(ANS – Darkhan) – On 20 July 2014 thirty-two young volunteers and Salesian leaders left Seoul for Darkhan, Mongolia, for the 2014 short-term summer volunteer programme. The departure was preceded by Mass celebrated at the Provincial House in Seoul by Fr Timothy Choi, provincial secretary and programme manager for this Salesian International Youth Volunteer programme. The team will be hosted at Don Bosco Centre in Darkhan until 2 August. This was the location also on earlier occasions for the volunteer programmes managed by Fr Simon Lee, a missionary from Korea.
This 26th SIYV team consists of thirty-two people – twenty-seven young volunteers (18 male and 9 female), as well as 3 SDBs (Overall Director: Fr Michael Chang, Director: Fr Timothy Choi, Assistant: Deacon Leo Beyn) and two lay female collaborators, one who works at the mission office in Seoul and the other, a mother who looks after catering arrangements for the volunteers.
“I would like to emphasize three important things regarding our volunteer programme. The Salesian volunteer programme is a way of sharing which keeps the value of attraction in mind. One of the current team members is now involved for the third time in this volunteer programme – clear evidence of how much the programme touches the life of a young person. Secondly all our SIYV activities take place within our mission planning. There is a stable and well-planned programme in place for you. Thirdly, you will experience a deep exchange and sharing with local young people. If we succeed in authentic sharing with the young in Mongolia, investing our time as well as our material goods, they too will be able to see the world with hopes and dreams such as we have, and they will dream of sharing what they have with the world.” So said Fr Michael Chang, overall director of the SIYV and the mission office, in his homily to the young volunteers.
There are two SIYV programmes each year, one in the summer vacation and the other in winter. For the summer season they prefer to go to Mongolia or northern China where it is not too hot. The winter programme instead is directed to the southern parts of the East Asia Oceania Region, such as Papua New Guinea or Cambodia. In both cases they are short two-week programmes which take advantage of the Korean school holiday periods.
Published 24/07/2014
