Salesians of Don Bosco support parents, children worldwide

Global Parents' Day is observed on June 1 every year, since 2012. In honor of the Global Day of Parents, Salesian Missions recalled their efforts to support parents of children worldwide.
 
Global Parents Day is celebrated to honor parents worldwide and respects their selfless commitment to children throughout their life.
 
In a special write-up on Mission Newswire, Salesian Missions, (a resource mobilization wing of the Salesians of Don Bosco) called attention to their programs around the world that provide support for parents and their children.
 
Salesian Missions support the congregation's work in more than 130 countries worldwide.
 
Whether it is war-torn Ukraine, troubled South Sudan, or an unstable Pakistan burdened with Afghan refugees, the Salesians of Don Bosco are on hand to support the desperate parents and their children.
 
Pakistan
Earlier this year, Don Bosco Lahore distributed humanitarian aid to 200 Afghan refugee families in Peshawar, Pakistan, thanks in part to donor funding provided by Salesian Missions. 
 
The Salesian community offered shelter and necessities to 1,500 people, who are mostly children.
 
Vincent, who coordinated the distribution, said, “The Christian community of Peshawar has rallied around the value of solidarity. We felt proud that we could selflessly help people of other religions in a spirit of universal brotherhood.”
 
Salesian centers in Quetta and Lahore offer quality education to some 1,000 students from disadvantaged families. 
 
Salesians first started providing education in Pakistan in 1998, and today, their educational centers are considered among the best in the country. 

Salesian Father Oleh Ladnyuk has been a military chaplain to Ukrainian troops since 2014 when the Donbas conflict broke out. The invasion has changed Father Ladnyuk’s work. He is now working on evacuations and providing safety and support to children and families.
 
In the hours immediately following the invasion, Father Ladnyuk rescued 12 people including women and a child, just two weeks old. 
 
“These are not whole families, but pieces of families that split up. Fathers and mothers ensure their children are safe, and then decide to stay behind—at home, under the bombs,” he said. 
 
Father Ladnyuk now works from Dnipro. Salesians in Ukraine will continue to provide support to children and families while Salesians around the globe work to provide humanitarian relief to those in need, says the report.
 
South Sudan
Salesian missionaries have been working in Gumbo, South Sudan. They operate a parish, an elementary school for 1,800 students, a high school with 450 students, a technical school, an oratory, and a camp for internally displaced people that are home to 9,500 people.
 
Salesians also work in collaboration with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, who run another elementary school, and the Sisters of Charity of Jesus, who provide a health dispensary.
 
According to Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, “There are many ways Salesian programs support parents. Whether it is education that we are providing so young single mothers can learn a skill for employment or providing feeding programs to ensure children have at least one meal a day at school or even providing health clinics.”
 
“Salesians are not only taking care of youth but the whole family,” he added. - Frank Krishner