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SALESIAN MISSIONS has been addressing sustainable
developmentthrough the many aspects of education, vocational
training, and community mobilization as well as providing food
security for youth in the community. According to the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there are over
850 million people who are undernourished around the world, about
half of whom are children. Undernourishment, a direct consequence
of poverty and lack of food resources, affects health and well being
as well as the ability to be productive. Particularly in low income
countries, growth and development is the sustainable and
long-term way to promote poverty alleviation and food security.
Salesian Missions directly participates in feeding the children
with foods provided by the U.S. Government and private donors
and is constantly involved in operations to obtain commodities as
gifts-in-kind and provide meals to the youth and the communities around the world in which Salesian Missions works.
• In CAMBODIA, Salesian Missions manages a school feeding
activity with the primary objective of keeping 22,000 children
in school and out of the child labor markets. The program
uses USDA-donated rice, oil, fish, TSP (textured soy protein),
and soy milk produced from USDA soybeans. Salesians
first started providing meals to Cambodian children at
schools in the refugee camps along the Thai border and
have expanded their programs since.
• In HAITI, the Breedlove program,
funded by the USAID (United States
Agency for International Development),
has been one of many donor-funded
global programs operated by
Salesians worldwide to secure and
provide daily meals to the youth.
Breedlove took place at the Petites
Ecoles of Father Bohnen, a network
of 182 primary public schools
including two of the most impoverished
areas in the world. Breedlove
dehydrated vegetable soup blend
was served with rice and beans as
the daily lunch for over 26,000
students for the entire school year,
providing them the energy and
daily nutrition they needed to be
healthy and productive students.
Similarly, other programs provide
supplementary nutrition to underprivileged
youth who, in turn, are
more effective in furthering their
education and attaining increased
school retention rates. |
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