The 57-page study was carried out by Giulia Traversari, who is part of the MEG’S PDO team, and was conceived as support research for the elaboration of the Provincial Organic Project (POI) and, in continuity with it, of the Salesian Provincial Pastoral Educational Project (PEPSI) 2021-2027. As stated by Fr Filiberto González, MEG Provincial, in the presentation of the document, it is research that "directly concerns the geographical, socio-cultural, economic, religious, and educational area of our Province."
In fact, the research covers the most diverse aspects: who and how many young Mexicans there are, the family, education, the economy and the world of work, organized crime, human mobility, the religious-spiritual dimension, gender violence, ethnic-racial discrimination, health.
In the aforementioned presentation of the research, Fr González states, "so that our action is always relevant, we Salesians are called to live among the young people to whom we are sent, those who live in conditions of greater exclusion, poverty and violence, knowing their realities and needs."
This research, as the MEG Provincial also notes, is in line with article 1 of the General Regulations, which requires each Province to study the condition of youths and people, taking into account their own social context, and to periodically check if its works and activities are at the service of poor young people: first of all, of young people who cannot find a way to make their way due to economic, social and cultural poverty - sometimes extreme; young people who are poor on an emotional, moral and spiritual level and who, for this reason, are exposed to indifference, atheism and delinquency; and young people who live on the margins of society and the Church.
The survey data includes those of the last general census carried out by the National Institute of Geography and IT (INEGI), in 2020, which indicate that "more than 38 million children and adolescents live in Mexico, representing 31 % of the total population." In the case of the population between 12 and 24 years old, the one to whom the Salesians mainly dedicate themselves, with their works and initiatives, "INEGI estimates that they constitute 2 out of 10 Mexicans."
Understanding the information from this research about the reality of girls and boys in Mexico can be a good opportunity for the Sons of Don Bosco in the country, and particularly in the Guadalajara Province, to better respond to their needs and problems.
