| Lebanon – The “Don Bosco Technique” open to the sun |
| Lebanon – The Knight’s Cross of the Order of “Poland Restored” for two Salesians |
| Lebanon – Feast of Saint Dominic Savio |
Present at the ceremony with local civil and religious officials were Gabriele Checchia, Italian Ambassador in Lebanon, and Massimo Zortea, President of VIS (international voluntary organisation for development).
ROSS is an emergency programme promoted by the Directorate General for
Development Cooperation (DGCS) of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs . Thanks to this project it has been possible to support education and training activities for young people from the Mount Lebanon area, but it is especially focussed on the improvement of living conditions for young Lebanese, who were tested during the conflict with Israel in the summer of 2006.
The students receiving diplomas come from an area which is among the most disadvantaged in Lebanon, in particular from the southern villages which were badly affected by the 2006 conflict. They belong to different social groups, religious faiths and cultural extractions.
It has been an important experience of multicultural integration, which has led to the Summer School promoted by VIS and again supported by ROSS; a truly unique experience in the panorama of solidarity initiatives following the crisis of summer 2006.
In the last year the Salesian centres of El Fidar and El Housson, thanks to ROSS funding, have involved more than 400 boys and girls from different faiths in weekly meetings, summer camps, and cultural exchanges and visits. In addition a series of activities have been organised to combat social exclusion and school refusal, promoting courses for 120 boys and girls in secretarial work, electricity and electronics, industrial mechanics, numerically controlled machines, refrigeration and air-conditioning, auto mechanics, information technology, book-keeping, foreign languages, graphic design and welding.
Published 18/3/2008
