Lycée Don Bosco in Buterere receives donor funding from Salesian Missions.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (March 8, 2022) A new secondary school, known as Lycée Don Bosco in Buterere, Burundi, received funding for materials to build 100 desk benches and 600 books thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The school, which is operating in an unused vocational training center, is educating 165 students.

“The school needed educational materials and someplace for the students to sit while learning their lessons,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “Donors were able to help ensure that the students had what they needed to learn. A proper desk, seat and materials also bring a sense of dignity for the students in the school.”

The desk benches were created in a workshop to help keep down the cost and also provide professional training to students—giving them hands-on experience and preparing them for the workforce.

Salesian missionaries in Burundi and around the globe provide education and social development programs to help poor youth and their families achieve self-sufficiency and have hope for a better life. Through schools, vocational and technical training programs, youth centers, medical clinics, and more, Salesians are ensuring youth have the services and programs they need to thrive.

Burundi, located in the heart of the African Great Lakes region, has seen more than a decade of violence and conflict which has contributed to widespread poverty, according to UNICEF. Burundi ranks 185 out of 189 countries on the 2017 United Nations Human Development Index and close to 70 percent of its residents live below the poverty line.

Children are some of the most severely affected by the country’s rampant poverty. Fifty-three percent of children under the age of 5 suffer from growth stunting caused by inadequate food, low-quality diet, poor infant feeding practices, poor household management of childhood diseases and the general decline of the country’s health system.

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