(ANS – Majunga) – Florian Lucchini is a French young man, well known in the network of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM-MGS) and among the volunteers of VIDES. In July 2014 he left as a voluntary worker for a project in favour of children and youth in a detention home in Madagascar, an experience that marked him so deeply that at the end of 2015 he decided to dedicate another six months to young Malagasies, at the Don Bosco Centre of Mahajanga. Here below are some excerpts of his testimony.

(ANS - San Salvador) - The International Labour Organization gives a dark and disquieting report on youth employment. "There are 1.7 million newly unemployed in the region of Latin America, out of a total of 19 million" it was announced by the organization at the presentation in Lima, Peru, of the document. Work in 2015: overall view for Latin America and the Caribbean." The most worrying aspect is the situation of young people, because in the region, the youth unemployment rate is three times higher than that of adults. Faced with this gloomy picture, the Salesians want to offer a proposal.

(ANS – Mumbai) – Father Leon Cruz is the only Salesian priest in India to be appointed as a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis in this Jubilee year of Mercy. He says of his appointment, "By God's Grace and Mercy, I would be happy to reach out to as many people as possible as a Missionary of Mercy." 

(ANS - Porto Novo) - Porto Novo, capital of Benin, is a city where the number of children forced to sleep on the streets is increasing every day. More than 30% of the population lives below the poverty line. While the country has made progress, the children of Benin still continue to suffer from diseases that sometimes are fatal, such as malaria, AIDS, respiratory diseases, or even dysentery. And another fact: 45% of Beninese children are forced to work.

(ANS - Camporeale) – This is the story of Arthur, one of twelve boys met on 1 October 2015 at the "Open Arms" community in Camporeale, near Palermo. It is one of the projects of the Salesians in Social Work on behalf of young refugees, asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors. With him there are young people from Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan, Egypt and countries in sub-Saharan Africa.