(ANS - Madrid) - The Salesian summer has begun. With the start of the holidays, the Salesians are running many activities, catering for more than 17,000 young people from all over Spain, and involving approximately 2,500 leaders and 350 Salesians.

The Salesian style of education is known for being close to young people, as Don Bosco was, and so, when the school year ends, the Salesians, especially in the youth centres, maintain a programme of formative and recreational activities catering for thousands of adolescents throughout the summer.

It is estimated that in Spain there are around 17,000 children and young people enrolled in camps and other pastoral activities organized by the Salesian Youth Centres. About 2,500 leaders aged between 18 and 30 devote part of their holidays to running these activities. This is a big undertaking and so is that of the 350 Salesians who accompany them in the camps and various other events.

There are about 200 summer camps, of various faith groups, designed especially for young people in the youth centres. Les Avellanes (Lleida), La Orotava (Tenerife), Somali (La Rioja), Cambados (Pontevedra) and La Adrada (Ávila) are some of the towns that will host hundreds of young people.

Another kind of activity is what they call urban camps, organized locally and providing recreational activities open to the general public, especially for young people from families that cannot take holidays away from home. These camps are planned for almost all parts of Spain where there is a Salesian presence: Madrid, Valencia, Ourense, Barcelona, ​​Seville, Zaragoza, Leon ... In many cases they are run in cooperation with the local authorities.

Among other pastoral activities there are some initiatives for children at risk of exclusion, in Valencia, Parla and Fuenlabrada ... a pilgrimage on foot from Huesca to Turin, the Camino de Santiago for different groups, and formation camps in Italy.

Formation for leisure and volunteering

The activities organized during the holidays would not be possible without the cooperation of hundreds of leaders. Summer is the perfect time for their formation. Therefore, in recent months the Salesian School for Free Time has been offering courses for leaders and managers, as well as other more specific training courses. It is expected that over the summer they will be attended by about 1,000 people.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that they were also attended by fifty young people preparing to become missionary volunteers, mainly in Africa and Latin America. They are young men and girls who have been preparing throughout the year to spend their summer in support of the work of the Salesians in the developing world.

Published 08/07/2015