S TRENNA 2009

by Pascual Chávez Villanueva

A VAST MOVEMENT

FOR THE YOUNG

HUMAN RIGHTS

The foundation of all education

Don Bosco could not speak about the human rights of children and young people …(the juridical concept did not even exist) but he anticipated many aspects of the view taken nowadays regarding children and the young which is described as being based on human rights.

_DCDDDDDDear readers and friends, we are the heirs and the bearers of an educational charism aimed at the promotion of a culture of life and at the change of structures. For this reason we have the duty to promote human rights. The history of the Salesian Family and of its rapid expansion even in cultural and religious contexts far removed from those in which it came to life, is proof that Don Bosco’s preventive system is the sure way into education. “Take special care of the sick, of the young, of the old and of the poor and you will win the blessing of God and the goodwill of me,” are Don Bosco’s recommendations to his missionaries. We make our own this sensitivity of his certain that education in human rights, especially those of minors, is the ideal way to put into practice in different fields a commitment to forestall problems, to foster all-round human development, to help build a world which is more fair, just and healthy. Speaking in terms of human rights will enable us to converse with the widest variety of cultures and to introduce in them our pedagogy of education.

RIGHTS AND DIGNITY

Human rights belong to each individual as a “human being”; they don’t depend on race, religion, language, where one comes from, age or sex. They are universal, inviolable and inalienable - and constantly evolving. Civil and political rights going back to the time of the French Revolution (1789), arise from the demand for a series of fundamental freedoms denied to large sections of the population: the right to life, to political activity, to security, to freedom of thought, religion, expression and of association. Economic, social and cultural rights have been confirmed by the Universal Declaration of 1948: right to education, to work, to a home, to health, to self-determination, to peace, to development, to ecological balance (?), to the control of resources, to the protection of the environment, etc. Finally those rights linked to the individual with regard to genetic engineering, bioethics the new technologies. It is our responsibility to respect them. Unfortunately their violation is an everyday occurrence, and it is clear that the existing means and provisions are not sufficient to eliminate them. Even in this situation, however, we have to work so that the dignity of the individual is respected. The Church declares that the right interpretation and the effective safeguarding of human rights depends on a view of mankind which includes all the many aspects which make up the nature of every human being.

SALESIANS AND MINOR’S RIGHTS

In November 2002 I had the opportunity to give a talk in the City Hall, in Rome. The subject: “Before it is too late let us save the young the future of the world.” The aim was to present the preventive system in terms of the development of each boy or girl. In fact, each one needs to be educated and liberated in every facet of life, and, as we see it, in a way that is consistent with the Christian view of the human person. This kind of education is an expression of commitment to changing society, and has an ambitious dream, that there will no longer be any marginalised. Unfortunately, the situation nowadays is still serious. There are so many, too many, children and youngsters at risk; for the human family theirs is a “cry that goes unheard” and for society a weight on its conscience: while there is an effort to globalise the economy, there is no similar attempt to promote the dignity of every human being. Street children, child soldiers, children who are abused, imprisoned, enslaved, illiterate, orphaned, abandoned, starving … these are the challenge which in conscience all must face. Salesians are on the side of the young, because, like Don Bosco, they have confidence in them, in their desire to study, to rise above poverty, to take their future into their own hands … Salesians believe in the value of the individual, in the possibility of a different world, and above all in the great value of education. Salesians are investing in the young, they are globalising their commitment to education to prepare a positive future for the whole world.

In addition, the preventive system focuses on the religious dimension as the greatest treasure a person can have; therefore it seeks to guide the young person to fulfil this vocation as a child of God. This is one of the most important contributions that the Salesian educational system makes to children, adolescents and young people who are in circumstances of poverty and of psycho-social risk. It is a question of providing a visible experience of solidarity aimed at forming “upright citizens and good Christians” - that is to say, builders of the human city, active and responsible individuals, conscious of their dignity, with a life plan open to the transcendent, to others, to God.