United States – On International Day for Eradication of Poverty, a look at Salesian educational and social programs

17 October 2022

(ANS - New Rochelle) - There are thousands of Salesian schools and educational centers around the world working to educate young people and provide them with opportunities for the future. On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which is celebrated today, Oct. 17, 2022, "Salesian Missions," the Salesian Mission Office of New Rochelle, invites us to look at the Salesian commitment to combating and eliminating destitution, carried out primarily through service to young people.

Whether it is combating child labor, assisting young people in street conditions, or building schools where children had no access to education, the Sons of Don Bosco are engaged everywhere on the front lines of fighting poverty and offering development alternatives.

The fight against poverty is, in fact, primarily a fight for human dignity, thus the theme of International Day 2022 - Dignity For All in Practice -, asks that we – together - commit towards social justice, peace, and the planet

"Dignity," the United Nations notes, "is not an abstract concept: it belongs to each and every one. Today, many people living in persistent poverty experience their dignity being denied and disrespected. The ways in which the poorest people are treated are a measure of the respect in which human dignity is held in our societies."

"Education is the main way out of poverty," stated Fr. Gus Baek, Head of Salesian Missions. Here are some examples of how Salesians are working against poverty in many parts of the world.

The recently opened "Lycée Don Bosco" in Buterere, Burundi, which operates in an unused Vocational Training Center, houses 165 students. Recently, it received funding from "Salesian Missions" to enable the construction of 100 desks and to purchase 600 books. In this way, in addition to equipping the school with the necessary tools to educate its students, the cost of purchasing materials was also kept down, and the Vocational Training students were offered a direct learning opportunity in the field.

In Nicaragua, also benefiting from the international solidarity animated and collected by the New Rochelle Mission Office were the students of the Salesian school "San Juan Bosco," located in Granada. A new computer lab with 36 new computers was financed for them. The project benefited 287 kindergarten and elementary school students from vulnerable backgrounds, whose parents in most cases hold forth their families with informal jobs. This is a truly important achievement in fighting poverty and providing opportunities for the future, especially given that more than half of the country’s elementary school children and over 80 percent of secondary school students do not have access to the Internet.

Finally, thanks to funding provided by "Salesian Missions," the result of a donation from the "Charles Stewart Mott" Foundation, a total of 316 students from the Vocational Training Centers in Dodoma and Iringa in Tanzania received training in solar energy installation, operation, and maintenance. In this way, students wishing to pursue a career in renewable energy were able to benefit from solar panel technician courses along with soft skills training, field placements, job search assistance, career guidance. Through this project, course students now have the knowledge and skills to develop and implement business plans or to start their own businesses in the sector.

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ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.

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