Salesian Province of Mumbai

☼ VISION & MISSION

Vision Statement

We, the Salesians of the Mumbai province, inspired by the Preferential love of Christ the Good Shepherd for the poor, and Don Bosco’s predilection for poor and disadvantaged youth, commit ourselves to the holistic advancement of youth at risk, especially the economically poor, both rural and urban, by empowering them to creatively address the factors responsible for their poverty.

We, as consecrated religious, carry out this vision according to our specific charism of education and evangelization, at the service of the church, in collaboration with the Salesian Family, our lay collaborators and other people of good will.

Mission Priorities

The Mumbai Provincial Chapter 2004, decided on the following as Mission Priorities of the province:

1. Faith and Value Formation

Faith Formation of young people has always been a key priority for us Salesians. In the present context of our province it has attained a renewed relevance. We have been noticing that youngsters within the Church fail to reach a “high standard of Christian living” because of a shallow faith formation. It is in this context that we wish to re-launch our efforts in the field of faith formation.

While faith formation is aimed precisely at Catholic youngsters, Value Education is a service we offer to all youth. Recent trends that have been ushered in especially through globalization and the mass media have resulted in a serious loss of values among the young. Unless the youth of today have a solid value base to their lives, they will not be able to carve out bright futures for themselves. Accordingly, through relevant and systematic value education we wish to help youngsters grow into upright and responsible citizens.

2. Education to Livelihood

Unemployment among youth has become an enormous problem today. High drop out rate among the poorer and marginalized sections of the society caused by, inadequate guidance from parents as they are illiterate, poor study atmosphere at home, poor quality education in the government primary schools, economic factors, inability to cope with studies and repeated failures, negative influence of media, and lack of motivation are some of the reasons that have contributed to the alarming growth of unemployment.

In the villages the natural resources – land, water, and forest – are degrading fast. Over exploitation of ground water by big farmers and commercial exploitation of forests is also significant. Faulty cropping pattern and excessive use of fertilizers lead to reduction in productivity. There is a lack of awareness of conservation, preservation and regeneration of natural resources.

Unless all these ‘root causes’ of unemployment are remedied, the situation is only going to further degenerate. It is in this context that we have taken up the challenge to educate the young towards secure and sustainable livelihoods.

3. Social Justice and Harmony

The need to promote and protect social harmony has today gained vital importance all over India. For us too it assumes great relevance since the states which comprise the Mumbai province have all witnessed communal tensions in the recent past. Unless justice and harmony prevail no development can take place. And the greatest losers are the young since it is their future that is undermined! Hence we have committed ourselves to educate youngsters to create an environment where justice and harmony prevail.