Sustainability

Strengthening and improving professional training in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The project aims to reinforce professional training in Congo by strengthening and improving the educational and training activities of the "Don Bosco" Professional Training Centre. In particular, the project sets out to support the young students at the College (Technical Institute and Upper Middle School) "Technique Don Bosco" in the Masina district of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world: according to the UNDP index of human development (UN Development Programme) it comes at 168th place out of 177 countries, with a GDP per capita of 700 dollars per capita a year, less than 2 dollars a day, and an illiteracy rate of 32.8%, considering people aged over 15. After fifty years as a Belgian colony, the country has been beset, since independence in 1960, by dictatorships, ethnic conflicts, civil wars, and the presence of foreign troops.

Against such a background, it is easy to understand how the country's economy is suffocated and underdeveloped. The Salesian missions in the capital Kinshasa, in the western part of the country, have been working for years to help towards generating new forces for the country's economy. This is to be achieved by professional training, and the beneficiaries, in line with Salesian philosophy, are young people who live in economically and socially precarious conditions - young people who are given an opportunity for all-round training, professional and human, enabling them to make their way in society.

While the aim is to provide professional training for deprived young people in Kinshasa - those who live on the margins of society - the Salesian missions intend to provide a wider range of vocational training by organising new types of courses such as graphic work and electronics, in line with the demand from the marketplace.