Lubumbashi, D. R. Congo – 18 March 2017 – To mark the Feast of St. Joseph a large sports tournament was organized at the "Tuendelee" high school run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. It was attended by hundreds of students from various schools.
Catania, Italy - March 2017 – Matthew is a great friend of the Salesians and of the young foreign students of the Sacred Heart Institute at San Gregorio in Catania. He will be the star of the Telethon to be held in Catania from 24 to 26 March. Matthew’s smile symbolizes hope for a cure for those like him who are suffering from a rare genetic disease called Marinesco-Sjogren's syndrome. This year the fundraising walk will represent the conclusion of three days of music, entertainment and integration. It will be attended by all the boys, and the Salesians and teachers of San Gregorio, all gathered around little Matthew!
Tan Ha, Vietnam - March 2017 - The Salesian professional school in Tan Ha is 250 km north of Ho Chi Minh City, in the Province of Bao Loc. It was started in 1995 by Fr Joseph Chinh, and now has about 400 students and two hostels for boys and girls at risk. Students are offered five different technical courses and numerous extra activities such as music, sports and voluntary work. The school is run by a strong Salesian community of eleven members, with the active collaboration of the neighbouring community of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, as well as Past Pupils and Salesian Cooperators.
Ypacaraí, Paraguay - March 2017 - The Team Visit to the American Southern Cone Region began yesterday, 21 March. The Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, is presiding and six members of the General Council are taking part together with 90 Salesians from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
(ANS - Rome) – Even small gestures can bring changes in the way we consider those who are different from ourselves. Yesterday, 21 March, was International Down Syndrome Day. In Cartagena in Spain, the students of "San Juan Bosco" primary school, were invited to do drawings to express how they see their companions with this syndrome. The intention was to break stereotypes and discover the positive contributions that people with Down syndrome can make.
Bangalore, India - March 2017 - On 17 March Fr V.M. Thomas, SDB, Superior of the Province of Guwahati (ING) and President of the Conference of Religious of India, was unanimously elected President of the NGO "Functional Vocational Training and Research Society" (FVTRS), which provides training for employment to disadvantaged young people. Founded in 1993, FVTRS has given professional training to about 120,000 disadvantaged young people and educated over 10,000 young people through the NIOS programme. Currently it has several new initiatives in place such as "SKILL NET" with 50,000 members working in 20 states of India to introduce young people to work. In 25 years FVTRS has successfully implemented 963 projects in 20 states of India with the collaboration of about 150 partners.