Bogotá, Colombia - November 2020 - On 5 November, after months of confinement and in compliance with safety protocols, the educational-pastoral services community of the Salesian Province of Colombia met at the Salesian Institute "León XIII". Bogotá (COB) for a day of training on “Strategic Thinking”. The day began with the Eucharistic celebration presided by Fr John Jairo Gómez Rúa, COB Provincial. Subsequently, the key aspects of the context analysis were illustrated, starting with the use of strategic thinking tools in order to adapt the institutional diagnosis of the provincial headquarters to the factors that affect its development. The formation day was animated by Fr Rafael Lasso, COB Provincial Economer; Jesica Lizeth García, Coordinator of the Management Office for Province Development and the Quality Management System; and Hernando Mendivelso, Coordinator of Provincial Technical Formation.

Barbacena, Brazil - November 2020 - During a Eucharist presided over by Fr Sedney Manja, Delegate for Formation of the Belo Horizonte Province (BBH), and concelebrated by Fr Adalberto Alves De Jesus, Novice Master, and other formators, 19 novices presented their request for a Salesian First Religious Profession. The Salesian novices belong: two to the Belo Horizonte Province (BBH), eight to the Campo Grande Province (BCG) and nine to the Manaus Province (BMA). On the same occasion, five pre-novices presented their request for admission to the novitiate and a Salesian asked for the renewal of his religious profession.

Gwangju, South Korea - November 2020 - Adjacent to the Salesian community of Gwangju, which animates three educational institutes, stands the "Martelli Center" of the Salesian Cooperators, which has divided its members into two operational teams: "Gray Team" and "Rinaldi Team". Even during the pandemic, the Salesian Cooperators continued the apostolate among the young, using new and creative methods. The "Rinaldi Team" offers its service on the campus of the "Don Bosco Wee" school, while the "Gray Team" works with the young people of the school's oratory. The "Martelli Center", takes its name from Fr Archimede Martelli (1920-1984), founder and pioneer of the Salesian Mission in Korea: he arrived there in 1954 and, after the opening of the Salesian High School in Gwangju, in 1956, also started the first group of Salesian Cooperators.