Luanda, 18 April, 2021 / 9:30 pm (ACI Africa).
A Portuguese-born Salesian Missionary who volunteered to serve the vulnerable in Angola has, in a report, shared about his experience in the Southern African nation, saying his services among slum dwellers “completely” changed his worldview.
In a Wednesday, April 14 report obtained by ACI Africa, Jorge Fernandes says, “I lived in one of the most dangerous slums in Angola. I tasted the difficulties, needs and joys of people. I went to a school to teach street children. This made me see life from a completely different perspective.”
For Fernandes, an expert in Computer Engineering and Project Management, teaching and interacting with the street children under the care of the members of the Religious Institute of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) allowed him “to live a completely different sort of life.”
Referencing his decision to leave the Czech Republic where he had served for three years as a software developer for Angola, he explains, “I didn’t know where I was going or what I was going to do. I wanted to understand better the purpose of my existence in this world. Before I went, I told myself that I would do ‘whatever it takes.’”
After a year as a volunteer with SDB members in Angola’s Archdiocese of Luanda, Fernandes is back to his native country of Portugal. He credits his ability to be a good teacher to his service among the vulnerable children in the Southern African nation.
