(ANS – Badajoz) – One of the city buses of Badajoz, in Extremadura, Spain, has been sent to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Thee it will become a mobile unit that can help thousands of children at risk of exclusion who are living on the streets of the city. It will serve to provide medical assistance, food and psychosocial help.
(ANS - Lungi) - Fr Ubaldino Andrade Hernandez is a Salesian missionary who has worked in Sierra Leone. He was in Rome at the Generalate during the photographic exhibition: "Ebola, and beyond Ebola". His testimony is a sign of trust in God. He says that in those strange days of the epidemic they were living with "a real fear of death” but they decided to stay there as parents for many abandoned children." Looking at the pictures of the exhibition, the memories came to mind, and his eyes paused to remember his experiences. "Staying was the best option."
(ANS - Freetown) - The problem of street children, even after many years of efforts, continues to be a difficult issue to deal with, both by the Government and by institutions working for the protection of minors. Last December, 28 children who had been housed at the Salesian centre "Don Bosco Fambul" in Freetown, Sierra Leone, were happily welcomed back into their families. Following that, staff from the Salesian house went out to the streets looking for other vulnerable children and suggesting the Salesian rehabilitation programme to them.
(ANS – Freetown) – Suntia is a girl accommodated in the “Girls Shelter” of Don Bosco Fambul house in Freetown. She came in contact with Don Bosco when she was having a tough time with her father. “During this period I was selling different types of items just to raise money for our upkeep and to cover the rent. Subsequently, I was going around with a placard begging the people for money. Unfortunately, my biological father abused me sexually”. This is the story of her suffering and rebirth.
(ANS – Freetown) – On the evening of Thursday 1st December a fire outbreak completely destroyed “Angola Town”, a slum in front of Don Bosco Fambul. The slum served as a residence for 300 families and approximately 1500 people, most of them children and youngsters. Don Bosco Fambul – which stands just a street away from the slum – was saved thanks to the orientation of the wind and to the intervention of Mary Help of Christians.
(ANS - Freetown) - Two years ago the World Health Organization declared that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was over. The epidemic caused about 4,000 deaths and over 14,000 cases of infection. Two years later Sierra Leone has fallen into oblivion. This country experienced one of the longest and cruellest civil wars, and yet the Salesians have always remained close to the people and to young people.
PHOTO GALLERY
INTERVIEWS
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RMG – “Do Elderly Salesians have a role in the Digital Culture?”The answer in the letter “Sharing wisdom and hope in digital culture” from the General Councillor for Social Communication
(ANS – Rome) – In view of the current digital reality, and due to the presence, especially in some regions of the Salesian world, of a large number of elderly Salesians, the General Councillor for Social Communication, Fr Gildasio Mendes, has decided to dedicate a special letter to them, entitled: "Sharing wisdom and hope in digital culture". Here is how he explains to ANS readers today the origins, significance and perspectives of this document.
EDITORIAL
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Myanmar – Tragedy of Innocent Children in the midst of Armed Conflicts(ANS – Naypyidaw) - Myanmar finds itself immersed in profound grief and anguish as innocent lives, particularly those of children, continue to be mercilessly lost in the enduring armed conflicts. Families are left devastated by the tragic loss of their loved ones while the relentless violence shows no signs of abating. This week, a heartfelt plea from Myanmar reached our community, shedding light on the heart-wrenching death of a young girl Juliet in a military airstrike, prompting a unified call for prayers and action.
EVENTS
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Italy – Artificial Intelligence and "The Oratory". Two events for reflection and debate at UPS(ANS – Rome) – The Faculty of Social Communication Sciences (FSC) of the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS), based in Rome, is promoting two events in May, the month in which the World Day of Social Communications is celebrated (this year, Sunday 12th) as well as the anniversary of the charismatic Letter from Rome by Don Bosco (10 May). They will explore the dimension of communication in its current and future panorama and the continuing relevance of the Salesian presence among young people at risk. These issues will be addressed through the presentation of a book on "Artificial Intelligence. In search of humanity", Thursday 16 May 2024, and the screening of the film "The Oratory", Friday 17th.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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RMG – 16 May 1887: Don Bosco's weeping, the Sacred Heart and unwavering faith in Divine Providence(ANS – Rome) – On 16 May 1887, Don Bosco celebrated his first and only Mass at the altar of Mary Help of Christians at the church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Castro Praetorium, in Rome, the church whose construction cost him so much effort and suffering in the last years of his life. In that Mass, interrupted by tears 15 times, Don Bosco, now close to the end of his mortal life, had the grace to understand the entire journey made in the thousand apostolates and in the infinite initiatives for young people throughout his life, and his childhood Dream suddenly became clear to him, thus also giving fulfilment to the prophetic affirmation of that dream: "In due time you will understand everything".
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
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MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS FROM HERE TO THE WORLDTHE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Card. Ángel Fernández Artime
Dear readers of the Salesian Bulletin,
My affectionate and cordial greetings during this Easter season. In a world in turmoil, agitated by armed conflicts and no small amount of violence, we continue to declare, announce, and proclaim that Jesus is Lord, raised by the Father, and that he LIVES. We strongly need His Presence in hearts willing to welcome Him.