Mission News
In picturesque Nkhotakota, Malawi, Africa — a community of 33,000 nestled on the shores of Lake Malawi — local children spend their free time wandering the city streets. Drawn by their bright smiles, Polish volunteer Patrycja Nabor recently introduced herself to a group of these girls and boys. Here’s what happened. Patrycja served in the…
Through Water, Dignity
April 5, 2018
On March 22, Salesian Missions joined the international community in recognizing World Water Day– an annual event highlighting the increasingly critical challenges surrounding the availability of safe, clean water. With an estimated 2.1 billion people now lacking access to this essential resource, we must take bold new steps toward solving these challenges or face catastrophic consequences. In…
After the Hurricane, Ready to Face any Challenge
April 5, 2018
“If there’s a way to help, we’ll always find it.” So says Sister Magna Martinez, a Salesian missionary serving at Colegio Maria Auxiliadore (Mary, Help of Christians) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. More than six months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, Sr. Magna and her colleagues remain passionately committed to helping the countless families who lost…
Excelling Through Poverty
April 5, 2018
Fourteen years ago, young Eduardo Menjivar Valencia had no choice but to drop out of school and work on his parents’ farm near San Pablo Tacachico, El Salvador. Then, an unexpected opportunity transformed his life — one that has permanently lifted him, and his family, out of poverty. A bright student with a promising academic…
Restoring Dignity to Victims of Abuse
March 12, 2018
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 threaten their futures — with girls and young…
Sparking Children’s Curiosity in Myanmar
March 12, 2018
It sounds like something out of a movie: a young missionary, serving amid an isolated rural tribe, saving a newborn’s life and forever ingratiating himself to the people. Yet this is exactly what Father Charles Sau Thi Han Lwing did more than a decade ago. This single act — a true manifestation of God’s unconditional…
Transforming Sierra Leone’s Children
March 12, 2018
“Look, I already understand: it is not Fambul that changes boys; it is Don Bosco, because he has already changed me.” That wisdom, combined with old-fashioned persistence, earned young Osman a place at Don Bosco Fambul — and with it, the potential to transform what once promised to be a grim future. Like so many…
Good Things in Small Packages: New Hope for Children in the Slums
January 11, 2018
In 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 February, “Massi on the Road” landed in…
Addressing Chronic Hunger on a Global Level
November 6, 2017
A 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 families simply cannot afford to buy even the most…
Hope for People Arriving at Mexico’s Border
November 6, 2017
At 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 70,000 families) arrived from these countries with little more than the…