The area of Koko, Kontagora, is located in the northwest of Nigeria, in a vast desolate zone marked by the lack of educative opportunities. Salesian missionaries arrived in Nigeria in 1982, and are now opening their new presence in Koko to offer educative opportunities to the children and the youth of that region.
These Salesians must face many challenges. The first and main one is education. But it is not possible to study without providing for the basic necessities: because of this they must first dig wells, so as to get drinking water.
Another important challenge in this region of Nigeria is made up by the thousands of children, from 7 to 15 years of age, who beg in the streets. Practically all of them have been abandoned and exposed to terroristic groups like Boko Haram. Without education they can be easily manipulated.
As they wait for the new house to be completed, the Salesians reside in Yauri, at one and a half hours’ distance from Koko. Once the house will be ready, the Sons of Don Bosco plan to build a primary and a secondary school, to educate the youth and give them opportunities for a better future.
The following step will then be the construction of houses and boarding schools for the hundreds of children abandoned in the streets. In this way they will not remain indifferent to the suffering of many smaller brothers and sisters in Nigeria.
