Salesian home in Sierra Leone gives deaf children vocational skills

Published: 2004-06-25

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (CNS) -- The Don Bosco Home in Freetown, originally founded to serve homeless and orphaned children, now assists deaf youths in their efforts to become self-sufficient. U.S. Salesian Father John Thompson, director of the home, said the Salesians changed the mission of the home because of the needs of deaf youths, who are like "pariahs in society." Opened in 1999 in the war-torn West African capital city, the Don Bosco Home served a variety of children in need, including those orphaned by Sierra Leone's civil war and street kids involved in gangs. The plight of deaf children caught Father Thompson's attention; he said the Salesians realized they should not restrict their activities to taking care of street kids. "If these people are not helped to acquire skills, how will they live when they get families?" he asked.

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