At Gambela there is a great Salesian work which includes a parish, a Salesian Oratory, a school from first to tenth year, a higher professional institute and a hostel for boarders.
The Salesians Fr Filippo Perin and Fr Giorgio Pontiggia have been working in the Pugnido mission for several years. There, the temperature is over 40 ° C every day, and malaria is widespread. There is no running water, there are no public services. People live by cultivating the land and raising small farm animals. "They have no TV, computers, newspapers or car! It is a subsistence economy in which people do not die of hunger, but certainly does not bring any development," says Bro. Pettenon.
One good thing, however, is that there are no orphans. When a child is deprived of the parents, then an uncle or a sister immediately takes care of them and keeps them at home. Street children without parents are a big-city phenomenon.
The Salesians run a parish with a church, an oratory, a nursery school, a hostel for 60 boys and girls, plus another 11 chapels spread throughout the surrounding area and no fewer than 6 chapels in the two refugee camps located within the parish territory.
With the help of a generous benefactor of Don Bosco Missions, Fr Perin has installed a battery of photovoltaic panels: now electricity is free throughout the day and even at night, if the recharge during the day is more than the requirements of the work.
Still with the help of Don Bosco Missions, Fr Perin bought a mill, which allows the community to grind cereals. A volleyball court was built and a well dug for the local community.
But the needs are still many. The projects being planned include a fruit-tree plantation in a large plot next to the Church, the construction of a shed to allow the students to eat together indoors and a multipurpose hall for the needs of the community.
