(ANS – New Delhi) – Bosconet , the newest of the five main Mission Offices in the Congregation, has made tremendous progress in recent years. The Councillor for the Salesian Missions, Fr Václav Klement, has just returned from a recent visit to New Delhi, on 13and 14 November. He has given this report.

In 2009, the Rector Major invited the Salesians of South Asia to establish a regional Mission Office. This was duly built and Fr George Menamparampil was immediately appointed as the first director. In the years that followed, the office developed with the help of the four other large Mission Offices of the Congregation (Turin, Madrid, New Rochelle and Bonn) and other foundations such as Cordaid and Porticus. At present Bosconet has a staff of sixteen made up of Christians and Hindus from across the nation.

Bosconethas a network of benefactors in 23 of the 28 states of the Republic of India. It produces a quarterly newsletter, with 45,000 copies in English and 5,000 copies in Malayalam - the language of the state of Kerala.

It has two branches: Bosconet India is the civil branch which raises money for poor youth, and Bosco Aid Trust, the religious branch which raises funds for the training of Salesians and for pastoral work.

Thanks to a youthful, eager, creative staff, the fundraising campaigns, although still limited in absolute terms, have seen a growth of 50% in annual donations. Awareness campaigns take place in the street, outside metro stations and publicschools, as well as Salesian schools.  Most of the funds have come from these campaigns but recently some have come also from firms that have been encouraged to support projects of social responsibility.

The Mission Office also takes care of missionary animation in the 12 Provinces of the South Asia region, through courses, seminars and the production of useful resources for Salesians and lay people involved.

Among the works that have benefitted directly from the work of Bosconet are the Salesian house for street children in Ashayalam, which also houses the National Centre for Young People at Risk; the work of Najafgarh, which includes a parish; some camps; a Vocational Training Centre and the national headquarters of BoscoTech - the network that brings together the  Salesian Vocational Training Centres in India; and the Don Bosco Centre in Jhajjar which manages about 30 plants for the production of bricks, and takes care of over 300 child workers every day.

"The example of Bosconet should be an encouragement to the various provinces of Asia and Africa not to be afraid to start a Mission Office, empowering the confreres in the search for funds at local level, instead of relying solely on foreign aid” said Fr Klement. The enthusiasm shown by non-Christian collaborators helps us to see the value of this prophetic work, which allows us to approach businesses, and government and private agencies, for the good of poor young people."

Published 22/11/2013