(ANS – Davao City) – To help young people in need it is often necessary to find imaginative and unexpected solutions. This is the case with Fr Franco Uras, an Italian  missionary in the Philippines, who in  order to support needy youngsters at Lumad has begun to produce home made gourmet products.

About 90 km from the centre of Davao there is an artisan gourmet café offering a variety of home made gourmet products. It is managed by Italian missionary Fr Franco Uras, a 68 year Salesian for the purpose of collecting funds for needy children

His products include Vegetarian Pasta Sauce in Soya Oil, Vegetarian Tuna Sauce in Corn Oil, Pesto Classic (Italian) in Olive Oil, Herbed Mushroom Sauce in Corn Oil, Sundried Tomatoes in Soya Oil and Herbed Mushroom Sauce in Corn Oil. The café also serves pizza with herbs and organically-grown spices. What started as a hobby has become quite a business. “I have some herbs that others do not have and I also have my own formula, and that is my secret,” says Fr Uras.

In the café, which opens from 6a.m. until 7p.m., he is helped by his German friend Wolfgang Csato, a doctor by profession, President of the European Association for Pain Treatment. “Like Padre Franco, I also love cooking. And I’m helping him in his benefit dinner for the Lumad children,” he says.

Using the funds collected Fr Uras said, starting in May, the children who are studying in a nearby elementary school will be gathered in the centre to assess their needs for the next school year. “We will provide two snacks and a lunch. Then they will go home in the afternoon. Maybe after a year, that’s the time when we will require them to live in the centre.”

To support all this he has organised various fund-raising events including a benefit dinner for the Lumad children on March 22. Moreover, Fr Uras said he is accepting donations in kind for the Lumad children such as basic hygiene kits (toothbrush, toothpaste and soap), rice, corn, mongo beans, dried or fresh fish, canned goods, clothing, board games paraphernalia and even equipment for different ball games.

Published 28/03/2012