With approximately 30 percent of the population, or 1.7 million people, living below the official poverty line, Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. While the reasons are many and complex, the number of high school dropouts—up to 44 percent in the first few years alone—is...
Read Full StoryOur Mission in Action for Homeless Youth
June 6, 2019Fourteen-year-old Francisco has spent half his life begging for money at a busy intersection in Mozambique. René, 17, once hustled to clean windshields and load trucks in Port-au-Prince, Haiti just so he could eat. And young Juan in Freetown, Sierra Leone couldn’t help himself at all. He had to...
A Real-World Campaign for Positive Social Change
June 6, 2019On a stage in front of their classroom, three students at San Juan Bosco Vocational Training Center (VTC) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras hoist a banner reading No a las drogas: “Say ‘no’ to drugs.” These young men, joined by nearly 200 of their peers, are applying their training toward an...
Moving Toward Economic Security in Samoa
June 6, 2019Although Samoa enjoys a relatively healthy economy, and demonstrates a commitment to social development, many rural residents continue to struggle with the negative effects of wealth inequality—including the lack of livable-wage employment opportunities and gender-based job discrimination. For...
Missionary Cooperative Program
June 6, 2019After professing his faith, Fr. Nesly stayed in his native country of Haiti to serve some of the poorest, most marginalized youth with nowhere to live but the streets. For several years, Father Sean has served hundreds of children living in the destitute, informal settlements around Johannesburg,...
Giving Tuesday Update: Safe Water for Namibia
May 13, 2019We asked, and so many friends answered—enthusiastically, and from their hearts. Last November, more than 200 generous donors participated in our special Giving Tuesday campaign to fund two desperately-needed water reserve tanks at the Don Bosco Youth Center in Rundu, Namibia. Their response was...
From Hunger to Hope
May 13, 2019“I remember the first time I met Vianny,” recalls Father Elie Nyandwi. “I greeted him but he did not answer.” This reticent young boy, from a deeply impoverished family in rural Butambala, Uganda, was so desperately hungry that he couldn’t even muster the energy to smile. Today, he lights...
The 80,000 Legacies of Fr. Anthony
May 13, 2019For 33 years, Father Anthony Thaiparambil devoted his every waking moment to serving vulnerable children living in the slums and on the streets of Kolkata and New Delhi, India. His pioneering work paralleled that of Mother Teresa, with whom he often collaborated. And his willingness to live humbly...