Its commitment covers the rural sectors, the marginal urban sectors, the Shuar, Achuar, Kichwa and Afro populations where children, adolescents and young people live:
– on the street or at risk;
– unemployed;
– victims of various kinds of violence;
– with experience of living on the street;
– with limited access to educational or development opportunities.
After a 28-year journey, the Ecuador PDO has undergone a reorganisation process that takes up the guidelines issued by the leaders of the Salesian Congregation, in order to strengthen the commitment to strategic management and integral human development in the most vulnerable sectors in which Salesian communities and works are located.
According to the Overall Province Project (OPP) 2023-2029, the mission of the PDO "contributes in a technical way to the development processes of the houses, works and services of the Salesian Province of Ecuador, through design and strategic planning, continuous evaluation, support for policy formulation, networking, lobbying and socio-political advocacy, fundraising according to the approach of rights, human promotion, interculturalism, environmental sustainability, gender and social and economic development".
Currently, for the formulation of provincial or local planning documents, the PDO has complete tools that facilitate the discernment and planning of pastoral action in every context in which Salesian work is present. In this way, the response to the mission has a planning, technical, systematic and articulated vision.
The resources that the PDO mobilises come from different national and international organisations that have interests in common with the Salesian mission and with principles such as: vocation to serve the most needy young people, consistency with the mission in the use of resources, professionalism in processes, transparency and responsibility. The PDO in Ecuador is currently implementing 37 projects, short or long term, local or regional, with the support and approval of the Salesian Province of Ecuador.
Since 2023, the Ecuador PDO has now collaborated with PDOs from 14 other Provinces in processes and projects that pay particular attention to caring for the environment. As a result of this agreement, the Provincial Environmental Committee (CIMA, in Spanish) was established. And, thanks to these initiatives, and with the collaboration of the Salesian NGO "VÍA DON BOSCO", the Ecuador PDO, together with the Salesian partners from Bolivia and Peru, has carried out the "Green awareness, resilience and sustainability in the Andean region" project; while the "San Patricio" Laboratory School (TESPA) is already carrying out actions to mitigate the impact of the carbon footprint and adopt the use of renewable energies.
For the PDO, planning is a means that strengthens the Salesian mission; it is a tool that gives priority to actions, allows us to recognise the resources available, to understand what God calls us to and how to act in well-defined contexts.
All the processes have an organisation and structure that make it possible to provide a quality service within the framework of Youth Ministry, the cornerstone of the Salesian mission.
Fernanda Vasco
Salesian Communication Office
Source: Salesians in Ecuador
