Nearly 1,400 benefit through partnership between ASAP – Tools for Empowerment and Salesian Missions.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 16, 2023) Nearly 1,400 people in Peru benefited from a donation from ASAP – Tools for Empowerment thanks to a partnership with Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Don Bosco Foundation received the donation and distributed it to seven Salesian organizations in 2022. Salesian organizations that received the donation include Bosconia Technical Education Center, Salesians in Piura, Salesian Polytechnic Education Center and Salesians in Monte Salvado, among others.

The donated tools and equipment have been used mostly by students in technical training centers. Students have access to them during the practical part of their training in courses focused on carpentry, automotive mechanics, electricity, industrial pattern making (textiles), metalworking and agriculture. The tools are also used for maintenance and gardening, and in the warehouse.

Students who have completed their training have also benefited from basic tool kits including hammers, pliers, screwdrivers and saws. Young Venezuelan migrants housed in the Magdalena Shelter benefited from baseball equipment for their recreational activities.

One of the recipients of the donation is Francis, a young Venezuelan migrant who resides at the Don Bosco House for Migrants and Refugees in Magdalena, Lima. As a result of the economic crisis and political persecution in his country, his entire family left Venezuela in search of new opportunities.

More than three years ago, Francis crossed the northern border into Peru and spent several days homeless before learning about the Don Bosco House for Migrants and Refugees.

Juan Pardo, coordinator at the Don Bosco Foundation, said, “In the last year, Francis has been able to study a technical career and has selected automotive mechanics. He has done well in his studies and has been borrowing basic tools while he saves for his own. After learning about the opportunity to receive donated tools, he applied for them. Now that he and his classmates have their own tool kits, he is more motivated to complete his studies and get a higher-paying position. This will allow him to support his family in Chile, Ecuador and Colombia.”

Peru faces high levels of income inequality and has more than a quarter of its population living in poverty, according to the World Bank. Poverty levels are significantly higher in rural areas but urban areas struggle most with inequality, most notably metropolitan Lima. Poverty in the country is made worse by a shortage of productive farmland and a lack of job skills among women entering the workforce, as well as a lack of adequate housing, nutrition and education.

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