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(ANS - Tijuana) - In 1987 the Salesians launched "Proyecto Tijuana" on the border between Mexico and the United States. The aim was to create an extensive educational programme in areas of that city that were at risk of social exclusion. The project took shape through the Salesian oratories and popular educational centres, places where children can grow up in the community and learn to share faith, sports, culture and other things.
Currently the project is benefitting more than 9,000 people in six Salesian oratories, a parish, and a public dining hall - the "Desayunador" – which serves food to about a thousand homeless and migrant people every day.
The entire project is run by six Salesians with the invaluable help of volunteers, local collaborators, and benefactors in both Mexico and the United States.
In support of the project, and as a formative experience for young people, for years the Salesians of the United States have been organizing missionary weeks for young people. This year the volunteers were a group of Salesian young people from Bellflower, California, in the Western Province of the United States (SUO).
For a week the young people collaborated in five of the six oratories and at the "Desayunador". The activities to be performed were different every day: they fed the needy, organized activities for children and accompanied the young people in charitable activities. "Every day there was a chance to give of their best for the good of others. There is not much time to rest in Tijuana, there is so much work to be done, "said Armando Prieto, one of the volunteers taking part.
Tomorrow 12 February, Pope Francis will start his journey as "Missionary of Mercy and Peace" in Mexico. In his journey he expressly wished to travel to Ciudad Juarez, another border town, to be as close as possible "to all those who are suffering", as he said in a video message.
Published 11/02/2016