy and productive lives.”

In honor of Global Day of Parents, Salesian Missions is proud to share programs around the globe that provide education and support for parents and their children.

ANGOLA

A new shelter for youth and young single mothers in Luanda, Angola, provides medical support, psychological assistance and vocational training courses.

The Salesian International Volunteering for Development (VIS) has opened a new shelter for youth and young single mothers in Luanda, Angola. Young women are able to live in the shelter, receive services and be protected from the dangers of the street.

Every year, the shelter will provide support to 20 underage single mothers. They will be able to access medical support, psychological assistance and vocational training courses. Family reunification will be made possible when appropriate.

Dana is a 15-year-old young woman from a broken home who recently came to the shelter. She was living under a bridge in Luanda with her baby daughter Sofia. While Dana found a family with other youth, she also faced violence and degradation, which only worsened with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dana gave birth to Sofia at a small medical clinic on the outskirts of the city. Sofia’s first cradle was a cardboard box. Dana had few resources and knew she couldn’t raise her daughter in those conditions. She first met a VIS volunteer when Sofia was just a few weeks old.

When a VIS volunteer made the offer of the Salesian shelter, Dana wasn’t sure, but she finally accepted. Now, Dana feels at peace knowing she and her daughter are safe. They have access to resources they never had before, and Dana has a real chance to gain an education to be able to provide a better life for them both.

DR CONGO

Women’s groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo promote solidarity, teach money management and give the possibility to apply for a loan to start a small business.

For the last two years, the Don Bosco Center, located in the city of Bukavu in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)*, has been supporting women who wish to join women’s groups run by the Association Villageoise d’Epargne et Crédit (AVEC), an association for savings and credit in the villages. The Don Bosco Center has helped create 20 groups of women, mostly mothers.

Every week, the women had been depositing 1,000 to 5,000 Congolese Francs (CF), which is roughly 60 cents, into their group’s safe, in addition to depositing another 200 CF in the solidarity fund. After a few weeks, the group members can apply for credit and receive up to 10,000 CF to help in situations of necessity such as the birth of a child, an illness or a death in the family. AVEC groups promote solidarity, teach money management and savings and give the possibility to apply for a loan to start a small business.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the conditions in the DRC have worsened and many women no longer have the money to pay their AVEC group dues. Two social workers with the Don Bosco Center in Bukavu have been trying to help.

“Nicole and Gisèle have distributed start-up aid, from $50-$150 to over 120 very poor mothers who were unable to start a small income generating business and participate fully in the AVEC group,” said Father Piero Gavioli, director of the Don Bosco Center.

PORTUGAL

A Salesian project in Portugal for single-parent families addresses parenting, along with personal, social and professional challenges.

The “Brilliant mothers – Empowerment of single-parent female families” project facilitated by SolSal (Salesian Social Service) has been awarded the “Social Value Award” by the Cepsa Foundation. The project, promoted by the Salesian Foundation, is carried out in Evora, Portugal, and is one of five Portuguese projects that was recognized.

The day-to-day demands for women who are raising children without the support of their husbands, partners or extended family are difficult. They may also face dealing with low income and low education levels, which have a great impact on their family, relationships and self-esteem.

The project addresses parenting, along with personal, social, and professional challenges through an integrated approach. There is school and educational support for youth, support in accessing services to understand individual and family rights, workshops on personal care and attention habits, assistance drafting a resume, and help searching and applying for jobs.

ZAMBIA

The Salesian-run City of Hope, located in Lusaka, Zambia, is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic under the guidelines set forth by the Zambian government.

The Salesian-run City of Hope, located in Lusaka, Zambia, is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic under the guidelines set forth by the Zambian government. Girls in the program made face masks that they are wearing and distributing to others while also working on completing their school packages, studying, reading, and making crafts.

The Salesian sisters who operate City of Hope have also focused on working with teachers, mothers and other educators to teach children about issues of sexual and gender-based violence, which has increased during the lockdown within the communities. They have sent informational letters to youth to educate them on these subjects since the youth cannot be taught in classrooms.

“We are trying to be close to them through these other means even despite the challenges around country-wide lockdown measures. So far, we are doing well and our message is reaching them,” said Sister Prisca Mulenga Mwila, a Salesian sister at the City of Hope.

Salesian sisters are also preparing various support projects for once the lockdown restrictions ease, including continuing with longer-term fundraising efforts to support all of the self-sustaining programs in the community. In addition, the Salesian sisters are harvesting four to five trays of eggs a day from the chickens they have on the farm.

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Sources:

ANGOLA: Salesian VIS volunteers operate shelter that helps young mothers have a second chance in life

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

DR CONGO: Over 120 poor mothers receive support for their small businesses

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

PORTUGAL: Project for single mothers wins award

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

Salesian Missions

UN Global Parents Day

ZAMBIA: City of Hope supports at-risk girls and mothers through the coronavirus pandemic

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

*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 GLOBAL DAY OF PARENTS: Support for parents promotes children’s well-being first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The UN indicated, “Emphasizing the critical role of parents in the rearing of children, the Global Day of Parents recognizes also that the family has the primary responsibility for the nurturing and protection of children. For the full and harmonious development of their personality, children should grow up in a family environment and an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.”

In addition, the UN noted, “Family-oriented policies can contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 1 to 5 relating to doing away with poverty and hunger; ensuring healthy lives and promoting of well-being for all ages; ensuring educational opportunities throughout the lifespan and achieving gender equality.”

“Supporting parents is essential to helping youth stay in school and focus on their studies,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “While our primary focus is on education, we also aim to provide wrap around services that help youth and their families lead healthy and productive lives.”

In honor of the Global Day of Parents, Salesian Missions is proud to share some of its programs around the globe that provide education and support for parents and their children.

DR CONGO

The Don Bosco Center, located in the city of Bukavu in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo*, is supporting women who wish to join women’s groups run by the Association Villageoise d’Epargne et Crédit (AVEC), an association for savings and credit in the villages. Since July 2018, the Don Bosco Center has helped create 20 groups of women, mostly mothers.

Every week, the women deposit 1,000 to 5,000 Congolese Francs (CF), which is roughly 60 cents, into the group’s safe, in addition to depositing another 200 CF in the solidarity fund. After a few weeks, the group members can apply for credit and receive up to 10,000 CF to help in situations of necessity such as the birth of a child, an illness or a death in the family.

The women in the groups often have great ideas and projects, but they need help to start or strengthen their activities. Many of the mothers live in difficult situations and have problems related to their children’s health, food and school. Recently, 100 mothers and a few fathers were selected to receive a small financial contribution from the Don Bosco Center. This will allow them to start an income-generating activity and work on becoming self-sufficient. The candidates selected are all in serious need of additional assistance.

INDIA

As a result of rampant poverty, child abuse and exploitation, and high incidences of child labor, many poor youth in India face psychological and emotional difficulties. Often, parents are unable to deal with these problems at home so turn to school staff and teachers for extra support.

Don Bosco’s Prafulta Psychological Services was started in 1998 and provides psychological evaluation and diagnosis, professional counseling, career guidance, remedial education, psychiatric services and occupational therapy. The organization’s psychologists and other professionals offer these services to individuals, groups and families to help aid independent functioning and improve quality of life.

The Don Bosco Teacher Training Program in Remedial Education, which Prafulta Psychological Services began offering in May 2014, aims to empower teachers, school counselors and parents by giving them the information and the know-how to effectively help children with varying needs and disabilities in mainstream schools. For more advanced training, Prafulta offers a certificate course in educational counseling enabling practitioners to understand children’s difficulties in both educational and emotional areas.

SPAIN

At the beginning of the new academic year, Salesian centers in Spain launched the Enredados campaign, an initiative of the Spain-St. James Major Salesian Province that helps families look at safety while online.

The campaign aims to address questions for parents, including: What are youth doing online all that time? What are they looking for in social networks? Are they making good use of technology? How and why should they be in that digital environment?

The Enredados campaign offers a series of tools for parents to talk about topics at home with their children as well as to provide them with education about the internet. The first educational course of the campaign focused on privacy. The next will focus on healthy habits for using the internet, along with using information and communication technologies while helping youth avoid addiction. The last educational course of the campaign will look at the nexus between personal relationships and virtual relationships.

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Sources:

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

DR CONGO: Don Bosco Center provides additional funding for 100 women to help them start their own businesses

INDIA: Don Bosco’s Prafulta Psychological Services holds educational forum to help 350 children learn about emotions

Salesian Missions

SPAIN: Salesian missionaries launch Enredados campaign that helps parents support their children to be healthy and safe online

UN Global Parents Day

*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 GLOBAL DAY OF PARENTS: Salesian Missions highlights programs around the globe that support parents through education and social development services first appeared on MissionNewswire.