The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been plagued by intense, brutal conflict for more than 20 years. More than five million people have died — with as many as 1,000 casualties per day, according to some estimates. Sadly, those who survive face collateral humanitarian crises that further...
Read Full StoryGood Things in Small Packages: New Hope for Children in the Slums
January 11, 2018In 2009, inspired by the spirit of Don Bosco, a young Italian named Massimiliano Schilirò launched his personal vocation: to travel the world, as simply and as humbly as possible, in order to learn about, advocate for, and improve the circumstances of marginalized children and families. This past...
Addressing Chronic Hunger on a Global Level
November 6, 2017A staggering one in nine people worldwide go to bed hungry and many are in imminent risk of starvation. Environmental and economic conditions have created an unprecedented food-shortage crisis in more than 50 countries worldwide. Worse, due to skyrocketing costs and pervasive poverty, far too many...
Providing Tools for Success
November 6, 2017Growing up in the suburbs of San Salvador, El Salvador, young Carlos faced a grim future. And it’s no wonder: as one of the most violent countries in Central America, El Salvador has entrapped nearly 60,000 young people into gang-related and other criminal activity that becomes almost impossible...
Hope for People Arriving at Mexico’s Border
November 6, 2017At the height of Central America’s migrant crisis, tens of thousands of people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras fled to the United States border, desperately seeking refuge from brutal violence and unbearable poverty. In 2016 alone, nearly 47,000 unaccompanied children (and more than...
Bringing Dignity to the Slums of Santiago
October 2, 2017Dozens of families live on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile, crammed into “Camp Giappone” — a filthy shantytown built with materials scavenged from a nearby landfill. “You can breathe the segregation and inequality here; it’s as acrid as burning garbage,” observe our Salesian...
Clean Water for Tanzania
October 2, 2017In Tanzania, safe drinking water is scarce. Residents who do not live near one of the country’s three major lakes — Victoria, Tanganyika, or Malawi — must rely on water that is often contaminated with toxic waste. This situation disproportionately affects the more than 18 million people who...
Scoring New Opportunities for Migrant Youth in India
October 2, 2017In India, approximately 450 million people — or 37.5 percent of the country’s population — have streamed from the rural countryside into major cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in recent years. Most of these “internal migrants” are between the ages of 16 and 40, searching for better...