Makati City, Philippines - October 2018 - During the month of October, dedicated to Our Lady and the recitation of the Rosary, the Youth Ministry office, together with the youth groups of the "Don Bosco" Technical Institute of Makati, organized two important activities. The first was the 24th Interschool Marian meeting, held on October 10th, attended by 276 high school students; while the second consisted of a Marian exhibition set up from 8 to 13 October, which exhibited numerous artifacts, a concrete expression of over 50 titles with which Our Lady is venerated.
Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay - October 2018 - The Salesian Agricultural Institute "Carlos Pfannl" has been conducting the project "Reduction of Poverty in the Caaguazú Department" since 2016, with the support of the Don Bosco World NGO and the German government. On October 12, new agricultural equipment, consisting of balanced mixer mills, feeders and motor-tractors, was delivered to 300 producers of Caaguazú, scattered in 5 municipalities and organized in 25 committees supported by technicians, local municipalities and the Ministry of Agriculture. Furthermore, a new chemistry and physics laboratory was set up at the Salesian Institute. During this two-year period, 1,795 people benefited from the project; 25 working committees have been set up; built were 25 sheds for pigs, 25 for chickens and 25 for vegetable gardens; also 25 tractors, 373 pigs, 13,500 chicks were donated.
Vadodara, India - October 2018 - From 10 to 13 October, the "Don Bosco Roshni" organized the "Navratri Festival" - one of the most popular festivals in the State of Gujarat - in which about 600 children from the city's slums who attend the daily lessons of educational support at the Salesian center - participated. The event was held under the aegis of the "Children Education Project", supported by the NGO "Manos Unidas" of Spain.
Lombriasco, Italy - October 2018 - On 2 October, the Salesian Agricultural School of Lombriasco welcomed a delegation from the Salesian Agricultural School in Colonia Vignaud, Argentina, made up of 4 students and 1 teacher, as part of the project of cultural exchange and work experience "Solidarity of Don Bosco - Youth in Agriculture". The Argentine delegation spent a week of training, meetings between students of the Institutes, visits to local agro-food companies taking part in the project, and the discovery of the places of Don Bosco in Piedmont. The presence of the Salesians in Colonia Vignaud dates back to 1903 and the agricultural school developed in the Seventies.
Salelologa, Samoa - October 2018 - On October 14, "White Sunday" was celebrated in Samoa, a festival where children receive gifts from parents and relatives. The parish of Salelologa, at the "Don Bosco College", organized a day of celebration with concerts, sporting activities and dances, which involved over 100 participants among children and young people, guided by Salesians and Salesian Cooperators.
Madrid, Spain - October 2018 - On October 15, Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, the Salesian kidnapped in Yemen in 2016 and held hostage for 18 months, met with collaborators of the "Misiones Salesianas" in Madrid and the NGO "Jóvenes y Desarrollo", offering his testimony of life, hope and faith. During this period, Fr Uzhunnalil is giving various interviews to the mass media. He also plans to visit the Salesian institutes of Madrid "Santo Domingo Savio" and "Atocha". At the latter, on the afternoon of October 18th, he will offer his testimony in an event open to the general public.