Giving hope to millions of youth around the globe
Giving hope to millions of youth around the globe
Malawi is the fourth poorest country in the world, with 70% of its population living on less than $2.15 a day, according to the World Bank. Located in southeast Africa, Malawi is a landlocked country bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique to the east, south and west.
Agriculture is a central part of Malawi’s economy but land distribution is unequal and crops are highly vulnerable to the region’s frequent droughts. Few houses have piped water and less than one in 10 Malawians has access to electricity. Water is collected from wells or streams and most people cook over an open fire. Malawians deal with hunger and malnutrition on a daily basis. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, 45% of the country’s children under age 5 are stunted due to a lack of adequate nutrition. Many children also lack educational opportunities and have few options for improving their circumstances.
Salesian missionaries operate a parish and primary and secondary school, as well as facilitate technical skills training for disadvantaged youth in Nkhotakota, a town in the central region of Malawi. Over the past 20 years, the Salesian school has tripled the number of students accessing education. Today, 2,700 students attend the school.
Educating poor youth in Malawi has been an important goal for Salesian missionaries in the country. It is the primary way poor youth are able to break the cycle of poverty and have hope for a brighter future. Being able to attend school in a safe and comfortable environment is one step in ensuring youth are able to make the most of their lessons. Students who finish elementary and secondary school levels are then able to advance on to technical skills training at Salesian educational centers like Don Bosco Youth Technical Institute in Lilongwe.
The Don Bosco Youth Center campus in Lilongwe also has the Don Bosco Youth Technical Institute, which offers commercial and technical courses in fashion arts and beauty, accounting, bricklaying, motor vehicle mechanics, hospitality, and information and communications technology.
Thanks to Salesian Missions donors, the Don Bosco Youth Center in Lilongwe has been able to launch a program that offers counseling workshops, seminars and educational literature that addresses the multitude of challenges faced by youth in the region. The program focuses on life skills training and the avoidance of high-risk behavior such as substance abuse and gang participation. The project plan is to enroll 2,500 at-risk youth in this program.
The Don Bosco Youth Center hosts more than 600 youth each day from the surrounding townships of Areas 23, 24, 44, Kawale and Chilinde, among others, and has become a symbol of youth empowerment through sporting activities as well as vocational and technical education. The center conducts motivational evening talks for spiritual and moral growth and also provides leadership training for youth with the aim of equipping them with skills in leading and motivating other youth toward positive behavior and social change in their respective communities.
The Don Bosco Youth Center campus includes facilities for youth development in sporting disciplines and features a soccer pitch and courts for basketball, netball and volleyball. Also on the campus is the Don Bosco Youth Technical Institute which offers commercial and technical courses in fashion arts and beauty, accounting, bricklaying, motor vehicle mechanics, hospitality, and information and communications technology.
Salesian missionaries provided clean water access in the Salesian St. Philip Rinaldi Community. The project was funded by the Salesian Missions “Clean Water Initiative” and impacted staff and students of the Salesian pre-novitiate and the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Lilongwe.
With the funding, Salesians first had work done to clean and re-drill a borehole. The first hybrid pump was also installed and connected to the tanks in the girls’ hostel. Pipes and power cable were connected to the main electricity grid. Additionally, solar panels were installed. The system now works to provide a sufficient amount of water for the Don Bosco Technical Institute.
Funding also supported drilling of a new main borehole. After 10 days of work, water was found. A new hybrid pump that operates on solar and a main electrical supply were also installed along with tower tanks. There is now enough water for the Salesian community.
Salesian Missions coordinated and shipped a container of donated school desks, chairs, shelves, books, computers, trade tools and other school and household supplies to a Salesian school in Lilongwe. The donation was prompted by Brother Robert Malusa, a Salesian missionary living and working in Malawi, who wished to start a library for students at the Salesian school.
The donations came from Salesian parishes and programs in the United States. Br. Robert’s former parish in Long Island, NY organized a book drive and many of his friends purchased additional books on his wish list to include in the shipment. Mary Help of Christians Academy in New Jersey donated school desks and chairs and computers and additional books were donated by Saints John and Paul Parish in Larchmont, NY.
The donation of desks and chairs was shared with Don Bosco Youth Technical Institute in Lilongwe, one of the largest private colleges in Malawi and home to more than 600 students and 30 staff. Courses are offered in a wide variety of subjects including accounting, automobile mechanics, construction, electrical engineering, hospitality management, information and communication technology, and fashion, art and beauty. Prior to the donation, students had to use preschool desks from the primary school next to the Institute.
From Malawi
From Malawi
Students at the Don Bosco Secondary School in Nkhotakota, Malawi can now access books that were once beyond their reach, thanks to a brand-new library. For this small impoverished community, the library is more than just a collect
The Salesian ‘Clean Water Initiative’ makes building wells a priority. NEW ROCHELLE, NY (Oct. 15, 2025) Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins the international community in celebratin
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Salesian Missions includes agriculture in its vocational training programs – to ensure that youth of Rwanda learn better agricultural practices as well as keep the school self-sustaining in the face of the country’s food shortages.
Salesian Missions includes agriculture in its vocational training programs – to ensure that youth of Rwanda learn better agricultural practices as well as keep the school self-sustaining in the face of the country’s food shortages.
Salesian Missions includes agriculture in its vocational training programs – to ensure that youth of Rwanda learn better agricultural practices as well as keep the school self-sustaining in the face of the country’s food shortages.