"In Mbuji Mayi," the Salesian narrates, "I work on the violation of children's rights, especially the phenomenon of witchcraft. These are children aged between 8 and 14 years. Orphans, disabled, albinos, but others, too... They are accused of sorcery, very often by their parents. Forced to abandon their homes, they find themselves living on the streets. But today, for many families, obsession with black magic is just a pretext for feeding less mouths."
Before Mbuji Mayi, Fr Pérez also served in other locations: first on the Colombia-Venezuela frontier, a passageway for many displaced persons; then, after studying in Turin, Lubumbashi, "where I worked with street kids." "In 1997," he continues, "I was sent to Burundi and later became the director of the Don Bosco Center in Goma-Ngangi. During the war, and in situations of extreme misery and strong social hardship, we welcomed, educated, nurtured and cared for about 40,000 children." For this service, in 2009, Unicef awarded the Salesian Center its International Prize “Children First.”
In April 2010, immediately following the terrible earthquake, Fr Pérez was sent to Haiti. His service consisted of bringing aid, but also to foster a mentality of commitment and support: "I brought hope to many displaced people in the Thorland refugee camp, at Carrefour. I involved people in managing the camp, and everyone had to be useful for the good of their neighbor, despite the situation being very complicated."
After many years of service, in different places and experiences, Fr Pérez looks upon the mission with the broad gaze of the Congregation. "As a Salesian, I focus on the world and missionary dimension that my Congregation represents (...) because we can live in a society of solidarity, in the light of the Gospel."
More information is available on the website: "Don Bosco Missions."
