The Salesian project in Tijuana has five oratories that function as youth centres, where cultural and sports activities are offered to children and young people, both native to the city and migrants. To these is added a large multipurpose work, with refectory and reception centre, where every day more than 1,500 people are accompanied and helped in terms of food, personal care and hygiene and assistance.
Kristiñe Azpiazu did not come directly from Salesian circles: she wanted to have a volunteer experience and signed up for the Basque Government training sessions. But since the preparatory training meetings were held by a "Misiones Salesianas" professional, at the end of that experience the young psychologist joined the other candidates for an experience of Salesian Missionary Volunteering.
In her first weeks of service, Kristiñe was assigned to the San Juan Bosco Salesian Oratory which offers quality educational opportunities to children from vulnerable families and about a thousand people pass through it every day.
Later, she joined the team of volunteers at the Padre Chava Salesian Refectory and Reception Center, an initiative that began 21 years ago to assist migrants and street people.
The refectory covers the basic needs of these people, offering them a space where they can find food, shelter and human warmth, in order to reintegrate them into society through the creation of welcoming environments, formation programs and processes that provide them with tools for personal and professional growth.
The reception centre is a welcoming and supportive space that seeks to provide support and protection to the most disadvantaged community. Here homeless people find a safe place to receive food, shelter and assistance, offering them temporary shelter to rebuild their lives and find opportunities for a brighter future.
In both programs Kristiñe was able to contribute with her professional experience as a psychologist and with her great human qualities. Her message on her return is clear: “I recommend everyone to be informed and participate in this volunteer program!”
On her return to Spain, on the occasion of the evaluation meeting of the Basque Government's "Juventud Vasca Cooperante" volunteer program, dozens of young people analysed the development of their international volunteering experience. Among them was Kristiñe, whose conclusion was unequivocal: “For me it represented a before and after in my life. It has helped me to grow personally and to know a situation that otherwise I would never have known and felt as I feel it now.”
The young psychologist also has words of thanks for the Salesian community in Tijuana, with whom she shared moments of work, common spaces in everyday life and the religious life of the community: “The treatment I received from the Salesians was excellent. At all times I felt welcomed and accompanied by them.”
