(ANS - Lisbon) - In Portugal, Salesian international volunteering is promoted by the "Fundação Salesianos" in a project called "Don Bosco Programme - Project Life". (PDBPV), Especially since 2007, it has included volunteer missionary activities abroad, both short-term and long-term. For the summer of 2014, there are six groups of young missionary volunteers: five will go to Cape Verde and one to Mozambique.

The groups allocated to Cape Verde will go to Sal Rei, Boa Vista Island; Espargos, Sal Island; to the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the parish of Our Lady of Grace, both in Praia; and to the school of arts and crafts in São Vicente.

After the volunteer candidates were selected, they went through a training programme for the task of helping children, young people and the rest of the population of the areas of mission. The training included activities for employment, education, evangelization, leadership training for catechists and teachers and health promotion ...  For example, volunteers could start a parish centre in a poor area of the island of Boavista, or a vocational-technical school in Maputo, or give open-air lessons at Tete.

In recent years there has been a sharp rise in short-term mission projects involving young people, especially college students and recent graduates. They develop their capacity for collaboration and dialogue with other cultures, religions, and groups that live in extreme poverty or belong to ethnic minorities. And while it focuses on people of distant countries, the PDBPV project is also a programme of personal growth and faith for the volunteers themselves.

In addition to the international volunteer project, PDBPV currently has an ongoing programme  of subsidizing individuals or groups who are willing to help economically disadvantaged children and young people in the Salesian services in Portuguese-speaking countries and in Portugal itself.

The connection between the PDBPV and Salesian missionary communities allows them to organize and develop projects and initiatives in quick response or long-term projects. It will  involve fundraising to feed needy students or to support  the formation of young Salesians and students in Portuguese-speaking countries with scholarships and accommodation, and also  to encourage the development of Catholic community radio.

For more information on the international volunteer programme, see the website: www.fundacaodbosco.org

Published 11/07/2014