"At the beginning," Yden said, "it was not easy to relate with others, with my peers, especially because of the linguistic obstacle. After the first years in Italy, however, I managed to integrate: now I have friends and people who help me and support me."
The success of integration for Yden has occurred, above all, through education, specifically through vocational training. Vocational Training Centers (VTC) continue to represent strong points of reference for many young people, especially those with fewer resources, with difficult personal stories, some from abroad.
"Yden is the story of many young people who have been able to attend Salesian VTCs. The essential thing to not lose oneself is to believe in one's potential and in the Christian community, as well as, generally speaking, in civil society, which in the end has the opportunity to welcome these young people as great resources," explained Fr Enrico Peretti, Director General of the Centro Nazionale Opere Salesiane – Formazione Aggiornamento Professioniale (CNOS-FAP), the National Salesian center for Vocational Training and Ongoing Education.
The basic principle of the Salesians still remains Don Bosco's: "Young people have the intelligence in their hands."
Fr Enrico Peretti is convinced of this principle: "It is necessary to create personalized itineraries in which the child can have life experiences, also and above all through the working environment, developing personal values. In this context of inclusion, it is the children themselves who grow, reciprocally, thanks to each other, always supported by educators, of course."
In the light of this experience, Yden feels the need to give advice to his many peers in search of their own personal and occupational path: "I have been helped so much by the educators. I have listened to them and I have trusted them. It is important not to have oneself be transported along other roads and to, instead, work and study hard."
