1581 FIS-Pakistan Vocations
austraLasia #1581

A big problem - may it never be solved!

LAHORE: 12th June 2006 -- Fr Miguel writes: "Finally, after much work and overcoming obstacles, the first group of 47 students of Don Bosco Technical and Youth Centre were able to sit for their Public Examinations to have their Certificates recognized by the Government. Examinations lasted four days and different examiners were sent to our Centre to test the boys. Yesterday one of them approached me, and showing me the Result Sheet told me: 'your boys are all over 250 marks, out of a total of 300. I have never seen anything like this'.
    "Now think of this fact: in a country like Pakistan, with all the implications: a group of Christian boys (95% of those who took the exams) is greeted and admired by Muslim examiners… These have been days to remember somebody who remains deep in our hearts: Fr. Hans Dopheide who pioneered our presence in Lahore and worked hard to see the boys joining these exams. It all means that our presence in the country is starting to bear fruits.
    "What is not so easy for people to understand is how we motivate the boys to study and be trained so well, that is, how we manage to succeed where the other schools failed with them (almost none of them had completed Basic Education). I just give away more and more copies of the Preventive System… And in the meantime, thanks be to God, we face a serious problem: every time we think of a best trainee to be prepared as instructor he ends up applying to join us as a Salesian. The last example is a Welding Technician, who is about to complete his 18 months Welding Course after graduating with honors here and when he is about to start earning money he says he has decided to be a Salesian. And so even if we have already sent 4 postulants to the Philippines this year we find now 6 candidates among us… A big problem - may it never be solved!
 
   

___________________
 
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific.  It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome.  For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com  Try out BoscoWiki to be interactive.  For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xm A separate service entirely is called F'OSSERVATORE to help us keep abreast of trends in the digital world.