Salesian summer has arrived! After a busy academic year, thousands of children, teenagers and older youth people are preparing to experience some of the many offerings that the Salesians have prepared for the summer period. Between June and September there are about 150 activities, including camps, and formation courses.
Although the figures are not yet finalised, forecasts speak of about 15,000 participants among all the initiatives during the Salesian Summer. These were made possible thanks to the involvement of about 300 Salesians and more than 2,750 leaders, young people who dedicate part of their holidays to the accompaniment of children and teenagers.
The initiatives are varied, always with the aim of offering room for leisure and free time, with the support of the values of the Salesian charism. For this reason, to carry out the many activities, the efforts of the Youth Ministry delegations for the two Salesian Provinces in Spain and their Youth Centres deserve appreciation.
Among the initiatives proposed are some by the Salesian Social Platforms, which are aimed in particular at hundreds of young people at risk of exclusion. Young people are offered the opportunity to help out by being available for these socio-educational programs. It is an experience of solidarity, over a few weeks, in a mission area which allows participants to place their time and skills at the service of the local population. The BoscoGlobal and Jóvenes y Desarrollo Salesian NGOs are the driving forces behind this initiative.
Within the framework of the Lebanese Project – started by the Spanish Mary Help of Christians (SMX), and coordinated by the Jesus the Adolescent Province of the Middle East (MOR) – mention should be made of the Formation School for Leaders, conducted at the Salesian house in El Houssoum (Jbeil). The School aims to facilitate the formation of leaders from Salesian houses in Syria and Lebanon, including Iraqi leaders who live as refugees in the country and work in a Salesian school in Beirut. The program will be attended by seven young Salesian leaders from the SMX Province, accompanied by José Luis Navarro, Provincial Coordinator of Missionary Animation, and six leaders from the Middle East Province, accompanied by Fr Simon Zakerian, the Salesian Rector in Lebanon.
We are also preparing for the upcoming World Youth Day, which will be held in Lisbon from 1 to 6 August 2023 and will have as its theme “Mary arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39). Almost 2,200 young people from the Spanish Salesian Youth Movement will be involved in this great worldwide event to witness to their faith and express their support for the Pope.
Social networks will be flooded with images of all these initiatives grouped under the hashtag #VeranoSalesiano, or “Salesian Summer”.
With thanks to ANS for this story