(ANS - Luanda) - "Voluntary service is the act of donating one’s time and personal knowledge to promote the community or society in which one lives, through actions that are not paid, but have an important value in themselves, for the community and for one’s neighbour. If we do all this for love of God ... then we have said it all." So writes the Provincial of the Salesians in Angola, Fr Victor Luis Sequeira at the launch of the photographic book "Cuando amas das ..." (When you give, you love ...). The book is by a volunteer photojournalist, Evangelina Martínez, from the Argentine.

(ANS – Bukavu) – The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country of contrasts: it is very large, with an area of 2,300,000 km², and yet it is scarcely populated, with a density of 30 inhabitants per km²; it is very rich in natural resources, but with mainly a very poor, or rather an “impoverished” population. In the last 20 years there have been from 5 to 6 million people killed because of the wars; destitution, hunger, diseases and exploitation are daily experiences to many, and yet the people often smile and show, whenever they can, their joy and will of living.

(ANS - Rome) - In contemporary society ambition and greed are morally accepted as falling within the dog-eat-dog way of thinking whereby oppressing the other for personal success is always rewarded. But can this paradigm be applied to a Salesian? According to our Constitutions, "The Salesian gives himself to his mission with tireless energy, taking care to do everything with simplicity and moderation. He knows that by his work he is participating in the creative action of God and cooperating in building the Kingdom."