Ecuador – A new "Salesian courtyard" for community and youth development south of Quito

17 September 2024
Ecuador – A new "Salesian courtyard" for community and youth development south of Quito

(ANS – Quito) – The San Bartolo Salesian complex, which will stand next to the San Patricio basic education school (UESPA) and the TESPA Artisan Training Centre, is a project of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Province of Ecuador that aims to create an environment in which the community can fully develop. Fr Esteban Ortiz, director of the North Zone Salesian Project (PSZN), stressed that the new complex will not only offer services, but will also pass on the spirit of the Salesian Family, especially to the children and young people who are accompanied by the North Zone Salesian Project, with its various programs. "We want to build a ‘Salesian House’ here, a place of reflection, prayer and rest. This space is a blessing that will allow us to continue our mission of accompanying those who need it most, "he said.

On Wednesday, 11 September 2024, in the presence of the Salesian and university authorities, together with the members of the Provincial Council and the Educative and Pastoral Council of the North Zone Salesian Project, the first stone of the San Bartolo Salesian complex was blessed and laid. This new infrastructure will be a space for meeting, formation and integral development, designed to respond to the educational, sporting and spiritual needs of children, young people and families in vulnerable situations.

The project involves the construction of spaces accessible to all, with a church capable of accommodating 214 people, a multipurpose camp, educational classrooms and a residence for the Blessed Michael Rua Salesian community which currently resides in La Tola.

The institutional event was attended by Fr Marcelo Farfán, Provincial of the Salesians in Ecuador; Fr Juan Cárdenas, Rector of the Salesian Polytechnic University (UPS); Fr Esteban Ortiz, director of the North Zone Salesian Project; Fernando Pesántez, Vice-Rector General of UPS, María Sol Villagómez, Vice-Rector of the Quito branch, and architect Andrés Santos, responsible for the project.

With the blessing and symbolic laying of the first stone, the Salesian San Bartolo complex presents itself as a place of hope, where education, sport and spiritual life will be the pillars for the growth of the local community. Adding to the educational and social initiatives already carried out by the "Proyecto Salesiano Zona Norte" Foundation, it will be a space that will encourage community participation, with the aim of creating a more just and equitable future for all.

The new work reflects the commitment of the "Proyecto Salesiano Zona Norte" Foundation, the Salesian Province and the UPS in their mission to build a more just and equitable future, putting those who need it most at the centre of their efforts: children and young people in situations of vulnerability and exclusion.

Camila Cárdenas

Communication Manager of the North Zone Salesian Project

Source: Salesians Ecuador

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