India – A Program to Ensure Children's Safety and Well-being
Davanagere, India – February 2025 – One of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most well-known quotes states: "The greatest tragedy of our time is not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people." To prevent passive indifference toward children in distress and to encourage active and vigilant community members, a training session was organized for over 100 municipal sanitation workers in Davanagere, Karnataka. The event, held on February 28, was conceptualized and implemented by the Child Safety Net team of BREADS—the Planning and Development Office of the Salesian Province of India-Bangalore—in collaboration with the Davanagere municipality. The session highlighted how sanitation workers, who frequently operate in public spaces, schools, and neighborhoods, are uniquely positioned to notice situations that might go unnoticed by others. Fr. Regi Jacob, Director of DBCLM (Don Bosco Centre for Learning and Management), emphasized the importance of child protection laws and the crucial role that local communities can play in safeguarding children. Additionally, the training equipped participants with the ability to recognize signs of child abuse and intervene when necessary. By the end of the session, attendees expressed greater awareness and confidence in their ability to protect children in vulnerable situations.