Sierra Leone - Fire destroys house of Don Bosco Fambul program hosting 34 child victims of abuse

28 May 2018

(ANS - Freetown) - Sierra Leone is a country sadly accustomed to disasters and the NGO and Salesian center "Don Bosco Fambul" has become over the years a sort of umbrella that shields the many victims of the emergencies the country recurrently undergoes. Yesterday, Sunday, May 27, a new disaster struck only a few meters away from the site where the Salesians work in Freetown, namely in the shelter for the victims of abuse of the "Girls Os" program. It was destroyed by a fire caused by a short-circuit at two in the afternoon. Everything has been lost, but the most important thing is the condition of its guests: only one girl, of the 34 in the house, was slightly injured, with burns on her feet.

The "Girls Os" program (shelter for girls) is one of the nine programs run by the Salesians of Don Bosco Fambul. Its scope is to welcome, house and provide security and education to minors who have been abused in their families, and to follow legal proceedings against abusers. With the participation and collaboration of the Salesian Mission Office in Madrid and the Spanish Salesian NGO "Jóvenes y Desarrollo", it works to reintegrate these children and young girls into a family-like environment.

On the afternoon of a routine Sunday, while the girls in the house were simply enjoying themselves, there was a short-circuit which, starting with the cables above the roof, soon became a fire that destroyed the whole house, located less than 100 meters from the Don Bosco Fambul headquarters.

"The girls ran away, but they could not save almost anything: mattresses, clothes, the kitchen, computers, documents, television …," said Fr Jorge Crisafulli. "Everything has been lost, but the important thing is that the girls are safe, and we will go on as always. I think it was a miracle of Mary Help of Christians that this girl was saved ... We will again need the help of everyone to give them back a home."

Since yesterday afternoon, meanwhile, the center of Don Bosco Fambul has returned to transforming its courtyards into a large multipurpose hall, while several rooms of the center have been prepared to accommodate the mattresses on which the girls spent the night. "At the beginning it will be difficult, but these girls will not lack anything, thanks to the solidarity of all," assure the Salesians of Don Bosco Fambul.

Sierra Leone - Fire destroys house of Don Bosco Fambul program hosting 34 child victims of abuse

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