Each year, UN-Water sets a theme for World Water Day corresponding to a current or future challenge. This year’s theme is ‘Water and Jobs’ and highlights the positive effects of having enough quality water to change workers’ lives and livelihoods and even transform societies and economies. UN Water notes that almost half of the world’s workers, 1.5 billion people, work in water-related sectors and nearly all jobs either depend on water or ensure its safe delivery. Yet, the millions of people who work in water are often not recognized or protected by basic labor rights.

UN-Water estimates that worldwide 768 million people lack access to improved water sources and 2.5 billion people have no improved sanitation. For those who have no access to clean water, water-related disease is common with more than 840,000 people dying each year from water-related diseases. Women and children often bear the primary responsibility for water collection in the majority of households and globally, spend 140 million hours a day collecting water. Children in these communities are forced to walk for hours to collect drinking water—water that often proves contaminated and seriously sickens those who consume it. Many others are unable to attend school regularly because they must spend time searching for distant wells.

In response to this crisis, Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, has made building wells and supplying fresh, clean water, a top priority for every community in every country in which Salesian missionaries work.

“Having access to clean water is essential for life and brings a sense of dignity to the children and families we serve in our programs,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Improving water and sanitation facilities also ensures that teachers and students are working and learning in an environment that promotes proper hygiene and has safe drinking water, reducing the number of waterborne illnesses that can affect those in our schools keeping them away from important study time.”

In honor and celebration of World Water Day 2016, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight Salesian programs around the globe that provide clean, safe water to those most in need.

DR CONGO

Close to 4,000 youth, parents, Salesian staff and community members are benefiting from two water projects at Salesian training and vocational centers in the city of Lubumbashi in the southeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo*. The Salesian-run Kansebula St Jean Bosco Institute and Chem Chem Center have nearly completed the renovation of existing water systems which were outdated, wasting energy and had insufficient quantities of water.

Salesian missionaries began the two water projects to ensure clean fresh water for the students and the sustainability of the water sources for their facilities. At Kansebula, the project consists of erecting a high water tower and two 2,500 liter water tanks in connection to the existing water system. Once completed, this project will improve water management and protect the water pump in use. At Chem Chem the project entails upgrading the existing water system to allow proper quantities of clean water for students. This is being accomplished by deepening the existing well, erecting a high water tower and installing two 2,500 liter water tanks.

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia is experiencing the worst drought the country has seen in more than 50 years. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently announced that agricultural assistance for the upcoming rainy season in Ethiopia is essential to help the drought-affected people as one of the strongest El Niño events on record continues to have devastating effects on the lives and livelihoods of farmers and herders.

Salesian missionaries and volunteers with the International Volunteers for Development (VIS) are concerned that the devastating drought is forcing residents to flee the country making them vulnerable to illegal migration (particularly to Europe and the Middle East), exploitation and human traffickers who are already taking advantage of the crisis. Using deep wells built by VIS volunteers in recent years, Salesian missionaries and volunteers are currently distributing water to schools, hospitals and first aid clinics, centers for street children, women’s refuges and diocesan centers. The goal during this emergency phase is to support the 12,000 residents of the Somali, Tigray and Oromia regions and those living in the South.

INDIA

Salesian missionaries working at the Don Bosco St. Joseph School for Children in Ghanaur, a town in the Patiala district in the state of Punjab, India, have begun a construction project to update and improve facilities at the school making it more accessible to its more than 540 students. Currently, the school’s bathroom facilities are dilapidated, out-of-date and insufficient to accommodate the students and faculty.

Situated on the periphery of a large village, the school was created to serve poor students whose parents could not afford traditional school fees. It offers a full range of academic classes as well as recreational programs. Each year, the student population grows as more and more area families require access to affordable education. Due to its growing population, sanitation has been a major concern at the school and will be addressed by the recent construction project which will provide separate bathroom facilities for male and female students. To date, a well has been dug and the purchasing of materials and digging of pits are underway. Once enough funds are raised to complete the project, construction of the bathroom buildings will begin.

RWANDA

Salesian missionaries in the community of Rukago in the city of Kigali, the capital and largest city of Rwanda, just completed a water and sanitation project for the local Salesian school which had been in desperate need of new sanitation and safe drinking water. The project, funded by Salesian Missions, provided eight new toilets and repaired a water tank that provides clean drinking water for the students. Prior to the repair of the water tank, students had to walk more than a mile to collect water from a hill in a swampy area.

The construction project for the new toilets consisted of digging a pit, purchasing materials and constructing a beam, walls and roof. After that, doors were added and the new building was painted. Salesian missionaries expect that this new project will help local families save on medical expenses for treating children who develop water-related diseases and illnesses due to contaminated water. The new improvements will also give the school children better access to safe water so they can turn their attention and focus to their studies.

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Sources:

UN Water – World Water Day 2016

*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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Ethiopia is experiencing the worst drought the country has seen in more than 50 years. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently announced that agricultural assistance for the upcoming rainy season in Ethiopia is essential to help the drought-affected people as one of the strongest El Niño events on record continues to have devastating effects on the lives and livelihoods of farmers and herders. The agency reported that humanitarian needs in the country have tripled since the beginning of 2015 as the drought has led to successive crop failures and widespread livestock deaths. According to the United Nations, agricultural production in the affected regions has fallen by 50 to 90 percent and the Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency.

As a result, food insecurity and malnutrition rates are alarming in the country with FAO reporting that some 10.2 million people are now food insecure. One-quarter of all districts in Ethiopia are officially classified as facing a food security and nutrition crisis. In addition, the country’s first rainy season is delayed and, with Ethiopia’s main agricultural season fast approaching, farmers need immediate support to help them produce food between now and September for millions facing hunger.

The UN has estimated that nearly 500,000 people leave the country every year or twice that number if consideration is given to illegal migration and victims of trafficking. Due to the drought and food insecurity, many families are leaving the countryside and making their way to cities.

“In the cities, many Ethiopians will receive no help and often do not even find a place to sleep. In this situation there is a significant risk that many will fall victim to traffickers and become exploited and enslaved,” says Father Estifanos Gebremeskel, Superior of the Salesian Vice-Province of Ethiopia.

Using deep wells built by VIS volunteers in recent years, Salesian missionaries and volunteers are currently distributing water to schools, hospitals and first aid clinics, centers for street children, women’s refuges and diocesan centers. The goal during this emergency phase is to support the 12,000 residents of the Somali, Tigray and Oromia regions and those living in the South.

“A crisis of this magnitude calls for a swift response,” says the President of VIS. “We work alongside the Salesians in collaboration with local institutions and associations to help people overcome this terrible drought. They need emergency responses, but we also need to build infrastructure that can last over time.”

A Stop Human Trafficking Campaign, supported by VIS and the Association of Don Bosco Missions in Turin, Italy, is actively providing education and awareness programs to combat trafficking of potential migrants. The campaign also aims to establish development projects in the country to address the root causes of migration.

Salesian missionaries have a long history of providing educational and support services to poor youth in Ethiopia. Missionaries operate six primary schools, three secondary schools and six vocational training centers in the country. At all these Salesian-run educational facilities, youth are able to gain an education while accessing services including family sponsorship and school feeding programs. These supports reinforce the missionaries’ goal of keeping youth in school as long as possible. In addition, water and sanitation issues are regularly assessed by missionaries working in programs throughout the country and new water well projects are planned and implemented as needs arise.

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Sources:

ANS – Ethiopia – 10 million people at risk of hunger: human traffickers ready to take advantage of the drought

UN News Center – Ethiopian farmers need urgent assistance amid major drought, warns UN agency

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The event, with a theme of “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”, is expected to attract close to 20 million visitors. Salesian missionaries are highlighting projects and initiatives that focus on feeding the body, educating the person and cultivating the dream. The Salesian Sisters’ program ran the first week of September and focused on Salesian projects that support the development of women’s micro-entrepreneurship.

UN Women, the United Nation’s entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, recently published a report called, “Progress of Women in the World 2015-2016” which noted that globally three quarters of working age men 15 years old and older are in the labor force compared to half of working age women. Among those who are employed, women constitute nearly two thirds of contributing family workers who work in family businesses without any direct pay. Women continue to be denied equal pay for work of equal value and are less likely than men to receive a pension, which translates into large income inequalities throughout their lives. However, the income women could be earning is critical to their family’s survival.

The Salesian Sister’s Female Entrepreneurship program presents an overview of best practices for micro-entrepreneurship projects that result in better economic conditions for women, their families and communities. Micro-entrepreneurship provides women valuable tools to escape from welfare dependence, stimulate production activity and bring out creativity and ingenuity in addition to increasing hope, dignity and employment opportunities.

“Young women and girls face many disadvantages and barriers to accessing education and achieving financial independence despite their huge potential,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions. “It is very important for young women and girls to attend school and gain an education. Women that are empowered though education are more often able to achieve financial independence, marry at an older age and make better and healthier choices that affect not only themselves but their families and communities as well.”

At the expo, the Salesian Sisters highlighted projects from the past 10 years that include a wide range of businesses run by women including the raising of small livestock, growing vegetables and food production, weaving and alternative medicine. The businesses that have been created differ depending on culture and location. Since 2004, The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians have developed more than 400 micro-entrepreneurship projects that have helped more than 30,000 women.

One of the projects highlighted focused on young migrant women living in Cammarata, a community in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region of Sicily, who were trained in the basics of local agriculture, in particular the cultivation of olives. The course enabled them to implement the skills and knowledge they learned to gain employment in a field that is available in their new home country.

Many of the projects included on the job training in cooperative work and self-financing. For many women, starting a small income-generating activity can ensure the improvement of living conditions for their entire family and the possibility of education for their children, in addition to the empowerment of the woman herself.

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Sources:

ANS – Italy – Casa Don Bosco – Expo 2015: the FMA for female entrepreneurship

Casa Don Bosco Expo 2015

UN Women – Report Progress of Women in the World 2015-2016

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Recently, Schneider Electric donated an entire electric management system that will power Casa Don Bosco, a facility that will host Salesian participants and projects from May through October at the 2015 World Expo to be held in Milan, Italy. The pavilion will be an agile and multifunctional space able to host conferences, events, exhibitions and shows. The electric system that will be utilized for Casa Don Bosco is an interactive and intelligent system that allows energy consumption and saving to be monitored in real-time.

The Salesian Family which includes the Don Bosco Network and the International Volunteers for Development, is one of 13 civil society organizations participating in the World Expo Milano. The event, with a theme this year of “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”, is expected to attract close to 20 million visitors. Salesian missionaries will highlight projects and initiatives, many in collaboration with Schneider Electric, that focus on feeding the body, educating the person and cultivating the dream.

“Collaborative partnerships between Salesian missionaries and corporations are essential to help us meet our mission to provide education and social development programs to poor youth around the globe,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian missionaries provide technical and professional training for future electricians in many Salesian schools. The Schneider Electric partnership allows us to have up-to-date training materials and equipment available for our students along with professional training support in our classrooms.”

Through the Schneider Electrical Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Schneider Electric, more than 10,000 students have received electrician training in Salesian programs in India, Latin America and Europe since 2009. In addition to providing education, Salesian training programs help students connect to internships that allow them to apply lessons learned in the classroom to real-life work environments. Successful gradates of the electrician programs are provided assistance with resumes, interviewing and finding and retaining stable livable wage employment.

“Salesian programs educate poor youth who would otherwise have few opportunities for education and employment,” adds Fr. Hyde. “Having access to professionals in the field gives our students an advantage not only in the classroom but in the workforce as well.”

Salesian missionaries are also actively engaged in building hospitals, schools and youth centers as well as other community infrastructure in more than 130 countries around the globe. Schneider Electric has assisted in the implementation of many of these projects by providing both the equipment and professional support.

In addition, a Schneider Electric project focused on managing energy helps Salesian missionaries increase energy efficiency in Salesian houses and program buildings. This allows for a utility cost savings that is reinvested back into Salesian programs.

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Sources:

ANS – RMG – Ten Years of Active Collaboration between Schneider Electric and Salesians

Milan’s World Expo 2015

Schneider Electrical Foundation

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Wine production at the Cremisan Salesian Monastery and Winery provides work for close to 20 families in the area and sustains the education and social development activities of the Salesians in the Holy Land.

The new oil-press was made possible by a collaboration between VIS, Stefano Cimicchi, the former Mayor of Orvieto in Umbria, Italy, Paulo Morbidoni, Vice President of the “Oil City” Association, and the Farchioni family, owners of an important oil-mill in Umbria. Renato Rondina, the owner of a factory by the same name that operates in north Umbria, has been named a benefactor along with the Rapanelli Company Foligno, famous for olive-oil extraction expertise. These resources have provided technical and organizational support in setting up the oil-mill.

The Salesian community in Bethlehem can now rely on the modern mill which can crush the approximately five hundred quintals of olives produced each year at Cremisan. The new mill provides hope that olive culture activities will be at excellent performance levels and produce quality oil.

This initiative is part of the project to revive the Cremisan Winery, a project which began in 2008, thanks to the efforts of VIS together with Dr. Cimicchi and winemaker Riccardo Cotarella.

The proceeds from the sale of the Cremisan wines are used to provide scholarships for disadvantaged youth and to support the Salesian training school which has taken the place of an old orphanage. In Cremisan, the Salesian Sisters manage a kindergarten, a primary school and a youth center. The Salesians have been present in Cremisan, serving the local population since 1891.

“The oil-mill directly benefits the workers in the Cremisan Winery and local farmers, given the increased volume of production and sales,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Mission, the U.S. arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Revenue from the cellar will cover the cost of training activities and the production of bread, impacting students attending Salesian educational centers and poor families who receive free bread from the oven run by the Salesians in Bethlehem,” adds Fr. Hyde.

A recent YouTube video clip shows the Cremisan oil-mill already in operation.

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Sources:

ANS – Israel – A Cremisan oil-press

UNICEF – Israel statistics

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The anniversary event was preceded by a series of activities involving the city’s schools in which national and international civic leaders participated. Youth from the elementary and high schools and the technical institute participated in the day’s celebration.

Speeches by the Albanian Prime Minister, Honorable Sali Berisha and the Education Minister, Myqerem Tafaj as well as the Ambassador of Italy, Honorable Massimo Gaiani, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, Honorable Marek Jeziorski and the Mayor of Tirana, Lulzim Basha, were held in honor of the anniversary celebration.

Also in attendance were representatives from UNICEF, the Vodafone Albania Foundation and Raiffeisen Bank. The Apostolic Nuncio from England, Mgr. Ramiro Moliner and the Salesian Provincial of Southern Italy, Father Pasquale Christiani were also present.

In his speech, the Albanian Prime Minister, Honorable Sali Berisha, recalled that twenty years earlier what is now a school campus serving youth through adults, was a field full of military bunkers. He thanked the Salesians for their tireless work through the years and for their dedication to creating a thriving educational facility.

According to the World Bank, Albania is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Almost one quarter of the population lives below the poverty level of two dollars a day. The poorest of the poor, who comprise about five percent of the population, struggle to put adequate food on the table each day. An estimated 57 percent of Albania’s people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Poverty is 66 percent higher in rural areas than in Tirana, the capital, and 50 percent higher in rural areas than in other urban centers.

In collaboration with the International Volunteers for Development, the Italian Cooperation, the Albanian State and other national and international organizations, the Don Bosco Social Center of Tirana provides a primary and secondary school, a technical school, a vocational training center and a youth center. A day care center and a center that helps young people with disabilities round out the Center’s programs.

“Don Bosco Social Center has expanded its activities year to year while maintaining its purpose to train and educate youth and the most vulnerable while giving them the skills to become honest citizens who work hard and give back to their communities,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “The education provided here allows youth to gain a variety of skills enabling them to find work and break the cycle of poverty they were born into.”

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Sources

ANS – Albania – 20 years in Tirana, today an education and training campus

World Bank – Albania

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According to UNICEF, as of November, more than 2.4 million people have been displaced within the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a result of fighting between the Congolese army and various rebel groups. This includes 1.6 million people in North and South Kivu, more than 60 percent of whom are women and children.

The situation continued to escalate and by Nov. 25, potential talks between the Congolese government and M23 rebels ground to a halt. According to a Reuters report, Congo has said it would not negotiate with M23 rebels in the east until they pulled out of the city of Goma, while a rebel spokesman said Kinshasa was in no position to set conditions on peace talks. The rebels say they plan to march on other cities in the east, and then strike further out across the country.

Since the fighting broke out last week, more than 7,000 people have taken refuge at the Salesian-run Don Bosco Ngangi Educational Center in Goma. The facility is run with the support of International Volunteers for Development (VIS), a Don Bosco Network organization.

Close to 5,000 of these refugees are children and 111 arrived without any visible means of support. Refugees are encamped in various rooms, in makeshift shelters on the basketball fields and in every available space.

“The respite provided will not last,” says Father Piero Gavioli, director of the Salesian Center last week in the early days of the fighting escalation. “If we feed them as we are doing, quite soon we will have nothing left for the 3,300 at-risk children who frequent the center every day. We have had water from the International Red Cross, with some biscuits and a promise of food by the World Food Program.”

Refugees have organized themselves in the classrooms, and cattle have been led out to pastures elsewhere. The Salesian Center is facing various problems of overcrowding and lack of food and medicine. Given the lack of security in the city, trucks were unable to bring the Salesian Center water, food and medicines.

In a recent news release, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos said that the insecurity in the region is preventing the delivery of the most basic humanitarian assistance and acknowledged that many of the communities hosting the thousands of refugees are already overstretched.

According to a UNICEF report, UNICEF driver Mansour Rwagaza saw first-hand how dangerous it was to deliver supplies to the region. He heard gunshots and shelling as he arrived at the Don Bosco Center with 20,000 high-energy biscuits for refugee children there. But he said the risk taken to complete the delivery was worth it to save the lives of children.

In addition to the threat of supplies running low, the threat of water-borne diseases such as cholera is acute. Two cases of cholera have already been identified at the Salesian Center.

As the conflict continues, the Salesians and volunteers remain vigilant coping with the emergency and addressing the needs of the refugees. The volunteers have divided into three groups – the first makes a list of arrivals, the second listens to the refugees to understand their needs and the third looks out for malnourished children who need urgent food aid.

“We counted 2,578 adults and 4,962 children but there are undoubtedly more, because in the morning many young people and adults go into town,” explains Fr. Gavioli. “There were 316 malnourished children who we provided energy supplements to.”

“With regard to the intentions of the refugees, almost everyone wants to go home, seeking help for traveling, food for the first few days and a tarpaulin for shelter from the rain, since they have no idea whether or not their homes or huts still have a roof,” adds Fr. Gavioli.

To make a donation to help the Salesians support refugees around the globe, go to SalesianMissions.org.

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Photos courtesy of of International Volunteers for Development (VIS)

Sources:

ANS – Democratic Republic of Congo – War and cholera. Emergency in Goma

ANS – Democratic Republic of Congo – Goma: like grass trampled by elephants

International Volunteers for Development (VIS)

UNICEF – With children and families on the frontline of conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNICEF and partners respond urgently

Alertnet – Congo says no talks with rebels unless they quit Goma

UN – DR Congo: amid violence, UN officials voice concern over delivery of aid and impact on children

*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 DR CONGO: Salesians Aid Refugees Amid Ongoing Fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo first appeared on MissionNewswire.