Donors from Salesian Missions provide Don Bosco Agro-Mechanical Technology Center with funding for 1,000 chickens.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (April 28, 2021) Don Bosco Agro-Mechanical Technology Center (known locally as Don Bosco Legazpi), located in Banquerohan, Legazpi City, Philippines, had the funding to purchase 1,000 chickens thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Don Bosco Legazpi is a technical vocational school offering skills training and a farm development program for youth and local farmers to help them achieve self-sufficiency. As part of the center, Salesians have seven hectares of land for agricultural production, known as the Don Bosco Demonstration Farm. On the farm, Salesians teach agricultural production and proper utilization of agricultural equipment.

There is also the Don Bosco agricultural multi-purpose cooperative which facilitates microfinancing to farmers and coordinates the use of tractors and other mechanics for land preparation, planting, weeding, marketing and training. Part of the agricultural production is raising pigs and chickens. Currently, Salesians have facilities for 14 sows and two buildings for 1,000 chickens each. The chickens provided by this funding will produce eggs to sell to generate an income as part of the training program in entrepreneurship.

“We appreciate the funding our donors provided that is enabling Don Bosco Legazpi to have the chickens they need to produce eggs and generate an income,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “Don Bosco Legazpi was specifically opened to provide technical farming education to poor youth with scarce resources, and instruct them in the practical skills of farming to allow them to earn a living and give back to their communities.”

Don Bosco Legazpi offers its students an opportunity to combine theory with practice through its hands-on approach. Students use the skills they learn in the classroom by putting them directly to work in the fields that are part of the center’s farm. They are taught theoretical and practical courses in topics such as greenhouses, growing vegetables, cereal crops, gardening, breeding, animal husbandry and veterinary sciences, and dairy products.

Since 1950, Salesian Missions has been providing crucial help in the Philippines—working with at-risk youth, impoverished families and disaster victims. Humanitarian agencies warn of the dangers faced by the most disadvantaged children in the Philippines. According to UNICEF, there are at least 1.2 million children between the ages of 5 and 15 who are out of school and are being left behind. In addition, children born into the poorest 20 percent of the population are almost three times more likely to die during their first five years as those from the richest 20 percent.

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