Iauaretè is a place far from everything: the village is located 1,200 km from the capital Manaus and can be reached only by river, facing rapids and rushing waters during the rainy season and risking isolation in the dry months due to the low flow of the river. The socio-economic situation is precarious and for the people of Iauaretè there are not many job opportunities.
In this context of poverty, the most urgent need is the protection of minors, especially children aged 3 to 13 years. Every day the Salesians welcome children and teens who are alone and abandoned, offering them a meal and a protected place to find shelter and be able to sleep away from dangers. In Iauaretê an oratory is, in fact, active, which welcomes 300 to 500 children every day, who find a place that is healthy and which protects them.
In this context, the Salesian missionaries have decided to build a welcome house that at the same time will also be the home of the Salesian community and vocational center, open to young people. Fr Roberto Cappelletti, a missionary in Brazil for 14 years, presented a beautiful project to welcome children and young people in a more worthy way. It will be a two-storey building: the first will house two bedrooms with bathrooms that will be available for guest girls and teachers, the meeting and study room, the refectory, the pantry, the kitchen, the laundry room and an external bathroom. The second floor will have 6 bedrooms with bathrooms and the community room. Of these, two large rooms will be for children and one of them can be used for young people in vocational research. Another 4 rooms will host the missionaries.
In this house, 40 indigenous children aged between 6 and 12 can be accommodated.
To learn more, visit the website of Missioni Don Bosco.
