Posted April 9, 2008
Cambodia - Diocesan Missions Festival hosted at DB Phnom Penh
(Phnom Penh) - Sunday, March 30, 2008, 3,800 pilgrims from the Catholic communities in the diocese of Phnom Penh, travelled to Don Bosco, the site for the Diocesan Mission Festival: Telling the Story of Jesus in our Lives. It was a day of celebration, witnessing, singing, dancing, displays and drama to explain the significance of the theme.
Bishop Emile Destombes, Vicar Apostolic of Phnom Penh, was among his priests, brothers, sisters and lay faithful and presided at the two hour liturgy. The enthusiastic participation of the faithful was highlighted by the four witness stories from the newly baptized Catholics on how the Sacrament of Baptism has transformed their lives.
Italy – Multicultural Education and Religious Pluralism
(Rome) – There was an international conference on Multicultural Education and Religious Pluralism at the Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta (LUMSA) in Rome, March 27-28, 2008.
The initiative was sponsored by the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Association of Catholic Educational Institutes (ACISE). Several Salesians played key roles in the conference: Fr. Angel Astorgao, Secretary General of the International Office of Catholic Teachers (OIEC), Fr. Carlo Nanni, lecturer at the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS), and Fr. Juan Bottasso, who gave a report on his educational experience with the aborigines. Fr. Barnabe D’Souza, from Shelter Don Bosco in Bombay, was also present.
Archbishop Jean-Luis Bruguès, O.P., Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, introduced the program, explaining the purpose and goal of the conference which had brought together representatives from several Departments of the Roman Curia and heads of Catholic educational organizations from around the world. Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, also participated.
The conference explored theoretical approaches and educational experiences in various cultural and religious contexts, and examined the conditions necessary for real multicultural and multi faith dialogue. The deliberations will surely influence the way missionary work is done in diverse lands.
Msgr. Angelo Vincenzo Zani, Under-secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, who had organized the meeting, drew attention to the wide range of Catholic educational institutions, that includes 200,000 schools with 45 million pupils and 1,300 Universities with 3.5 million students.
Portugal – Web site for Catholic youth
(Lisbon) – On March 23, 2008 Easter Sunday, the Cristo Jovem web site was launched. This initiative aims to meet the information needs of young Catholics in Portugal, but other Potuguese spealing countries will also find this site to be a wonderful resource for their work in youth evangelization.
The site does not provide original content, but rather, gathers together, in a single digital location, various news items of interest to young people as well as other useful resources for those involved in youth groups.
The site has a striking and attractive user interface and requires registration to view all of its content.
The cristojovem.com portal is supported by several Catholic institutions and organisztions, including the Edições Salesianas publishing house.
Ghana – A larger school for more pupils
(Odumase) – The opening ceremony for expanded the Catholic school in Odumase took place on March 17, 2008. It will now house both the elementary and secondary schools.
Teachers, pupils and their parents, civil and education officials, and the Queen Mother, a most important personage in the local culture and society attended the dedication ceremonies. The Salesians were lauded and thanked for their significant contribution to the education of children and young people, operating even when there were no state structures present.
Fr. Italo Spagnolo, the parish priest in charge of the mission station, thanked those who had made the expansion of the school possible and gave a short history of the presence of the Salesians and the growth of their educational commitment.
The Salesians arrived in the Sunyani diocese in 1992 and set up a professional training center at Odumase. In 1995, the center was transformed into the Don Bosco Vocational and Technical Institute with six departments and 365 students from various parts of the country. In the following years schools were set up in the various mission stations of the area, linked to the center in Odumase. Additionally, a primary school with six classes was opened in Adoe in 1995, and the next year a similar one was set up in Tainso. In 1997 six elementary classes were set up in Abronie and in Odumase, along with four nursery classes. Then, in 1998, a school was opened in Asuofiri. In 2001, a boarding hostel for 70 girls was set up in Odumase, and in 2003 a primary school was opened in Sereso.
The work of expanding the school was done by the pupils and staff of the Bosco Vocational and Technical Institute at Odumase, under the supervision of Mr. Yeboah Korkor. Many benefactors from Poland and Germany, as well as Miss Hahn and her pupils, contributed to the completion of the project.
Germany – Pedagogy prize for the KnastKinder project
(Berlin) In a ceremony held at the Berlin Chamber of Commerce on March 7, 2008 a special prize for pedagogy was presented to Don Bosco Jugend Dritte Welt (JDW), an NGO associated with the Salesians in Germany, for its KnastKinder theater project. KnastKinder was initiated last year to help raise awareness of the situation of children in prison in young people. The project distributes the script of the play, KnastKinder (Prison Children), to schools and other organizations. It is also supported by the Tatort-Straßen dieser Welt (World Street Crime) and other German and Philippine organizations involved in defending children’s rights.
The award was made during the Golden Gate film competition run by the Konferenz der Landesfilmdienste, a national organization for the cinema industry, for the educational values promoted by the KnastKinder project.
The play, written by Rüdiger Bertram, tells the story of Jonathan, a thirteen year old boy who runs away from the hotel where he is staying on vacation with his parents. After a series of unfortunate events he ends up, unjustly, in prison. There he experiences first hand the prison life experienced by over a million minors all over the world. These throw away children are condemned to an inhuman life of illness, hunger, violence and hardship, forgotten by everyone and with no hope of a trial.
Thus far, 58 groups of children and young people have worked with the script, putting on about 100 performances in various places in Germany. “It is an excellent way to make young people aware”, said Hans-Jürgen Dörrich, director of JDV, referring to the value of helping young people to understand children’s rights.
The script of the play, together with useful resources for staging it, and a DVD with film clips on the same theme, can be ordered through the www.knastkinder.de web site.
Democratic Republic of the Congo – Perpetual Professions
While the Democratic Republic of the Congo has expereinced much trauma and pain for many years, an oasis of hope has arisen as some young men prepared themselves for perpetual professions as Salesians. They commit themselves for life to helping the poor and abandoned youth of their country.
March 17-19, 2008 a group of students from St. Francis de Sales Institute of Theology in the Salesian Province of Central Africa (AFC) were on retreat in preparation for their perpetual profession. The Lord has provided the Salesians with more native vocations to minister to the people of this African nation.
Democratic Republic of Congo – Bible Days
(Lubumbashi) – Bible Days, an initiative organized in collaboration with the Maria Malkia Institute and the Saint Paul Major Seminary took place at the Saint Francis de Sales Theological Institute in Lubumbashi, March 10-13, 2008. This was the third year for the event.
The theme of the Bible Days was: The Search for Happiness in the Bible. Topics treated included: Social, Cultural and Religious Strategies in the Search for Happiness in the Context of Central Africa led by Fr. Déodat Vwakyanakazi of Lubumbasi University; The Law: a Way to Happiness, Texts Chosen from the Torah led by Miss Elena Di Pede from the Catholic University of Louvain; Happiness, Malaise of the Nations? Reflections on the Conclusion of the Book of Amos led by Fr. André Kabasele from the Catholic University of the Congo in Kinshasa; The Search for Happiness and the Rich Man in Mark 10:23 led by Fr. Paul Buetubela from the Catholic University of the Congo in Kinshasa; The Prize of Happiness. Updating the Pauline Beatitudes led by Fr. Roger Wawa, provincial superior of the Paolini; Happiness in the Fourth Gospel led by Fr. Paulin Poucouta from the Catholic University of Central Africa in Youndé.
Among the other speakers was Fr. Etienne Ung’Eyowun, who Pope Benedict XVI appointed as the new bishop of Bondo on March 18th.
Italy - Art Competition on Human Rights
(Genova) – The Ligurian Federation of Past Pupils of the Salesian Sisters has launched an art competition open to children and young people from 8 to 19 years old. It will be divided into four categories and will help the participation of the very youngest children, by allowing them to submit group entries Inspired by the theme of the Rector Major’s Strenna, the competition seeks to raise awareness of human rights.
The theme for the competition, now in its third year, is ‘H2O... a right for all’. The Regional Councillor for Youth and Communication, Emanuela Viga, presents the initiative in the competition literature as follows: “Water ... an individual and collective right, must help to strengthen solidarity between peoples, communities, countries, races and generations.” Referring to the role of the teacher she explained: “It is our role to open up a ‘spring’, a new water culture, of using, valuing, protecting and conserving our water resources so that future generations will be able to enjoy the same freedom of action and choice that we have. We rely on this resource not for our whims, but for life itself!”
The posters will be gathered and displayed March 31 and April 24 before being judged on May 25th during an exhibition in the Piazza della Libertá in Alassio.
The competition is being held by the Association of Past Pupils of the Salesian Sisters as they celebrate the centenary of their founding. The overall all theme of their centennary celebration is: Hands in the World and Roots in the Heart.
Solomon Islands - Bosco FM Celebrates 3 Years of Community Broadcasting
Radio Bosco FM 89.9 celebrated its third anniversary of community broadcasting on March, 2, 2008, on the plains of Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands.
Young people from the community are engaged in running Radio Bosco FM, the first community radio in the Solomons.
"It’s the first community radio station in the country and it has come a long way in reaching out to the community and making an impact to the lives of the people around Tetere", said Fr. Ambrose Pereira S.D.B. SIGNIS Pacific Delegate and Board member, who spearheaded the launch of the station. He said the aim was to link the communities and give youth a chance to express themselves under the slogan: "Empowering People, Building Community".
After getting a broadcast license in 2004, Radio Bosco started transmitting on February, 27, 2005. The celebration of the beginning of its fourth year included awareness talks, religious activities, song competitions, quizzes, on-air dedications, visits to the studio and sports activities.
Solomon Kilu, a programmer and presenter, said that the station had steadily increased it programs and hours of operation. He said that the coverage is well-received throughout the plains and further up the mountains and the station boasts having more than 10,000 regular listeners. Solomon said that if they can get a stronger transmitter and a telephone it would broaden their reach even more.
Fr. Dominic Kachira S.D.B., the pastor and Rector of Don Bosco, Tetere, said the station is reaching more and more communities, but that they want to do even more.
Radio BOSCO is supported by the Salesians of Don Bosco, Catholic Communications Solomons, the Community Sector Program, SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communications and WACC, the World Association for Christian Communications and many other friends and well wishers.
Lebanon – Hope for the future in the eyes of Don Bosco Tecnique students
(El Fidar) – At Don Bosco Technique, El Fidar, about 25 miles north of Beirut, On Friday, March 14, 2008, diplomas were presented to 20 boys and girls, students in the first round of intensive professional courses financed by the Italian ROSS program. The students receiving diplomas come from an area which is considered to be one of the most disadvantaged in Lebanon, the southern villages which were badly affected by the 2006 conflict. They belong to different social, religious and cultural groups.
ROSS is an emergency program promoted by the Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS) of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thanks to this funding, young people from the Mount Lebanon area have been able to participate in educational and training activities. The special focus of the project was the improvement of living conditions for young Lebanese citizens, who have suffered much since the conflict with Israel in Summer 2006.
Thanks to ROSS funding, the Salesian Centers of El Fidar and El Housson have involved more than 400 boys and girls from different faiths in weekly meetings, summer camps, and cultural exchanges and visits in the past year. In addition a series of activities have been organized to combat social exclusion and non admission to school, promoting courses for 120 boys and girls in secretarial work, electricity and electronics, industrial mechanics, numerically controlled machines, refrigeration and air-conditioning, auto mechanics, information technology, book-keeping, foreign languages, graphic design and welding.
Austria – Beyond 2008: World Drug Forum
(Vienna) – Fr. Barnabe D’Souza, S.D.B., from Shelter Don Bosco in Bombay (a center for street children), gave a report at the 51st Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the state of the drugs problem and work in progress in the South Asia region held in Vienna, March 10-14, 2008. He gave an overview of the issue of drugs and human rights in South Asian countries, and then replied to the questions of participants from other parts of the world. Additionally, he spoke about the growth in the use of pharmaceutical drugs, the increase in opium production in Afghanistan, and the development of new narcotic drugs.
The report was part of the project ‘Beyond 2008’, and was a contribution to the review of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Illicit Drugs (UNGASS) 1998-2008. ‘Beyond 2008’ is also in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It provides the Commission on Narcotics Drugs (CND) and the UNODC with the experience of about 500 NGOs in achieving the targets set by UNGASS and in proposing principles which will guide the future action of all involved in the fight against drugs.
Launched in September 2007, the project has involved NGO representatives from 140countries, led by Regional Lead Organizations. Shelter Don Bosco, Mumbai, India is one of these.
The Vienna meeting, like that in Dhaka, Bangladesh, at the beginning of January, is part of the lead up to the World Forum planned for July, 2008.
Bangladesh – Salesian contribution to the Regional Consultation on anti-drug policies
(Dhaka) – Among the NGO and other institutions taking part in Beyond 2008: World Drug Forum in the United Nations South Asia Region held at Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 8-9 2008, Shelter Don Bosco in Bombay, a center for street children, was present as a Regional Lead Organization.
This consultation was desigend to gather views and experiences of NGOs working in the field of Drug abuse in the South Asian Region and provide regional input to the Beyond 2008: World Drug Forum – to be held in Vienna in July, 2008. The World Drug Forum has been promoted since the 1998 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS), and encourages NGOs to contribute to global policies about drugs. Representatives of NGOs working in different counties of South Asia such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and India participated inthe regional meetings. Shelter Don Bosco, represented by Fr. Barnabe D’Souza, S.D.B., with two other NGOs coordinated the meeting. In fact, due to their vast experience and expertize Shelter Don Bosco was asked by VNGOC (Vienna NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs), CND (United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs) and UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) to chose and coordinate over 100 NGO invited to the Consultation.
Prior to the world meeting in Vienna there will be 9 Regional meetings like that at Dhaka, with the task of eliciting experiences and ideas from NGOs active in the respective Regions in the fight against drugs. The data will be collated and presented in Vienna and help develop new and improved strategies for engaging civil society in the planning of future policies and practice in response to drug related problems.
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