Salesians Facilitating Scholarships, Clean Water Access for Students in Cameroon, Malawi

“The funding helped youth finish the school year and either graduate and find employment or advance to their next year of schooling,” officials of the New York-based agency say in the report.

The leadership of Salesian Missions has also availed funds to SDB members in the Archdiocese of Yaoundé towards COVID-19 prevention.

“Some of the funding went toward buying cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer for staff and students,” officials of the Salesian entity say in their March 18 report.

They note that the materials have benefited more than 4,000 people, including students and teachers of Don Bosco College and the Vocational Training Center, parishioners of Mary Help of Christians Parish as well as young people at a local youth center, among others.

“The local Salesian church was also regularly disinfected by a young man who works for a cleaning service at Yaoundé City Hall. He taught Salesian staff how to disinfect properly and helped purchase cleaning supplies at an affordable price,” the leadership of Salesian Missions says.

More in Africa

“Leaders refuse to smell like their citizens”: Catholic Archbishop in Nigeria Fault Political Leaders for Standing Aloof

Read the article

Funds from the Salesian entity have also enabled SDB members in the Central African nation to support four people “who were in dire need of medical attention” and who “would not have survived” without the facilitation of the Salesian missionaries.

“One woman was rushed into surgery with appendicitis, another needed life-saving medical care for kidney issues and two others were dealing with complications from hepatitis,” Salesian officials recount.

“Salesian missionaries from around the globe have sprung to action and have been working tirelessly for those in need,” the Director of Salesian Missions. Fr. Gus Baek has been quoted as saying in the March 18 report.

Besides direct support to families in need, “Salesian centers and institutions have also supported their communities,” Fr. Baek adds and expresses his appreciation for the “donors who have helped Salesians in Cameroon with their efforts to mitigate the challenges brought on by the pandemic.”

In the Southeastern African nation of Malawi, SDB members are facilitating the digging of a second borehole at Don Bosco High School in Nkhotakota District, within the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe.

With funding from Salesian Missions “Clean Water Initiative,” SDB members ministering at the Lilongwe-based school have managed to install a water pump and solar panels, as well as construct a water tank, a separate report shared with ACI Africa, March 18 indicates.

The water facilities have ensured that the 378 students and 20 teachers at the school, which SDB members initiated as a “direct response to the need for education for youth in the southwestern part of Nkhotakota,” have access to clean drinking water, SDB officials say.

“The biggest challenge the school faced was the chronic lack of regular water supply for both our boarding and day students,” the Rector of the Salesian community in Nkhotakota, Fr. Joseph Czerwinski has been quoted as saying in the report.

Though the school is near a large lake and is connected to the city’s water system, Fr. Czerwinski says, “There were still acute water shortages every day. The town supply is very erratic and unreliable. This caused problems for our students including a lack of proper hygiene, a health hazard, and no water for cooking and drinking.”

(Story continues below)

“On behalf of the students from Don Bosco High School and the Salesian community, I would like to thank the donors who have contributed toward this project. Without their help we would not be able to drill the borehole,” the Rector says in the report.

Thanks to the funding, “Now students and the community have a sufficient amount of water. This directly positively impacts their educational environment,” Fr. Czerwinski adds in the March 18 report shared with ACI Africa.