At a meeting of the members on Sunday 10 April, the association welcomed its new president who was just recently appointed. He is Brother Giampietro Pettenon, SDB, who succeeds Fr Domenico Ricca, SDB, who has been chaplain of the Ferrante Aporti regional juvenile prison for thirty years.
At the meeting it was stated with hope that there are positive signals coming from the world of international adoption, in spite of what is often reported. The members reiterated the association's philosophy: instead of big numbers they prefer to insist upon the absolute transparency of procedures and attention to the child and the family, also in the period after adoption. It was found that more and more often families are being asked to accept older children and children with special needs.
There is good news, on the whole, from all five countries where the Friends of Don Bosco are operating. There was a positive trend in the numbers of adoptions in 2015. The association is now fully operational in Benin, and the way has been prepared for a return to international adoptions in India.
The meeting was also attended by Marien Villamil, the association representative in Colombia, a country where adoptions are still permitted for children with special needs and increasingly for groups of siblings.
"The first joy of a child is to know that he is loved”, Don Bosco used to say. Protection of the rights of children is part of the DNA of the Salesian Family and the principle of subsidiarity in international adoption is one of the cornerstones of the association.
For further information: www.amicididonbosco.org
