(ANS - Guadalajara) - "Serving people who are in need with love and tenderness, helps us to grow in humanity, because they are true resources of humanity," said Pope Francis, addressing some sick and disabled children at Assisi. Attention to disabled people, caring for their welfare, their growth and the contribution they can make to society is a constant concern of the Salesian Family, carried out in different ways in different situations wherever we are present.
At Guadalajara in Mexico, a successful project called Don Bosco sobre ruedas (Don Bosco on wheels) has been going since 2010. Now they are preparing for an event called First Encounter. It will be an occasion of sharing, prayer and discussion open to all who have a mobile disability and traditionally takes place in the days around Easter.
This year the meeting will take place at the Casa Don Bosco in the Valley of Juarez, in the state of Jalisco, in the middle of Holy Week (from 1 to 5 April). It will be based around the theme: "The wheelchair does not determine who I am".
The Don Bosco on wheels Association is the brainchild of Fr Jaime Reyes Retana, SDB. It aims to help young people with disabilities by providing them with the care and attention they need, helping to ensure that their rights are respected, and accompanying them in their daily challenges and in their human and spiritual growth.
The educative community of the Manuel Lora Tamayo Salesian School in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain has a totally different but very effective way of accompanying the disabled. The students of the institute run a competition or innovation in science and technology, and this year the 28th Don Bosco National Award has gone to the designers of an innovative wheelchair, which is operated by voice commands.
Published 24/03/2015
