Fr Klement visited the Salesian community in Darkhan, near the border with Russia. He spent some days in Ulan Bator, the capital of the country, meeting the Salesian community, and pupils and past pupils of the school. "All those who are studying or have studied in our schools belong to the vast family of Don Bosco and are therefore required to maintain the values that you have learned here," he said.
While Fr Klement was engaged in this visit, the Salesians of the Mongol Delegation met for the second time with the Mayor of Khutuul, a lively town of 10,000 inhabitants located 60 km from Darkhan, to plan on site the development of the Salesian work there.
Many young people are living in Khutuul, where there is a discreet industrial presence and a good grain-growing agricultural area. The local schools are not enough to accommodate all the children and young people in the city. The three kindergartens and one high school are overcrowded.
For this reason, the town administration looks very favourably on the Salesian work. Two years ago, a simple development centre was launched in the city - the Don Bosco Youth Development Centre. Thanks to the animation of the Salesian Cooperators of Darkhan, with very limited space and resources, the Centre offers courses in English. It has a library and consulting business, and has 1200 children enrolled.
Last October, when Fr Ángel Fernández Artime paid a visit to Mongolia, the former mayor of Khutuul wanted to meet with the Rector Major to ask for a Salesian community in the country. On 2 May, the newly elected mayor met Fr Paul Leung, Superior of the Delegation, along with another Salesian and two Salesian Cooperators of Darkhan, to confirm their request for citizenship and to have a permanent Salesian presence in Khutuul.
