Salesians of Don Bosco
Don Bosco followed his calling and was ordained a priest in 1841.In 1859, Don Bosco established the Society of St. Francis of Sales – popularly known as the Salesians.“Be with the boys, prevent sin through reason, religion and loving kindness. Become saints and educators of saints. Our boys must know they are loved.”
St. John “Don” Bosco was canonized in 1934. 100 years after his death, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Don Bosco “The Father and Teacher of Youth.”
Don Bosco began to give a place to boys without a home. He taught them to work, and to love the Lord. He sang, played and prayed with them. Thus, Don Bosco developed his famous educational method called the Preventive System.
The Salesians
The Salesians carry on Don Bosco’s legacy of helping poor and suffering children to live better lives and build brighter futures through education.
Since its humble beginnings, the Salesians have inspired many others to follow the path of Don Bosco. Today, we are 34,000 Priests, Brothers and Sisters located in more than 130 countries around the world. The Salesians of Don Bosco has become the second largest order in the Catholic Church.
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Salesians of Don Bosco Manzini
Upon the Salesians arrival into Swaziland back in the 1950’s the first major initiative undertaken was the establishment and ongoing management of Salesian Primary and High School on what was then the outskirts of Manzini. This school was considered one of the best educational facilities in the country, with many of the country’s leaders of today having undertaken their education at these schools.
Salesian Primary and High School was run and managed by the Salesians until the early 1990’s when a board of local community leaders took over management of the school. The Salesian involvement has continued though with several Salesians on staff and a Salesian always in the role of school manager. The Salesian ethos and presence continues to play a major role in the educational programme.
From their initial management of the Salesian schools, the Salesians involvement in the community has expanded over the years. The major Salesian project has been that of Manzini Youth Care, but there are other important activities such as their pastoral and chaplaincy work. The Salesians are chaplains at the University of Swaziland and Waterford School, as well as for the Portuguese Catholic community. Salesians travel around the country providing mass for the catholic communities in more remote locations without permanent parish priests as well as sharing in the provision of services at the country’s cathedral.
Salesians also manage six other catholic primary and secondary schools in Swaziland. They offer diocesan catechetical supervision, develop evangelical youth leaderships programs, assist in development of school religious education curriculum and assist in the running of catholic teacher training programs.
The Salesians have also developed a youth behavior change programme called Love Matters. Delivered to school groups in a weekend retreat setting, this course challenges the young people to question their views on love, relationships and self-respect. The course attempts to deal with the issue of increasing HIV/Aids contraction amongst the youth through stressing the importance of respecting one’s own body and choosing to wait when talking about physical expressions of love.
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