(ANS – Palabek) – Uganda’s dry red roads lead to the border town of Palabek. During the rainy season, these same roads become muddy and slippery after a few hours of heavy rain. Even four-wheel drive sometimes loses out to nature. Along the road, dozens of children and women carry water in yellow plastic cans, sometimes bowls with bananas on their heads. Residents ask for a lift by climbing onto the back of an off-road vehicle. It is not clear which of them are from Uganda and which from South Sudan.
THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB
This is the simple and silent good that Don Bosco did.
This is the good that we continue to do together.
(ANS - Kigali) - After his visit to Uganda, Fr. Alfred Maravilla, General Councilor for the Missions, drove to Rwanda, together with the Superior of the "St. Charles Lwanga" Vice-Province of Africa Great Lakes (AGL), Fr. Pierre Célestin Ngoboka. Upon their arrival, they were welcomed in the Provincial House by the Salesians representing Salesian communities in the country. During the extended "Salesian goodnight," which included a question-and-answer session, Fr. Maravilla emphasized "the need for a Congregational rethinking of 'missions' in light of ecclesiological development." "Today, 'missions' can no longer be thought of only in geographical terms as in the past. Missions are found in any context where there is a need to proclaim Jesus Christ," he pointed out.
(ANS - Palabek) - From April 29 to May 3, Fr. Alfred Maravilla, General Councilor for Missions, visited Salesian presences in Uganda, accompanied by Fr. Pierre Célestin Ngoboka, Superior of the Africa-Great Lakes (AGL) Vice-Province "St. Charles Lwanga."
(ANS - Palabek) - "In 2015, Pope Francis invited Congregations not only to work in refugee camps, but also to live there. So we Salesians accepted the challenge to be inside Palabek. Other organizations work there, but they don't live there. They leave every day, but we Salesians are the only ones authorized to live in places like Palabek or Kakuma, Kenya." These are the words of Br. Máximo Herrera, a Salesian coadjutor from Argentina, who is a missionary in Africa.
(ANS - Castelnuovo Don Bosco) – Today, in the second interview with the Salesians departing with the 153rd Salesian Missionary Expedition we meet Roger Mbayo Mukadi, a Salesian priest, Congolese, 35 years old, radically belonging to the "Mary Most Holy Assumption" Province of Central Africa (ACF). With previous missionary service experience behind him at Palabek, the refugee center operating in Uganda, he is now set to work with and for young people in Venezuela.
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.