(ANS - Kinshasa) - La Cité des Jeunes Don Bosco Lukunga is a large Salesian center inaugurated in 1989 and aimed at recovering the most vulnerable children. Located in a very poor area on the outskirts of Kinshasa, where electricity runs in fits and starts and water scarcity is a constant on a daily basis, this Salesian center wants to offer a chance for the future to all the area's children and young people who do not have access to basic education as they come from very poor, disintegrated families who live in inhuman conditions.
(ANS - Madrid) - Rachel is only one month old. Her mother died during childbirth and her grandmother has nothing but tea with which to nourish her. Cilanda was accused of witchcraft, thrown out of the house and abused. Meanwhile, Odia's mother beat her because she cried too much. They are survival stories, like those of Angel, Dayana, Aime ... Stories of struggle that take place every day in Mbuji Mayi, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the Salesians take care of over 150 children of all age in their reception center.
Island Dawson, Chile - 1911 - Fr Maggiorino Borgatello (1857-1929) and several Salesians pose for the souvenir photo with a group of indigenous children of the school in front of the Candelaria mission. Fr Borgatello sent unique pieces to the "Ethnographic Missionary Museum" of Turin, Italy.
(ANS - Honiara) - Poverty, illiteracy and unemployment characterize families living near the Ranadi dumps, a suburb east of Honiara. The families who live here deal mainly with collecting materials that can be recycled: they dig in the garbage, select and collect them.
(ANS - San Benito Petén) - In San Benito, in the heart of Guatemala, there is a public hospital that cannot manage to meet the demands of the population: it is the only health facility in the entire Department of Petén, a region as large as Belgium, with a population exceeding one million inhabitants. To meet, at least in part, the needs of the most disadvantaged population, the Salesian missionary Fr Giampiero De Nardi, with the help of medical and nursing staff, offers health support to the poorest.
(ANS - Freetown) - Musu was a child when the Salesian missionary Fr Jorge Crisafulli found her on the street under a table in the center of Freetown. It was raining heavily and it was cold for those used to tropical heat. "What's your name?" he asked her. "Are you sick?" Her sad eyes and the pain in her face announced deeper pains than just physical ones. She coughed unceasingly. Fr Crisafulli put his hand on her forehead and noticed that it was burning with fever. That was the beginning of a great story of hope.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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Italy – A Salesian on the front line of the war in Ukraine: "Being close counts, words come later"(ANS - Rome) - As he tells with a gentleness that does not seem to come from horror, he is "resting a little bit" in Rome these days. Fr Oleh Ladnyuk is a Ukrainian Salesian priest who is a military chaplain at the front, among the soldiers who fight in defence of their country and among the civilians who for over two years have seen their lives wiped out. He brings humanitarian aid where the missiles fall and from those places he helps with the evacuation of young people and adults - so far at least 500 people, but there are probably many more. These days the Salesian – who carries out his ministry in Dnipro and teaches History in a state school in the city – is in Rome to take part with two other priests and a dozen lay people from his country in the "Accompanying when Trauma Hits" course hosted by the Pontifical Salesian University in collaboration with the Faculty of Educational Sciences, with the DON BOSCO NEL MONDO Foundation and the Don Bosco Network. A project that aims to provide theoretical and methodological tools to deal with the traumas caused by war.
EDITORIAL
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Myanmar – Tragedy of Innocent Children in the midst of Armed Conflicts(ANS – Naypyidaw) - Myanmar finds itself immersed in profound grief and anguish as innocent lives, particularly those of children, continue to be mercilessly lost in the enduring armed conflicts. Families are left devastated by the tragic loss of their loved ones while the relentless violence shows no signs of abating. This week, a heartfelt plea from Myanmar reached our community, shedding light on the heart-wrenching death of a young girl Juliet in a military airstrike, prompting a unified call for prayers and action.
EVENTS
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Italy – "Education and culture of safeguarding in sport. Towards the establishment of protection and prevention models": PGS conference with UPS(ANS – Rome) – The synergy between the Salesian Youth Sports Centres (PGS) and the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS) in Rome gave rise to the conference on "Education and culture of safeguarding in sport. Towards the establishment of models of protection and prevention", which will take place on 13 April, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., at the UPS facilities in Rome.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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United States – INT’L DAY FOR STREET CHILDREN: Salesian Missions highlights programs that provide shelter and support(ANS – New Rochelle) – Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian and international organizations around the globe in highlighting the plight of homeless children on the International Day for Street Children. The day provides organizations and the millions of street children in countries worldwide with an opportunity to have their voices heard while ensuring that their rights are not ignored.
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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I’M A SALESIAN AND I’M A BOROROTHE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB
Diary of a Happy and Blessed Missionary Day
Dear friends , I’m writing to you from Meruri in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. I write this greeting almost as if it were a journalistic report, because it has been only 24 hours since I arrived in the middle of this Brazilian state.