1411 KOR|Daejon project
austraLasia 1411

City Hall Daejon, Korea awards Salesian Society with major city project for needy youth

DAEJON: 27th January 2006 -- City Hall, Daejon.  A city of 6 million people, though not the largest of South Korea's cities.  Yesterday the city authorities announced that the Salesian Society was the successful bidder, amongst five others, to take up the city's project for poor youngsters - an after school program.  It will be called, in English translation, Don Bosco Academy.  Essentially it will take in young students who, deprived of family assistance because families are out working all day, have little to eat and nowhere to go once school is over.  There are at least 2,000 high school students in this condition immediately in the vicinity of the Salesian community.
    According to the Salesian facilitator for the project, Fr Marcello Baek, who has just completed his term as novice master, DB Academy will open at the beginning of March, which is the beginning of the school year in Korea.  During the briefing at City Hall on 26th January, the Salesian project was introduced in terms of the traditional Salesian Oratory, offering an wholistic approach to youth involving study, playground and group activities amongst other things.
    The Salesian bid was based on the availability of the Youth Centre in Daejon, open 24 hours a day since 1993 and serving public school youth with 'humanity building programmes', and during holidays, Catholic youth in particular for retreat and school camp programmes.  A decision for part of this plant, by PC2004, was to transform it into services for poorer youth in need.
    Daejon community, in existence since 1992, has the novitiate, youth centre just mentioned, and group homes, a family-style environment for needy kids.  There is the Oratory, and a reformatory apostolate carried out in the city.
    The news of the successful bid has arrived just as 6 novices made their first profession, and 7 new ones began with their new novice master, Fr Stephen Yang.

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