Casa Valdocco is the newest Salesian social work in the "St. Joseph" Province of Uruguay (URU) and is a 24-hour reception center capable of housing 35 children between the ages of 5 and 12 who receive assistance from the state in communion with civil society. Twenty minors live permanently in the home, while another 15 attend it while being able to enjoy the presence of some family references.

The work, located in Villa Colón, near Montevideo, has as its main objective to ensure that children spend as little time as possible in institutionalized settings, while they can see their right to live in a family guaranteed as much as possible. The project is part of the Salesian Social Works Network coordinated by "Fundación Trampolín," and will be run by a group of lay people from Salesian circles accompanied by a staff of about 25 technical experts in various disciplines.

Last Saturday, the girls and boys of "Casa Valdocco" woke up very early, looking forward to the party that they organized with great commitment together with their educators.

Nothing was left to chance and the children themselves, together with the coordinators of the Casa, Karen Amaro, Claudia Cúneo and Silvana Núñez, took care of welcoming the visitors: the Councilor for the South Cone America Region, Fr. Gabriel Romero, SDB; the URU Provincial, Fr. Alfonso Bauer; Fr. Francisco Lezama, Fr. Daniel Bernardoni, and the lay members of the Social Works Sector; the friends and volunteers of the Casa and the various benefactors. 

The first moment of the celebrations was a Mass of Thanksgiving presided over by Fr. Jorge Pérez SDB, the Rector of Social Work, and musically animated by the team of educators. Next to the cross, behind the altar, was a large banner bearing, translated, the phrase Don Bosco had engraved for the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians: "This is my house; from here will come my glory."

During the celebration, Fr. Pérez invited thanks for Casa Valdocco, clarifying that he was not just talking about the building, but about the "house formed by the people who live in the same place," where "we believe that God is present among us and through the love of so many people who accompany us." In his brief homily, the priest insisted that "we are at home when we treat each other as a family," and the "foundations are the ways in which we treat and live with each other." These foundations were represented on small posters by the little guests of the center and placed on colored cloths on the chancel floor: listening, team, hope, respect, familiarity, trust, and, of course, God's love...

After Mass was over, children and adults enjoyed various choreographies animated by the educators and then shared an agape moment made in the typical form of a children's birthday party; then, in the afternoon there was still plenty of time for games together and two shows in the large theater: a performance by the "Parodistas Aristophanes," which made the children and all those present sing, shout, dance and emotionally move everyone; and the magic show by "Mago Matías."

At the end of an emotion-filled day, the inauguration of the recreation center took place, an event that was long awaited by the center's young guests and filled them with joy.

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