Adeyi is a 14-year-old boy who lived in Ogbomoso, a town in southwestern Nigeria. He lost his mother when he was very young, grew up with his uncle, but inside the home, he suffered all kinds of abuse. This terrible situation led him to run away from there and survive on the streets. He has worked several jobs since arriving in Lagos, the country's largest city. "I used to sell water and cookies. I often went to help people sell drinking water, but street children are given very little money. I was mistreated, but when I met the Salesians everything changed," he says.
Asanam, instead, is 15 years old. He, too, ran away from home after being mistreated by his family. "On the street, I didn't know where to sleep. I met some boys who had also run away from their families, and I was begging so I could have something to eat, but life on the street is very difficult and you always have to be careful. It is a hard life and only the strongest survive," he recalls. "I felt discouraged and lost until I came to the Bosco Boys Home center, where I realized that life could be different."
The cases of Adeyi and Asanam are just two examples of the many minors the Salesians take off the streets, a task that hasn’t stopped even during the pandemic. Still others come to the Salesians on their own because they have heard that Don Bosco can change their lives.
The "Bosco Boys" houses are spaces designed to make minors in extremely vulnerable situations feel accompanied through an initial welcome. The Salesians, together with a team of social workers and educators, guarantee them food, care, and psychological support. They are then offered formal education or vocational training to help them redefine small goals, learn about their abilities, and regain self-confidence.
The Salesians in Nigeria, in addition to their pastoral and educational work, work with poor and abandoned children through two centers for the protection of children in need, in Lagos (opened in 2018) and Ibadan (opened in 2009), and changing the lives of hundreds of children who are trafficked, abused, orphaned, in conflict with the law, or with addictions. Through scholarships and grants, the Sons of Don Bosco are able to offer them ongoing support in the form of meals, care, fees and school supplies, clothing, and uniforms.
Today, Adeyi has completed a vocational training course and re-established contact with family members, managed to enroll in school, and his life has changed completely. While Asanam, thanks to the vocational training courses, is slowly discovering the great skills he possesses. He testifies, "I now know that I am worth more than the street led me to believe. Thanks to the help of 'Bosco Boys Home' I am learning many new things and I know what I want to do when I grow up. For me, home is the place where I can be happy without being mistreated."
