This year, the charity initiative associated with the competition aims to shed light on the condition of the exploitation of child labor in Colombia. Thanks to the "Give them back their childhood" campaign carried out by "Missioni Don Bosco", the Salesian Mission Office of Turin, it will be possible to support the education of children and young people in the rural areas of the municipalities of Amagá and Angelópolis, southwest of Medellín. Many of these children are forced, from an early age, to give up their childhood and spend their whole days in the coal mines.
The main source of livelihood is the extraction of coal in the district of Antioquia. For generations, entire families here have worked in the mines, which are now semi-abandoned, subject to flooding and explosions due to the high concentration of gas. The mines consist of numerous very narrow tunnels, where an adult would struggle, while children are able to pass easily. For this reason, the children are forced to work braving enormous risks for their lives.
To address and remedy this dramatic situation, the Salesians of Medellín have been carrying out for the last 25 years a project called "Dejando Huellas" (Leaving footprints) which consists of a pedagogical and psychosocial program aimed at about 150 minors who do not attend school (only the 52% of the child mining population goes to school). The Salesians guarantee their reception at the "Ciudad Don Bosco" center, as well as provide food, education and vocational training for older children. The Salesian house also provides training courses for parents of 150 families, which are aimed at improving their economic and social skills and protecting the growth of their children.
On 1 November on Via della Conciliazione a TV studio will be set up for the live television broadcast on the national television channel Canale 5, with the interviews of numerous guests, including Fr Rafael Bejarano Rivera, SDB, from the Salesian Central Youth Ministry Department in Rome as reference person for Social Works in America, and has been the former Rector of the “Ciudad Don Bosco” Center.
Further information is available on the websites: www.corsadeisanti.it and www.missionidonbosco.org
