Kinshasa, 04 June, 2020 / 4:40 am (ACI Africa).
On the occasion of the Global Day of Parents marked Monday, June 1, Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Religious Institute of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), joined other humanitarian and international organizations in reviewing initiatives toward parents around the globe in general and the support toward women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in particular.
In the Central African nation, Salesian Missions is helping women to become self-sufficient, through Don Bosco Center located in Bukavu Archdiocese in the Eastern region of the country.
The center supports women who wish to join groups run by the Association Villageoise d’Epargne et Crédit (AVEC), which loosely translates to an association for savings and credit in the villages.
“Every week, the women deposit 1,000 to 5,000 Congolese Francs (CF) (US$0.55-US$2.74), which is roughly 60 cents, into the group’s safe, in addition to depositing another 200 CF (US$0.11) in the solidarity fund,” the leadership of Salesian Missions has reported.
In the report published Monday, June 1 by Mission Newswire, the official news service of the Salesian Missions, the leadership adds, “After a few weeks, the group members can apply for credit and receive up to 10,000 CF (US$5.48) to help in situations of necessity such as the birth of a child, an illness or a death in the family.”