SPAIN

(MissionNewswire) Emmanuel, a 12-year-old boy from Sierra Leone, has a new lease on life thanks to the medical team of Dr. Pedro Guillén, the CEMTRO Clinic in Madrid and many volunteers. Emmanuel was born with a leg disability and was abandoned by his mother. After being abused by his family, he ran away from home and survived on the streets. It was there that Salesian missionaries found him.

Emmanuel was asked to join Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations. Over the past two years, his life has changed. He has found an environment free from discrimination where he studies and dreams of becoming a soccer player. Thanks to his recent operation, he is now able to walk normally and “be like everyone else” as he has said.

The plan was put into place last summer, and volunteers worked to make the trip to Spain and the surgery possible. Emmanuel arrived in Madrid on April 22. On April 26 he was admitted to the operating room of the CEMTRO Clinic and underwent a successful surgery. Guillén explained, “We were clear that it had to be an operation on the soft parts, without touching the bone, although we realized that the bone was also affected after years of resting the leg badly.”

Dozens of volunteers, including the staff of the CEMTRO Clinic, and university students from Francisco de Vitoria and CEU-San Pablo Universities, took turns spending time with Emmanuel, going on walks, and playing games. A nurse said, “He arrived as a weak child and in these few weeks he has grown, gained weight, and has shown that he is very intelligent and adapts very well to any situation.”

In just a few weeks, Emmanuel experienced things he never imagined, including seeing snow for the first time, attending a Real Madrid game, and receiving a jersey with his name on it from the president of the Real Madrid club. For the past month, Emmanuel has spent most of his time with a foster family and has only gone to the hospital for rehabilitation. He has integrated seamlessly with his new siblings and has begun to enjoy his time being like everyone else.

The medical team will continue to follow him over the next year. Emmanuel will have to wear an insole in his shoe to walk properly and continue to strengthen his muscles. Next year, he may return to Spain for another corrective operation, but in the meantime, at Don Bosco Fambul everyone is waiting for him.

Salesian Father Jorge Crisafulli, former rector of Don Bosco Fambul and now provincial of the new Africa Nigeria Niger Province, said, “Thank you to all those who make these miracles possible. The world is a little more beautiful with each of these boys and the miracle of Don Bosco Fambul continues. We are all together part of this dream and we are the miracle in motion.”

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ANS – Spain – Emmanuel, Freetown street boy whose life has changed thanks to a leg operation

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries with St. Augustine’s Parish, located in the Dworzak community within Freetown, Sierra Leone, have partially completed construction of a new church thanks to donor funding provided by Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Salesians are seeking additional funding to finalize the project.

With the additional funding, the next phase of the project will include electrical, plumbing, floors, walls and painting. Once completed, the church will be able to accommodate 800 parishioners indoors for celebrating liturgies and holy Masses. There will also be a youth center for children when schools are on holiday. The parish currently has two schools, St. Augustine’s Pre-School and St. Augustine’s Primary School.

St. Augustine’s Parish is one of the poorest parishes in the Archdiocese of Freetown and parishioners are making personal efforts to bring the building to completion. As the number of parishioners and the size of the community have increased, Salesian missionaries embarked on a multi-phase project to expand their outgrown church.

“We appreciate the funding donors have provided to date to help with the construction of this church,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “With the construction of the building, Salesians in Sierra Leone are now in need of funding to finish the internal parts of the church to make it operational for the community. Our donors are generous and we hope to provide the funding to finalize this project.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Don Bosco Fambul, located in the capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations — offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations and located in Freetown, has received the “Solidarity Project Award” from the Spanish daily newspaper ABC. Don Bosco Fambul receives the support of the Salesian Missions Office in Madrid, and this partnership is highlighted in the award. Don Bosco Fambul has been awarded 40,000 euros.

Don Bosco Fambul won for the Girls Os+ program, which provides support and recovery for underage girls who are victims of sexual violence and abuse and forced into prostitution. Since the program was launched five years ago, it has changed the lives of more than 600 girls and given them the opportunity to start a new life and access education.

The project began by accident when Father Jorge Crisafulli asked a group of underage girls forced to be prostitutes on the streets if they wanted to change their lives. He was able to create a new program inside an already thriving organization. Don Bosco Fambul has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces. They engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s successful programs.

To support the Girls Os+ program, Don Bosco Fambul launched a therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. It’s the only program of its kind in West Africa that enables girls to live in a safe environment to overcome their traumas and start a new life.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers, and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access services at the shelter are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

“I am very grateful for this award, which gives recognition to all the work behind it including support from Salesian Missions in Madrid, social workers, nurses, and psychotherapists. It is a daily miracle to see these girls come back and smile. This means that they have overcome their traumas and are working on leading full lives,” said Fr. Crisafulli.

In 2018, Salesian Missions Madrid produced the documentary “Love” which showed the work of Don Bosco Fambul’s efforts to help these young women. Fr. Crisafulli said, “We succeeded in getting the minors to be seen for what they are, victims and not perpetrators. Thanks to the documentary and the testimony of young women at European institutions, Sierra Leone’s president decreed a national emergency on child sexual abuse, and laws were changed in the country to benefit and protect young victims.”

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ANS – Spain – “ABC Awards” for solidarity acknowledge success of Salesian project to save girls from prostitution in Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian Father Philip Gboa has launched a new Climate Club in Lungi, a small coastal town in the Port Loko District of the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The club will be open to the more than 6,000 youth in the local Salesian schools and youth center and will have a focus on environmental education and activities. The goal is to start the club with at least 60 youth. Ten volunteer teachers at St. Augustine Agricultural Secondary and Junior Secondary Schools will facilitate the program,

“When the world is talking about climate change and environmental impact, it’s not being talked about here,” said Fr. Gboa. “People throw garbage around and don’t really care about the environment much. They cut down trees for no reason. There are plastic bags littered all over. We have beaches but no one uses them because they are so dirty. As a result, we have diseases like cholera and typhoid, and something needs to change. It’s not just the parents who are impacted, it’s the children too.”

While there have been some initiatives launched by the government, such as a last Saturday of the month cleanup, Fr. Gboa reports that the environment doesn’t stay clean long. He wants to teach children how to care for the environment and instill in them the knowledge of why it’s so important in order to have the greatest long-term impact.

Fr. Gboa said, “It occurred to me that people may litter because they have never been taught to care about the environment. So, this is the time now to teach our young people. If we teach them in schools, they will go and teach others as they go to universities or back home with their parents. They will be able to share about the Climate Club, what they are learning and the importance of not destroying the environment. The young people have to be the ambassadors.”

The Climate Club will run three days a week and offer youth educational sessions and activities that will teach them about the environment and allow them to put those lessons into action. As an incentive to take part, Fr. Gboa said that youth who become ambassadors will be eligible for financial support to cover 50 percent of their university fees.

“There are many intelligent and motivated youth who want to continue their studies after secondary school but who cannot afford to go to university,” added Fr. Gboa. “If they become ambassadors in the Climate Club, we will help them financially to continue their education. They will never forget the lessons they learned in the club and know that it was the club that helped them be able to continue school. They will also pay that forward by teaching others what they have learned.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Don Bosco Fambul, located in the capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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Photo from video courtesy of Salesians of Lungi, Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) The Salesian Missions Office in Madrid, Spain, has launched the “Innocence behind bars” campaign in collaboration with the new documentary “Libertad,” directed by filmmaker Raúl de la Fuente. The campaign and documentary shed light on the daily life of youth in the Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but currently has more than 1,300 inmates. Overcrowding and a lack of clean water and proper hygiene, in addition to a lack of medical care, contribute to the persistent spread of disease and illness among the inmates, which have led to deaths.

Salesian missionaries visit the prison and provide food and water for young inmates while also offering counseling services, medical assistance and therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms end. Through the prison program, missionaries reach 250 inmates.

The message of the new campaign and documentary goes beyond this one prison and aims to highlight the more than 1.2 million minors in the world who are deprived of their freedom in prisons, police stations and detention centers.

According to the documentary, most of these youth are there without a trial and without criminal records. Some are imprisoned for sleeping on the street. They do not receive legal assistance, often no one knows they are there, and they share cells with adults accused of violent crimes and sexual assaults.

These youth are deprived of their freedom and see their rights systematically violated. They are treated like criminals when what they need is social support and assistance. Some die without hope or stop eating because they lose the will to live.

Salesian missionaries around the globe help to support these youth, offering them legal and spiritual support and health care, food, and education with the aim to have them more easily be able to reintegrate into society once they are released.

Experts are working and campaigning to find more suitable places for youth who have committed a crime, in lieu of prison, to ensure that children remain safe and have the chance at rehabilitation. The United Nations has proposed sanctions, counseling sessions, social services, probation and supervisory ordinances, among other ideas.

“The great challenge is to understand that by putting an end to the circle of violence we can transform the aggressor’s heart and stop them thinking about revenge,” said Father Agnaldo Soares, a Salesian who works with minors in conflict with the law in Brazil. The goal for Salesians is also to help youth have their basic needs met so they can focus on an education and find hope for the future without violence or resorting to criminal behavior.

“Libertad” premiered Sept. 16 on the Salesian Missions Office Madrid YouTube channel.

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ANS – Spain – “Libertad”: new documentary of “Misiones Salesianas” presents condition of minors in prisons

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, is responding to the needs of more than 600 youth in its programs who were impacted by recent fires that broke out in the suburb of Susan Bay. The fires tore through 10 hectares of land covered with shacks and huts made of wood and sheet metal.

More than 500 houses were reduced to ashes and more than 5,000 people lost everything. Salesian missionaries have already announced that their doors are open to welcome, help, and protect children, adolescents and mothers with small children. They are already providing aid and supplies to those in need.

“We have lost everything,” said Yaikain, one of the girls hosted at Don Bosco Fambul. “We got out as fast as possible as soon as we heard the shouts of fire. We have been on the street, without food, since that day and without knowing where to go because I am taking care of my grandmother who is very old.”

Vast fires in the suburb of Susan Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone, tore through 10 hectares of land covered with homes made of wood and sheet metal.

In just four hours, and for reasons still unknown, the fire spread through the wood and cardboard houses. There are currently no reported deaths, but there are about 80 injured and more than 5,000 displaced.

“Children, adolescents and mothers with babies know they have a safe place to go to at Don Bosco Fambul,” said Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of the organization. Don Bosco Fambul is collaborating in its response with the government, the mayor’s office and other nongovernmental organizations active in Freetown.

Salesian missionaries responded similarly with other tragedies that have struck in the region. They did so during the Ebola epidemic in 2015 when they welcomed orphaned minors. In December 2016, they welcomed the community when a fire in the Angola Town suburb left hundreds of people homeless, and again in August 2017, when the Don Bosco Fambul courtyards became the new home for dozens of people for several months when a landslide on Sugar Loaf hill caused more than 1,000 deaths, hundreds of injuries and displaced persons.

Fr. Crisafulli added, “Many children we had rescued from the streets and reinstated with their families lived in Susan Bay and were impacted. There were many minors from the anti-violence program, saved from prostitution, crammed into these humble shacks. More than 600 boys and girls we serve in our programs have lost everything in the Susan Bay fire. We will help those who have lost everything by giving them shelter, clothes, hygiene products, food and medicine, so we will in turn need urgent help for hundreds of minors.”

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Urgent aid for hundreds of children who have lost everything in a fire

ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul distributes aid to women who lost everything in Susan Bay fire

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Youth Center, part of the Dwarzak Parish in Freetown, Sierra Leone, offers youth a space to enjoy leisure and sports, get help with schoolwork, have a nutritious meal, and find personal and spiritual support in a safe and healthy environment. Salesian missionaries also promote an attitude of service and teach children and older youth the importance of giving back to their families and community.

Thousands of minors roam the streets of Freetown every day. They don’t go to school because they are orphans or have been kicked out or ran away from home and survive by grouping into gangs. In many cases, they come from large families where there was not enough food or space for everyone. Girls and young women are particularly vulnerable on the streets.

Father Sergej Goman is a Salesian missionary from Belarus. In his 40s now, he has spent most of his religious life in West Africa. In Sierra Leone, he dedicated himself to street children and Ebola orphans. For the past three years, he has been in charge of the Don Bosco Youth Center in Dwarzak and has become a father figure for dozens of abandoned or at-risk youth.

Each day up to 100 children, between the ages of 7-18, participate in recreational, educational and spiritual activities. More than 50 youth receive nutritional assistance three times a week, and 80 children receive educational and spiritual assistance six days a week. These activities promote an enriched environment where youth feel secure and free.

The center also organizes sports programming six days a week with soccer and basketball training, friendly matches in Lungi and Freetown, and championship races. Other programming includes table tennis, educational films, performances and quizzes, the music band, and music courses.

“The activities and support provided at Don Bosco Youth Center decrease the risks for vulnerable youth who might otherwise lead dangerous lives on the streets,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This serves as unique space for youth who lack connection to adults, academic assistance and access to safe places for play.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, located in Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

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Sierra Leone – “Don Bosco” Youth Center in Freetown: factory that saves lives with a smile

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, provides job starter kits to young women who complete their education. The young women, who have come from situations of vulnerability, receive training in tailoring, tourism, catering and hair care through Salesian education.

Don Bosco Fambul has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution, as well as to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces.

Don Bosco Fambul has a new therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. Police agencies, lawyers and child protection agencies are working collaboratively with Don Bosco Fambul in the fight to protect children. Don Bosco Fambul’s clinic issues forensic reports about abused minors arriving at the center so that police are able to conduct investigations early.

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter was developed to response to this crisis.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

Don Bosco has also been helping young women caught up in prostitution come in off the streets. Father Jorge Crisafulli launched the program out of Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter in September 2016 with the aim of searching for girls in their workplaces where they are surrounded by alcohol and drugs and at risk of danger and exploitation. The program offers them shelter, health, nutrition, education and wherever possible, reintegrates them back into their families.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This program helps young women who have faced poverty and exploitation to have a chance at a better life. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul promotes activities of newly graduated women

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries with St. Augustine’s Parish, located in the Dworzak community within Freetown, Sierra Leone, have partially completed construction of a new church thanks to donor funding provided by Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. As the number of parishioners and the size of the community have increased, Salesian missionaries embarked on a multi-phase project to expand their outgrown church.

St. Augustine’s Parish is one of the poorest parishes in the Archdiocese of Freetown and parishioners are making personal efforts to bring the building to completion. The church is still in need of funding to complete the last phase of the project, which includes windows, doors, flooring, painting, plumbing and electrical work. Salesian Missions is seeking donor funding to help finish this project.

The church serves more than 700 members of Dworzark Catholic community, and with the larger church, this number is expected to grow. In addition, more than 150 youth come to the parish compound to attend activities at the Don Bosco Youth Center from Monday to Saturday. The parish also has two schools, St. Augustine’s Pre-School and St. Augustine’s Primary School.

“We appreciate the funding donors have provided to date to help with the construction of this church,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “With the construction of the building, Salesians in Sierra Leone are now in need of funding to finish the internal parts of the church to make it operational for the community. Our donors are generous and we hope to provide the funding to finalize this project.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Don Bosco Fambul, located in the capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Food security in Sierra Leone is undermined by chronic poverty. The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population lives under the national poverty line of earning approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Youth Center, part of the Dwarzak Parish in Freetown, Sierra Leone, offers youth a space to enjoy leisure and sports, get help with schoolwork, have a nutritious meal, and find personal and spiritual support in a safe and healthy environment. Salesian missionaries also promote an attitude of service and teach children and older youth the importance of giving back to their families and community. They are being prepared to be good, honest citizens.

Youth in Sierra Leone face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed. Programs facilitated by Don Bosco Youth Center help to ensure youth have access to the services they need to gain an education and to be able to connect with their peers.

Each day up to 100 children, between the ages of 7-18, participate in recreational, educational and spiritual activities. More than 50 youth receive nutritional assistance three times a week and 80 children receive educational and spiritual assistance six days a week. These activities promote an enriched environment where youth feel secure and free.

Don Bosco Youth Center also offers table tennis, educational films, storytelling events, spelling and quiz competitions, and brass band, keyboard and singing instruction. Sports programming is provided six days a week. Youth can take part in soccer and basketball training and engage in friendly matches in Lungi and Freetown, as well as league competitions. In addition to services for youth, Don Bosco Youth Center serves as a training and meeting place for educators.

“The activities and support provided at Don Bosco Youth Center decrease the risks for vulnerable youth who might otherwise lead dangerous lives on the streets,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This serves as unique space for youth who lack connection to adults, academic assistance and access to safe places for play.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, located in Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Youth Centre in Dwarzak Parish

Don Bosco Fambul

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, recently held a workshop entitled “Youth4Life” that focused on issues concerning the well-being and integral development of youth in Sierra Leone.

The event was attended by students from 10 schools in Freetown and touched on various topics including ecology, the need to preserve the ecosystem and taking care of animals in their environment. Other topics focused on the importance of the gift of one’s life and the adoration of God. During the workshop, the Salesian Youth Movement presented about the importance of learning a trade by attending one of the Don Bosco Fambul courses.

Don Bosco Fambul has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution, and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces.

Most recently, Don Bosco Fambul launched a new therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. Police agencies, lawyers and child protection agencies are working collaboratively with Don Bosco Fambul in the fight to protect children. Don Bosco Fambul’s clinic will be able to issue forensic reports about abused minors arriving at the center. In turn, police will be able to conduct investigations early and arrest the perpetrators.

At the core of Don Bosco Fambul’s work is a program for street children. The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to its holistic approach which focuses on meeting basic needs (food, clothing, a safe place to sleep) in addition to personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care. Rehabilitation is a gradual process that includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. The parents and extended families of participants are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Don Bosco Fambul has been an integral part of the social welfare system in Sierra Leone helping youth come in off the streets where they face poverty and are at risk for exploitation. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently and live a better life.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Workshop on young people’s well-being and integral development

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Sierra Leone

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations. The Salesian organization and its staff were on the frontlines of the Ebola epidemic that struck West Africa in 2014. The World Health Organization called it the “largest, most severe and most complex Ebola epidemic” in history. More than 28,000 people were infected, and over 11,000 people died before the international public health emergency ended in June 2016.

The virus is under control in Sierra Leone with few positive cases and deaths, but the threat remains. Close to 47 percent of the population does not have running water and social distancing is difficult in crowded slums.

Thanks to the experience gained during the Ebola epidemic, Salesians started working from the very beginning on prevention and raising awareness of the virus. One of the first steps they took was to make Don Bosco Fambul headquarters a first-aid base and transfer youth who were not infected to the buildings on the capital’s outskirts.

In addition, the bus used in the Don Bosco on Wheels project traveled through the streets of Freetown’s poor neighborhoods during the night to identify and help street children and young girls who prostitute themselves. Even during the curfew, the bus  never stopped serving people. With permission from the police, Don Bosco Fambul was able to go out onto the streets.

“During the first weeks of isolation, we took care of almost 500 minors. One hundred of them have already been reintegrated into the great family of Don Bosco Fambul,” said Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul.

Don Bosco Fambul is also the only institution that works with prisoners, providing many programs and helping to prevent the spread of the virus. After a revolt caused by the confusion generated by the virus took place in the Pademba Prison in April, Salesians had to start many of their prison programs from scratch. Fr. Crisafulli said, “Let us not lose heart because we are the only hope for them.”

Salesians work to help minors in Pademba, many of whom are innocent or charged with petty crimes and are placed in cells together with adults. These conditions led Salesians to negotiate agreements with prison management for their release or for  various activities within the prison. Don Bosco Fambul provides medical examinations of the injured and the sick and has also re-equipped a section to house infected people, transforming the prison chapel into a clinic to isolate suspected cases.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul fights consequences of coronavirus among the most vulnerable

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, has received an award from Action for Youth and Children Network. The organization, focused on the defense of the rights of young people and children, has recognized Don Bosco Fambul as the best humanitarian organization of Sierra Leone.

According to Action for Youth and Children Network executive director Mohamed Awuah Kamara, the interventions of Don Bosco Fambul to develop and change the lives of young people in Sierra Leone are exemplary. He encouraged Don Bosco Fambul to continue its good work helping victims of sexual violence, trafficking, neglect and domestic violence.

Don Bosco Fambul has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces.

Recently, Don Bosco Fambul launched a new therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. Police agencies, lawyers and child protection agencies are working collaboratively with Don Bosco Fambul in the fight to protect children. Don Bosco Fambul’s clinic will be able to issue forensic reports about abused minors arriving at the center. In turn, police will be able to conduct investigations early and arrest the perpetrators.

At the core of Don Bosco Fambul’s work is a program for street children. The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to its holistic approach which focuses on meeting basic needs (food, clothing, a safe place to sleep) in addition to personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care. Rehabilitation is a gradual process that includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. The parents and extended families of participants are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This program helps youth come in off the streets where they face poverty and are at-risk for exploitation, and have a chance at a better life. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – “Don Bosco Fambul”, country’s best humanitarian organization

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, Don Bosco Fambul is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations. It has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families.

The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces. They engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s successful program.

Don Bosco Fambul recently launched a therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. Its inauguration was postponed due to the pandemic, but the center remains a safe and virus-free place. Salesians have already welcomed many minors in need.

The first lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Bio, chose the new therapeutic center to sign the “Agreement against Domestic and Sexual Violence against Girls and Adults”—an agreement among Don Bosco Fambul and national agencies for the protection of children in the fight against violence and child abuse.

The first lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Bio, chose Don Bosco Fambul’s new therapeutic center to sign the “Agreement against Domestic and Sexual Violence against Girls and Adults.”

Police agencies, lawyers and child protection agencies are working collaboratively with Don Bosco Fambul in the fight to protect children. Don Bosco Fambul’s clinic will be able to issue forensic reports on abused minors arriving at the center. In turn, police will be able to conduct investigations early and arrest the perpetrators.

During the signing event, Fr. Crisafulli gave a tour of the new therapeutic center. Attendees were welcomed with songs and dances by the center’s youth. Minors saved from prostitution by Don Bosco Fambul’s program gave Bio earrings in the shape of a ring which she immediately put on. Bio encouraged youth to continue studying and to fight bravely for their rights.

Continuing her visit, she praised the work of Salesians and noted the structure is “undoubtedly the best place to have a therapeutic center.” She also had very strong words against abusers and batterers. Bio also recalled her visit to the United Nations in Geneva to hear the testimony of the girls and teenagers saved from prostitution.

Finally, Bio invited Fr. Crisafulli to be part of her team of collaborators to work for the rights of those who suffer violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking in human beings. He accepted the honor.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, has been offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Young people, especially, face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates often die from overcrowding, illness and violence. All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. The Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but can at times have up to 2,000 inmates. Overcrowding and a lack of clean water and proper hygiene, in addition to a lack of medical care, contribute to the persistent spread of disease and illness among the inmates which have led to deaths.

The Salesians are the only institution that works with detainees. Recently, fear of COVID-19 led to a riot that ended in unrest, fires and deaths among the detainees. On April 29, 237 prisoners were scheduled for release for minor offenses. A few days before that, however, the first case of COVID-19 inside the prison had been confirmed and visits prohibited. Prisoners were also forbidden to leave the cells as a preventive measure, but they interpreted it as another humiliation.

Pademba Road Prison experienced a bloody revolt that day. In the morning several inmates reached the internal clinic and set fire to it. They then circumvented the guards, opened all sections and burned the kitchen, pharmacy, document registry and all the workshops. Material damage, fires, many injuries and deaths were the toll of the revolt.

“There was some damage to the chapel and the Don Bosco room where 225 inmates receive an extra meal every week. The computer room and a library room were also destroyed,” said Father  Jorge Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul, which oversees the Salesian work at the prison.

Some of the inmates who are beneficiaries of Salesian initiatives at the prison helped the guards climb the walls to save their lives. The police and army opened fire indiscriminately. The revolt was suppressed within four hours and the prisoners locked up in their cells. For three days, they received no food or water and were tortured to locate the fomenters. Some, without medical treatment, died in the following days.

The Salesian team working in the prison managed to enter to assess the damage and the situation of the prisoners the next day. The Salesians committed to start feeding all the prisoners, currently 1,421, and to provide medical visits.

Coronavirus has also spread in prison, infecting 19 people to date. Fifteen of them have already recovered and four are still confined. Fr. Crisafulli said, “We brought beds and rehabilitated an area to isolate it as a hospital.”

The Salesians give each prisoner a bag containing a paste called gari, powdered milk, vegetables, fruit, sugar and water. Fr. Crisafulli added, “Gradually the prison officials let inmates out of the cells and they also bought buckets of water for cleaning.”

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The Salesian Province was also widely affected by the catastrophic Ebola epidemic that the World Health Organization (WHO) reports killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa between 2013 and 2016. Ebola greatly impacted Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Salesian programs in those countries were on the front lines of prevention, providing educational materials, soap and hand washing stations, as well as bleach and other cleaning products. Salesian centers also immediately began working with orphans whose parents, and sometimes entire families, died from the disease.

“Salesian missionaries in the West African Province have had many challenges to overcome including the Ebola epidemic and high rates of poverty in those countries, leaving many children and families in need,” says Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “While education is always the primary focus, because Salesian missionaries are living and working in the communities in which they serve, they know the local need first-hand. Because of this and their past experience, Salesian centers are able to effectively launch wide-reaching prevention programs in time of crisis.”

Even before there were many COVID-19 cases in the countries, Don Bosco Network secured its centers across Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and put into effect physical distancing, sanitizing and ensuring staff and youth were safe. Salesians also started making homemade sanitizer and teaching local populations how to make it. The centers also began distributing soap and other sanitizers.

Developing and launching an awareness campaign was also critical. Through Don Bosco Radio in Ghana and Nigeria, information on preventive measures, symptoms, testing and avoiding the spread of the virus were given through online radio stations. Salesians also shared information on their social media channels. Within their communities, Salesians shared banners and flyers to highlight prevention information.

Training has also been key. In Lagos, Nigeria, Salesian staff were taken through training on COVID-19 to be equipped and ensure safety. In Ashaiman, Ghana, training for 15 people were trained on how to make their own masks using tissue paper and rubber bands.

In some of communities, frantic efforts to create food banks are being made. These are in preparation and anticipation of a worse case scenarios that could include lockdowns. Food banks will enable Salesians to support the vulnerable with critical nutrition support, which is needed even in the best of times. With people out of work, many lack the ability to purchase food as needed. Measures are also being taken to assist rural farmers with agro-input to support their farming.

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, Don Bosco Fambul is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and has been on the forefront of efforts to help rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120 including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums, and marketplaces to engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s successful program.

The Salesian organization and its staff were on the frontlines of the Ebola epidemic that struck West Africa in 2014. The World Health Organization called it the “largest, most severe and most complex Ebola epidemic” in history. More than 28,000 people were infected, and over 11,000 people died before the international public health emergency ended in June 2016.

Salesian missionaries with Don Bosco Fambul sprung to action mobilizing their staff and providing information about the prevention of Ebola. Salesian missionaries worked with local communities to provide food aid and education about Ebola while disseminating protective clothing and cleaning and disinfecting agents such as chlorine.

In addition, the organization provided 20 mobile hand-washing basins to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs for use in Freetown. The mobile hand-washing basins were fitted with taps and hygiene-related products. Brother Lothar Wagner, director of Don Bosco Fambul at the time, noted that the mobile hand-washing basins were placed in strategic locations around Freetown to act as a reminder that good hygiene practices are some of the best methods to prevent the contraction of the Ebola virus.

Don Bosco Fambul, with assistance from the Catholic nongovernmental development organization Manos Unidas of Spain, also transformed a school into a home for 120 boys orphaned by Ebola. This unique care center for orphans on the Don Bosco Fambul campus met the children’s basic needs while providing schooling and education on health and hygiene. Precautions around health and hygiene, including a focus on preventative measures, were extremely stringent since the orphans had all been in contact with people infected by Ebola.

“We feel very close to Spain right now, because we know what it means to be in quarantine, to be afraid to go out on the street, to see people die during the epidemic. We lived with Ebola,” said Fr. Crisafulli.

To date, Sierra Leone only has officially reported a few cases, but Salesian missionaries are concerned because testing hasn’t been widespread. Fr. Crisafulli said, “There are only two places where tests are possible. When people die here it could also be the result of poverty or any number of diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis and AIDS. Without testing, we don’t know for sure.”

As a preventive measure, the country’s airport has been closed to international flights, and land borders have also been closed. Public religious celebrations and meetings with more than 100 people are prohibited, and schools will be closed this week. However, everyone knows that as soon as there is a positive case, quarantine and curfew will be mandatory.

Salesian missionaries ensure that they are prepared for the worst. Fr. Crisafulli added, “If or when an emergency is declared, given that the school will be closed, we will transform it into a care and reception center for 400 street children, obviously with all the necessary precautions toward everyone. We are already in the process of launching an awareness campaign and preparing for the emergency.”

Prevention protocols in the African country were put in place a long time ago. However, there are two needs that concern the Salesians at the moment—having enough food to feed the children during quarantine and having enough cleaning supplies and medicines to deal with the crisis. Salesian missionaries are working within their networks to help prepare as best as possible should the country be quarantined. Their focus is on minors who live, work and sleep on the streets of Freetown. The aim is to accommodate and feed them, as well as provide prevention information, health care, educational and recreational activities.

The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population in Sierra Leone lives under the national poverty line of approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin and persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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

ANS – Sierra Leone – “Don Bosco Fambul” draws on experience during Ebola to face coronavirus

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