Brazil. On 14 February 2025, an online meeting was held with the participation of the Provincial Coordinators of Youth Ministry and the Provincial Referents of Social Action, with the aim of offering a space for listening and sharing the mission carried out through the various Social Works present in the Provinces of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Brazil.
Sister Sarah García, collaborator of the Youth Ministry Sector, world coordinator of the Social Works of the FMA Institute, and representative of the Human Rights Office of the International Institute of Mary Help of Christians (IIMA) of Geneva at the United Nations (UN).
The meeting began with a moment of prayer, followed by the intervention of Sister Sarah, who stressed the importance of the Jubilee Year and the requests of General Chapter XXIV: “We have the mission to light up the world with hope, Mary challenges us to be people who generate life.” With this motivation, each Province presented how it organizes its efforts from the point of view of Social Action in the various works, projects and initiatives carried out at local level.
In Brazil, there are many contexts of social vulnerability that affect the lives of children, adolescents, and young people. However, it is worth highlighting the commitment of many Educating Communities, which are part of the Salesian Network in Brazil, with a strong social impact on the various realities in which they operate. Currently, there are 40 Social Works, 8,725 beneficiaries among children, adolescents, and young people, and 5,656 families accompanied by the FMA Provinces.
The meeting, as highlighted by the participants, was a fruitful time of sharing experiences and an opportunity to further strengthen networking:
“Participating in the meeting of listening about the FMA Social Works in Brazil was an opportunity to strengthen unity and renew hope. How much good is being done for children, adolescents, young people and their families. Knowing other realities and realizing that this chain of good is stronger than we imagine has made me very happy! How many people are involved! How many partners in the defense of life! Our charism is alive, dynamic, and current. Sharing socio-educative experiences has made me think that we are one big family and that, even in different places, we are trying to realize Don Bosco’s dream: the salvation of young people!” (Sister Silvia Letícia Sales da Silva – Province of Our Lady of the Amazon – BRM)
Networking in the perspective of Social Action is a fecund experience that bears many fruits. The search for the protection of fundamental rights is an integral part of the Preventive System experienced in the Social Works, which carry forward with great commitment the Salesian charismatic dimension, especially in the mission to form “good Christians and honest citizens”.
