CV NEWS FEED // Don Bosco Fambul Child Protection Center in Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, has built a new chapel that will be accessible to its youth, volunteers, and the wider community following a donation from Salasian Missions.
According to a press release from the non-profit organization, before the construction of the new chapel, Salasians who co-run the center were celebrating Mass in hallways.
The center now has four buildings: a clinic, a house for the Salasian community, accommodations for social workers and volunteers, and the chapel.
Don Bosco Fambul is a local non-government organization (NGO) dedicated to supporting “youth who are living on the streets, girls who have faced sexual abuse, young women who have been forced into prostitution, and youth in trouble with the law.”
The center provides shelter and therapy for minors who have experienced abuse or are involved with commercial sex, along with education and psychological support to inmates at the nearby Pademba Prison, according to its website.
Staff and social workers at Don Bosco carry out the center’s mission to protect minors from exploitation by going out into the surrounding villages and markets “to engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s programs.”
One missionary at Don Bosco Fambul stated in the release:
The Don Bosco chapel in Don Bosco Fambul’s Child Protection Center provides a safe and nurturing environment where youth can find comfort, solace and hope. Many of the youth who come to the center have suffered physical, emotional or sexual abuse and are traumatized by their experiences.
The chapel also provides a space for staff, volunteers, and missionaries, to “reflect during their breaks,” the release noted, adding: “Their mental health while doing this critical work is as important as that of the youth we serve.”
Lastly, the release stated that the chapel would be open to the surrounding village community. Though “nearly 80% percent are Muslim,” the release concluded, “they will join the congregation for prayers, especially on Sundays.”
