Salesians at Greenbelt Festival of Arts
Posted: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:59
Greenbelt festival of arts has been a great combination of music, comedy, art, faith and activism since it started in 1974. I'd known the name for a few years but had never taken the time to attend, so when James sent me an email asking if anyone fancied going I jumped at the chance (when someone offers free tickets you always say yes!)
After negotiation the parking system and getting all our tents,... Read More »
Don Bosco Day Celebrations in the South
Posted: Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:00
How many times has someone mentioned "Salesian Family" to you? Seems like that phrase crops up all over the place, but I don't think two people have ever given me the same definition for it. And yet I certainly felt I experienced "it" on the night of Sunday 30th January. As it neared 6pm I, along with more and more people, shuffled, squashed and then crammed into the SDB chapel in Battersea to celebrate... Read More »
Phoenix Days Holidays
Posted: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:59
I was keen to get involved with the Phoenix Days holidays as they aim to offer young people from "poor" home and family backgrounds the chance of a week's holiday which they might not otherwise get. And I know what poor means - it means having no money, being skint, borassic - and so such an activity through a congregation which aims to support the young AND the poor within a Church with a preferential... Read More »
Kenyan BOVA Volunteer on his Language Experiences
Posted: Sun, 6 Feb 2011 11:59
Almost everyone here is bilingual, speaking at least English (the official language of the education system) and Kiswahili. Some speak many more languages than that. My friend Isaac, one of the Kenyans who works here, says that he can speak 6 tribal African languages and understand 6 others.
It's a shame then that so few people seem to understand me. My accent, which is clearly not East African English,... Read More »
Manchester Don Bosco Day Celebrations!
Posted: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 11:59
We now know the drill; it's the end of January, it's still colder than down South and there's a strange sense of "I'm sure there's something that should be happening around about now" -YES! It's the annual Network-North Don Bosco Day Celebration!
For a few years now, the Salesians of the North have been emerging from their various caves and crevices in order to celebrate the feast day of the man himself.... Read More »
News from Jerusalem
Posted: Sun, 30 Jan 2011
Fr Gianni Caputa, who teaches at the Salesian Theological College, Ratisbonne, Jerusalem, has sent the following news of celebrations for the Feast of Saint John Bosco.
While tumultuous events seem to be engulfing many parts of the Middle East at the moment, and we do not forget our Salesian Family in Tunisia and Egypt (and Sudan, and in many other parts of that region), there was time and tranquility... Read More »
Celebration at Hidden Gem
Posted: Sat, 29 Jan 2011
For the past few years Salesian volunteers and past volunteers from the North of England have been meeting at St Mary's church in central Manchester to celebrate the Feast of Saint John Bosco.
Outside the Hidden Gem
This year 'Network North' gathered at 12 noon on Saturday 29th January in St Mary's, which is known locally as 'The Hidden Gem', and delighted the regular congregation by providing readers... Read More »
The Feast of Don Bosco around the world
Posted: Mon, 24 Jan 2011
The Feast of Don Bosco with BOVA volunteers around the world: - celebrating with young people in Zambia, the Philippines, Kenya, India and Tanzania.
Anna and Claire in Zambia
At the City of Hope in Lusaka, Zambia we celebrated the Don Bosco feast in a number of ways. At the Open Community School we had a whole school mass on the Friday, followed by an afternoon of singing, dancing and games (including... Read More »
News from Tunisia
Posted: Mon, 17 Jan 2011
Fr Laurence Essery SDB, a Salesian from Great Britain who is now a member of the Maltese Delegation, is based in Tunisia, where there has been unrest from December 2010. He sent the following report on 17th January 2011.
As you will no doubt know from the TV and press, Tunisia is in turmoil and we in Manouba are not too far from from the 'epicentre', the city of Tunis itself. Yesterday in particular... Read More »
Fr Gilheney with Catenians
Posted: Sat, 1 Jan 2011
Fr John Gilheney, former Headteacher of Salesian School Chertsey and now resident in Farnborough, was a guest recently of the Runnymede Circle of the Catenian Association. Fr Gilheney was Headteacher at Salesian School Chertsey from 1977 to 1990. This was, however, the first time he had visited Runnymede Circle which is based in Chertsey. Apart from meeting clergy from Weybridge Deanery he was also... Read More »