Don Bosco My Thuan Center organizes sports festival for 265 students from the technical school

(MissionNewswire)  Don Bosco My Thuan Center, located in Vinh Long, Vietnam, organized a sports festival to celebrate spring 2022. The event, titled “Spring of love – Spring of gratitude,” was attended by 265 students from the technical school who competed in nine sports.

Salesian missionaries see value in sports education and programming. Sports programs teach youth both on and off the field. Learning and playing team sports encourage leadership skills as well as teach youth to work as part of a team. Students also learn important social skills and have opportunities for growth and maturity.

Salesian schools, services and programs throughout Vietnam are helping to break the cycle of poverty while giving many young people hope for a more positive and productive future. Salesian vocational and technical schools equip students with the skills they need to compete in the local labor market by offering courses that lead to employment in construction, hotel management, electrical and mechanical engineering, computer science, and other fields. Many Salesian students are school dropouts seeking a second chance.

“Salesian education responds to market demand, ensuring that youth have access to the education that will help them find employment,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Students in these programs have a real opportunity to enter the workforce prepared both in terms of the skills they have learned and in their social development, ensuring a lifelong ability to retain livable wage employment.”

According to the World Bank, close to 14 percent of Vietnam’s population lives in conditions of poverty. The country has seen a drastic reduction of poverty over the last 20 years when the poverty rate was close to 60 percent. Vietnam has also made remarkable progress in education. Primary and secondary enrollments for those in poverty have reached more than 90 percent and 70 percent respectively.

Rising levels of education and diversification into off-farm activities such as working in construction, factories or domestic housework have also contributed to reducing poverty in the country. Salesian programs give impoverished children and families opportunities that are typically only available to the middle and upper classes so that all people can have hope for a better future.

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Sources:

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

ANS – Vietnam – Sports Festival at Don Bosco My Thuan center

Salesian Missions – Vietnam

World Bank – Vietnam