Samoa Benefits greatly from the Salesian Missions.

The two Don Bosco Schools in Samoa were established to provide young people with the skills that would enable them to find work in a country that otherwise experiences high levels of youth unemployment and non-completion of formal education.

Despite these challenges the Samoans retain their strong family based cultural identity. The Don Bosco schools encourage students to deepen their understanding of who they are through music, dance and sport.

One of the pioneering Salesians at Alafua in 1985 was Fr Peter Carroll. In building the initial school premises, valuable guidance was given by Mr Marco Pradel, a Master Builder from Victoria, and a group of Australian volunteers directed the overall construction. Fr Peter recalls a means of reducing costs: they made the concrete bricks for the building on-site! The Technical Centre in Alafua was completed and ready in 1988.

The Salelologa Co-Educational College & Vocational Centre (on the island of Savai’i) was opened in 2011 after the community identified that the local youth were educationally disadvantaged. Fr Mosese Tui, a Samoan who had been stationed previously at Alafua, was responsible for overseeing the development at Salelologa and stayed on as Principal for eight years. His “Walk-For-A-Bus” (with the assistance of Cagliero volunteers) and other fundraising endeavours have been a means of securing places in the school to girls and boys from economically poor families.

Sustaining the schools has been a challenge over the years as the parents of students are mostly subsistence farmers who are unable to provide little more than what their families need to survive, let alone to pay school fees.

Both Don Bosco schools are providing students with job skills and preparing them for employment, with most securing work soon after graduation. Your assistance through scholarships can provide an education to a student that would otherwise go without.

Republished from the Australian Salesian Bulletin - Winter 2019
Read or Download the Salesian Bulletin
Subscribe for FREE to the Salesian Bulletin