GHANA: Youth ministry leaders gain skills thanks in part to funding from Salesian Missions

Capacity-building workshop held to help improve the lives of youth.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (Sept 9, 2024) The Salesian St. Artemide Zatti Community in Ashaiman, Ghana, held a youth ministry leadership capacity-building and training workshop thanks in part to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

The goal of the week-long workshop in March was to increase the training capacity in the new province by promoting leadership skills, ideas and resources to help youth ministry managers become effective leaders to support youth.

At the end of the training, 33 youth ministry coordinators were trained in leadership skills, business development competencies and entrepreneurship. In addition, 20 Salesian communities are now equipped with materials for pastoral planning and vocational promotion to help establish the educative and pastoral community.

Father Krzysztof Nizniak, provincial economer, thanked Salesian Missions for its contribution. He said, “Your timely intervention for contributing to the capacity-building and training workshop will not be forgotten, as it has provided youth ministry coordinators and directors in our various youth centers and oratories with the knowledge, skills and capacity to improve the lives of youth and help them to build the competencies needed to become successful adults.”

While Ghana’s economy continues to improve, nearly 45% of the population lives on less than $1 a day, according to UNICEF. Rural poverty remains widespread in the dry savannah region that covers roughly two thirds of Ghana’s northern territory. Small-scale farms suffer from a lack of infrastructure and equipment, both of which are needed to shift from subsistence farming to more modern commercial farming which would yield greater incomes and a chance to escape poverty.

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About Salesian Missions USA

Salesian Missions is headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, and is part of the Don Bosco Network—a worldwide federation of Salesian NGOs. The mission of the U.S.-based nonprofit Catholic organization is to raise funds for international programs that serve youth and families in poor communities around the globe. The Salesian missionaries are made up of priests, brothers and sisters, as well as laypeople—all dedicated to caring for poor children throughout the world in more than 130 countries and helping young people become self-sufficient by learning a trade that will help them gain employment. To date, more than 3 million youth have received services funded by Salesian Missions. These services and programs are provided to children regardless of race or religion. For more information, go to SalesianMissions.org.

Contact:

Laura Perillo
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