Faced with this gloomy economic outlook, Salesian missionaries in the region want to ensure that services remain robust and best meet the needs of youth and the local economies. In response, VIA Don Bosco, located in San Salvador, El Salvador held a collaborative meeting in early 2016, bringing together missionaries and teachers from Salesian vocational and technical schools from El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.

“The meeting served to share best practices and new initiatives to addressing common problems,” says Anabella Burgos, job coordinator of the Salesian-run Ricaldone Technical Institute in San Salvador, El Salvador. “We wanted to share the most significant achievements in each of the countries. After all, we want to work together, since we are all from Salesian environments and we work for youth in need.”

The meeting aimed to strengthen the services offered by the Salesian centers and focused on management capabilities and best practice, both with regard to effective strategies for employment and self-employment. The goal is to learn from programs that are working successfully and to work together to address ongoing challenges.

For example, in El Salvador close to 35 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to the World Bank. Youth in El Salvador are confronted not only with poverty, but with instability, high levels of violence and inadequate access to educational opportunities. Despite ranking high for economic indicators, the need for practical education in the country is more important than ever with 12 percent of youth ages 15-24 unemployed and 41 percent underemployed.

El Salvador is also one of the most violent countries in Central America, along with Honduras and Guatemala. The murder rate in El Salvador rose more than 44 percent in the beginning months of 2014 when compared to the same time last year. Gang violence is a leading cause of violence in the country and it’s estimated that some 60,000 young people have gang affiliation. Gang involvement often offers a sense of family and belonging that counters the lack of education and employment opportunities offered in the country.

Within the country, Salesian missionaries operate primary and secondary schools as well as vocational, technical and university education. Don Bosco University, located in San Salvador, is working to provide opportunities for advanced education and employment for disadvantaged youth in El Salvador. Approximately 6,000 students are enrolled at the University which maintains a strong link to the local employment sector through research, technology transfer programs, continuing education courses and consultancy services. Degree programs are offered in engineering, social sciences, humanities, economics, technology and aeronautics, among others. Don Bosco University was the first university accredited at a national level that is part of the worldwide Salesian University Network.

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PHOTO: ANS

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Sources:

Salesian Missions

ANS – Youth Employment – some concrete responses

International Labour Organization – Unemployment rate in Latin America and the Caribbean could rise 0.2 percentage point

The post EL SALVADOR: Salesian Missionaries Meet to Discuss Education to Combat Growing Youth Unemployment in Latin America first appeared on MissionNewswire.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sources:

ANS – Colombia – The Salesians, contract for employment

World Bank – Colombia

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