Syria – Thousands of stories of pain, sacrifice, but also of love, life, hope
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20 May 2019

(ANS - Aleppo) - The Salesians in Syria have been able to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. On rare occasions the Salesian centers of Aleppo and Damascus have had to close, due to the likely danger that bombs and missiles would fall in the midst of the multitude of minors who attend the oratory, which has always been for them an "oasis of peace" in the middle of the ongoing war.

Thousands of children and young people, and many families, are happy for the hope and peace that Don Bosco's family style conveys to them.

The war in Syria has been, alas, going on for eight years. When it started, the Salesians thought it would end within a matter of days or weeks, but certainly did not imagine it could last so long: "We weren't prepared for this situation and we had to continually reinvent ourselves," they say from Aleppo.

The only thing that was always clear was that they would stay with the young people and their families, to accompany them and help them in everything they could, with a culture and education for peace. "They are part of our family and the family is never abandoned," they say.

Everyone, including the Salesians, has experienced the pain of the unexpected death of a loved one. Everyone, confused by injustice, has asked himself questions about the presence and goodness of God, and in the end everyone has found their answers and some comfort in the familiarity, closeness and help of the Salesians in Aleppo, Damascus and Kafroun.

In all this time, in the midst of adversity, minors have had to become responsible adults. "Every morning they greet their families as if it were the last day of their lives. They write a phone number on their arms in the event that something happens to them and their loved ones memorize the clothes they're wearing when they leave home, in case they need to be recognized after a bombing," a Salesian missionary in Damascus sadly explains.

Their faith, however, has grown, so much so that they are an example for the whole world. The Salesians claim they receive life lessons every day from their joy and their desire to live. There are thousands of stories of pain, sacrifice and necessity, but also of love, life, hope and overcoming one's limits.

Today the Salesians in Syria serve about 400 children and young people in Kafroun, more than 1,000 in Aleppo and another 1,200 in Damascus: "Excellent young people, full of life, ready to face great challenges thanks to their unconditional faith," said Fr Alejandro León, Provincial of the Salesians in the Middle East.

Source: Misiones Salesianas

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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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