Blantyre, 19 March, 2021 / 10:05 am (ACI Africa).
Members of the Religious Institute of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) are facilitating education scholarships and clean water access to needy students in Cameroon and Malawi.
In a report shared with ACI Africa, Thursday, March 18, officials of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of SDB that solicits the funds for the initiatives in the African countries, say that SDB members have reached out to needy youths who were unable to finish their studies for lack of school fees.
In Cameroon, youths whose families’ economic status has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have benefitted from the scholarships offered through SDB members ministering in the Mimboman region within the country’s Yaoundé Archdiocese, the leadership of the Salesian agency says in the report.
“The pandemic created an economic crisis in Cameroon. The country has had large losses as a result of the closure of exports. Service providers, such as taxi drivers, craftsmen and traders, have been out of work,” Salesian Missions officials have reported.
The Central African nation “is also challenged by the presence of Islamist terrorist groups like Boko Haram in the North, a group of secessionist armies from the Northwest and Central African refugees from the East,” they add, noting that the challenges “affect youth who are trying to study and gain an education.”