(ANS – Munich) – 40 young people, 18 to 27 years old, have started their voluntary service as a “Don Bosco Volunteer” in German Salesian facilities for youth and social youth work, youth welfare and youth education. They met at the introductory course at the Salesianum in Munich, in the middle of October.

32 of them will serve within voluntary social service, the other eight young people within the federal voluntary service (a project-offer from the German government).

The numbers of applicants are slightly increasing. “At the beginning of this year our expectations for 2013/2014 were limited ones – and we reckoned on a decreasing number of applicants – as for others responsible for voluntary services”, explains Claudia Mayer, responsible for the voluntary services run by German Salesians. The year before, a higher number of young people graduated from high school because of a new law in Germany that allows leaving school one year earlier.

But above all in August and at the beginning of September the numbers of applicants for the year 2013/2014 were on the increase again. There are some more requests by young people so  the 42 vacancies are expected to be filled. “Our expectations are more than fulfilled”, Claudia Mayer is happy.

The young people’s increasing interest in voluntary service with the Salesians seems to be the result of the interesting fields of activity offered at the different facilities. “In our facilities we have the whole range of work with children and older youth. This makes the service interesting and diversified”, says Mayer. After their graduation many young people are looking for something meaningful for their lives. “They want to find a direction for themselves”, says Mayer. Voluntary service provides an opportunity to gain insight into how social work operates, for one year. There is also an increasing number of requests from young non-Germans living in Germany.

In addition to the40 volunteers in German Salesian facilities54young adults from Germany have begun their voluntary service as a “Don Bosco Volunteer” in Salesian projects abroad.

Published 07/11/2013