Access to education and training provides a foundation for youth to break the cycle of poverty and gain employment. Salesians have been working in Argentina to provide educational opportunities to poor youth through schools, technical and agricultural programs and other services that help youth learn skills to gain stable employment.

At the end of March, the President of Argentina, the Honorable Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, signed a decree for the creation of the Salesian University of Argentina in the city of Bahía Blanca, located in the southwest of the province of Buenos Aires. The decree was delivered to Rector Major Father Ángel Fernández Artime and Professor Marta Pines, during a ceremony which marked the official opening of the university. This decree is the culmination of more than eight years of preparation and development by the Salesian Province of Argentina South and the grant of official approval by the National Commission for University Approval and Accreditation last year.

The new university, set up as a nonprofit, will offer quality education to young people who are looking to continue their academic studies. Its focus is on development and research, advancement in technology, formation of human resources and attention to innovative practices for the common good of the people and the progress of the nation. Coursework will be offered in psychology, law, communication and education, and it is anticipated that additional courses will be added later to meet the specific needs of students.

“For eight years we worked hard to get approval”, said Brother Hugo Carlos Vera, Salesian and academic secretary at the university. “Now we have an opportunity to give quality service to young people in the region. Salesian University of Argentina wants to reach ordinary people and offer education to respond to the problems facing young people.”

Salesians have a long history of working with poor youth and their families in Argentina, providing primary and secondary schools along with trade, agricultural and college programs.

Last year, the Salesian Pascual Gentilini Agricultural School in San Jose celebrated its 85th anniversary. Its curriculum includes lessons in community service, vegetable gardening, cooking, maintenance, music, cultivation of annual crops and tea, fruit farming, zootechnics, bee-keeping, cattle-raising, leadership training and social work.

“Salesian programs adapt to local needs,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian educational institutions teach, train and work with local youth living in poverty who want opportunities for a brighter future. The academic and technical programs offered show how education and training not only benefit the individual student, but also entire communities.”

###

Sources

ANS – Argentina – A new Salesian University

World Bank – Poverty in Argentina

The post ARGENTINA: Argentine President Signs Decree for Creation of New Salesian University first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesians have a long history of working with poor youth and their families in Argentina, offering access to education and training that provides a foundation for youth to gain employment and break the cycle of poverty.

This past July, the Salesians were featured in an edition of the Diario de Cuyo, a daily newspaper in the province of San Juan, acknowledging their work training many generations of young people in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, viticulture and wine-making.

The article took note of the level of expertise demonstrated in the wine-making books created by Father Francisco Oreglia, a Salesian priest at the wine-making and horticultural program in Rodeo del Medio in the province of Mendoza. The article further noted that the teachings by the Salesians have benefited generations of wine producers in the southern hemisphere.

“The Salesians have been working in Argentina to provide educational opportunities to poor youth for many years,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian technical and agricultural programs and other services educate youth and help them learn skills to gain stable employment.”

The Salesian Pascual Gentilini Agricultural School in San Jose recently celebrated its 85th anniversary. Its curriculum includes lessons in community service, vegetable gardening, cooking, maintenance, music, annual crops, cultivation of tea, fruit farming, zootechnics, bee-keeping, cattle-raising, leadership training and social work. Agricultural technical training encompasses one to six years of study and teaches modern methods of farming together with business management.

“Investing in agriculture education in developing countries is vital to a community’s livelihood and essential not only to overcoming hunger and poverty, but also to ensuring overall economic growth for the surrounding villages and cities,” adds Fr. Hyde.

The Salesians operate more than 90 agricultural schools world-wide and 10 agricultural programs in Argentina alone. In addition to agricultural programs in the country, the Salesians run primary and secondary schools as well as technical and vocational programs.

“The Salesians are working hard to educate youth in Argentina and provide them a path out of poverty,” says Fr. Hyde. “The academic and technical programs offered show how education and training not only benefit the individual student, but also entire communities when students return home and share the skills they have acquired or start up local businesses.”

###

Sources:

ANS –  Argentina – “Salesians and Agriculture”. Recognition in Local Newspaper

World Bank – Poverty in Argentina

The post ARGENTINA: Salesian Agricultural Programs Receive Local Recognition for Training Expertise first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Celebrated each year on August 12, the day was established by the United Nations to raise awareness of issues affecting young people around the world. This year’s theme –“Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward” – is in response to the challenges and opportunities raised by the estimated 27 million youth migrants around the world. According to the United Nations, young people aged 15 to 24 make up more than 10 percent of the 240 million international migrants.

Many of these young migrants are forced to flee from poverty or war. Nearly all of them are searching for better opportunities and safer environments.

Upon arrival in new surroundings, migrants often lack the education and skills needed to survive, and many are homeless. Sometimes young people are left behind by migrating parents and face psychological and social challenges as well as greater vulnerability.

Salesians working around the globe focus on meeting the specific needs of youth facing these challenges. From homeless shelters and youth centers for street children to education and vocational training designed specifically for refugees – the Salesians provide not only a safety net but successful solutions to end the cycle of poverty.

Widely regarded as the largest private provider of vocational and technical training—and working in more than 130 countries around the globe—the Salesians are positioned to make a big impact in the area of youth migration. Already embedded in their local communities, Salesians are able to help refugees who are often seen as “outsiders.”

RURAL COMMUNITIES, AGRICULTURE & YOUTH MIGRATION

To fight the patterns of migration that decimate rural villages in some of the poorest places on the planet, Salesian Missions works to develop programs focused on sustainable agriculture while also improving local economic opportunities. By improving conditions in villages, the local youth there are less likely to migrate to urban areas where they too often join other youth in homelessness and a cycle of poverty and violence.

In Kenya, agricultural training has made a significant difference at the Kakuma Refugee Camp. There, a demonstration farm enables training in agriculture skills while producing fresh fruit and vegetables to feed the refugees and inhabitants of the camp. Agricultural skills are also an important component at the Bosco Boys Kuwinda facility. There, students receive training in the raising and care of livestock including poultry, cows and pigs, as well as in the growing and tending of vegetable gardens. Eggs and meat are sold from the farm to help support the project and all of the milk produced is consumed by the community.

In Ecuador, through a Salesian Missions’ microfinance credit program, indigenous and rural populations have access to funds for agricultural and microbusiness activities. Currently, 12,000 people are taking advantage of this opportunity in 85 different communities.

In Cambodia, the Salesian-run Pascual Gentilini Agricultural School recently celebrated its 85th year teaching agricultural skills to poor youth. The school’s curriculum includes lessons in community service, vegetable gardening, cooking, maintenance, music, annual crops, cultivation of tea, fruit farming, zootechnics, bee-keeping, cattle-raising, leadership training and social work. Agricultural technical training encompasses one to six years of study. The school’s students are enthusiastic and eager to learn modern methods of farming together with business management.

WAR, VIOLENCE & YOUTH  MIGRATION

Salesian Missions has developed programs to empower youth migrants with funding support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

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. Since 2010, Salesian Missions has provided a vocational and entrepreneurial program for young male and female Sri Lankan refugees who have been living in refugee camps in 15 target districts in India. In June 2013, 860 refugees graduated from this program. Half of these students attended a Salesian technical and vocational training center, learning job skills in electrical work, woodworking, computer technology and other similar trades.

In recent years, more than 450,000 people have fled from violence in Colombia to neighboring Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama and Costa Rica. Salesian Missions’ “New Beginnings” initiative, which started in 2011, has worked with more than 1,000 Colombian refugees in these four countries to provide vocational and human development training as well as job placement services. Many of the Colombian refugees had few marketable skills but the “New Beginnings” program allowed them the opportunity to start over and build a stable, hopeful future for themselves and their families. Through the program, each refugee student received 260 hours of technical training as well as job placement services.

“The United States takes great pride in our commitment to the rights of migrants to realize educational and professional opportunities in their new homes,” the State Department said in an official statement.

RESHAPING THE FUTURE

“It is important to emphasize the positive contribution young migrants make to societies of origin, transit and destination – economically and by enriching the social and cultural fabric. Most work hard to earn a living and improve their circumstances,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for the Day.

Young people have the potential to change negative societal patterns of behavior and break cycles of violence and discrimination that pass from one generation to the next. Salesian Missions remains committed to providing education, opportunities and hope to the world’s most vulnerable youth to help end the cycle of poverty which builds better lives and stronger communities.

###

Sources:

UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/programme/youth_day/partner.htm

United Nations
http://www.unworldyouthreport.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84&Itemid=180

U.S. Department of State
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2013/08/213041.htm

The post INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY: Salesian Missions Highlights Programs Around the Globe that Empower Youth Migrants, Shape Brighter Futures first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesians have been working in Argentina to provide educational opportunities to poor youth. Salesian technical and agricultural programs and other services educate youth and help them learn skills to gain stable employment. Most recently, the National Commission for University Approval and Accreditation granted approval to Salesian University in Bahía Blanca. This new University will offer quality education to young people who are looking to continue their studies and advance their academic standing.

“Salesian programs adapt to local needs,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “The University will teach, train and work with local youth living in poverty who want opportunities for a brighter future.”

The University, set up as a nonprofit, has a mission that focuses on development and research, advancement in technology, formation of human resources and attention to innovative practices for the common good of the people and the progress of the nation. The first courses offered will be in education, communications, psychology and the study and theory of law.

Salesian staff members have worked for the last eight years planning and preparing for the University’s first academic year which is slated to commence in 2014. Staffing positions have already been decided for major academic programs. Marta Pini will act as rector of the University with César A. Lombardi and Silvia Mesenzani functioning as heads of the Law Department. Héctor Rausch will run the Social Sciences Department and Mónica Rosa Lauría will serve as head of the Psychology Department.

The Salesians have a long history of working with poor youth and their families in Argentina. With primary and secondary schools along with trade, agricultural and college programs being offered, youth have an opportunity to learn valuable skills to find employment. Most recently, Pascual Gentilini Agricultural School celebrated 85 years of teaching agricultural skills to poor youth in the region.

“The Salesians are working hard to educate youth in Argentina and provide them a path out of poverty,” says Fr. Hyde. “The academic and technical programs offered show how education and training not only benefit the individual student, but also entire communities when students return home and share the skills they have acquired or start up local businesses. In this way, students not only help themselves and their families, but also their local economies.”

###

Sources

ANS – Argentina – Salesian University approved by CONEAU

World Bank – Poverty in Argentina

The post ARGENTINA: New Salesian University in Bahía Blanca Receives Accreditation first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Construction of the school began in 1927 through a bequest by the school’s namesake, Pascual Gentilini, who donated the land for the new school. The school acquired its first students in 1931 and has evolved over the years from providing a basic “Farm Manager” course to a more substantial course, “General Agronomist”, to the far more substantial variety of courses offered to its students today.

“Salesian Missions not only provides educational opportunities in more than 130 countries around the globe, it also address core needs,” says Fr. Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions – the U.S. arm of Don Bosco. “The Salesian-run agricultural schools offer more than just agricultural training – they are often part of a larger program that also offers literacy education and other vocational training, in addition to feeding programs for hungry children.”

Today, the Agricultural School’s curriculum includes lessons in community service, vegetable gardening, cooking, maintenance, music, annual crops, cultivation of tea, fruit farming, zootechnics, bee-keeping, cattle-raising, leadership training and social work. Agricultural technical training encompasses one to six years of study and the youth at the school are enthusiastic students, eager to learn modern methods of farming together with business management.

The school, which started with only a handful of students, offered a safe home, an education in farming methods and most importantly, hope for the future. Since its inception, the school has seen much growth and today supports 209 boarding students, 40 teachers and 32 staff members including a lay Principal.

The primary mission of the school is to provide educational opportunities for the poorest of the poor. After youth have completed their studies, they are able to give back and contribute to their local economy. The benefit of training even one student has a positive ripple effect on the community. Graduates leave with knowledge and training to improve the lives of not only themselves, but their families and villages as well.

“Investing in agriculture education in developing countries is vital to a community’s livelihood and essential not only to overcome hunger and poverty, but also to ensure overall economic growth for the surrounding villages and cities,” adds Fr. Hyde.

###

Sources

ANS – The Salesian “Pascual Gentilini” school completes 85 years

The post ARGENTINA: 85-Year-Old Agricultural School Teaches Hundreds Necessary Farming Techniques first appeared on MissionNewswire.