Our story begins in Europe, when — in 1859 — Saint John “Don” Bosco, first began working with unemployed and marginalized youth in Turin, Italy. Guided by the preventive method of education he pioneered — invoking reason, religion and loving kindness to nurture a child’s full potential — Salesian missionaries began establishing communities across Italy, Spain, France and England throughout the 1870s. Today, that presence encompasses virtually every country on the continent, from Albania to Ukraine, Andorra to the Vatican. Missionaries operate hundreds of primary, secondary, and vocational training schools, and have developed particular interest and expertise in addressing the myriad challenges of the ongoing migrant crisis.