Students provided with 3 daily meals so they can focus on their studies.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (June 5, 2023) Students attending Don Bosco Technical School in Gatenga, Rwanda, received nutritional support thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The support, which covered from January to May 2023, provided for the purchase of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner at the school.

Don Bosco Gatenga was established in 1976 to help orphans and disadvantaged street youth gain an education. Currently, the school has 366 students, and from that total, 289 students live in conditions of poverty and receive meals at the school.

The funding ensured proper nutrition so students could focus on their studies and had the motivation to learn. Often, the meals students receive at the school are the only meals they have in a day. As a result of this donation, the learning environment improved, and students and staff were more focused on their tasks.

The school also has an organic farm. During this first part of 2023, the number of vegetables planted in the garden increased due to more space that became available for the farm.

A Salesian missionary at the school said, “Don Bosco Gatenga school staff and the whole Salesian community, including students and their families, are grateful and happy for the donor support and thinking of the youth in need here. We extends our thanks to all the donors.”

After bravely overcoming the trauma of the 1994 genocide, Rwandans looking to transform their country have made remarkable progress. Still, much remains to be done. Close to 39% of Rwandans live in poverty, according to the World Bank. Rwanda is a rural, agrarian country with about 35% of the population engaged in subsistence agriculture with some mineral and agro-processing. Many of the country’s orphaned children are the tragic result of a violent civil war. Half of all children drop out of primary school and 2.2 million people — 22% of the population — face critical food shortages.

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