By Br. Thien Phong, SDB (VIE)

Sandor Community, Parañaque, Philiuppines, 17 August 2019 -- Our Salesian Brothers at the Sandor community are quite creative in their pastoral ministry on the weekends. After listening last 17 August to the young Vietnamese students who are living in Parañaque, Brother Phong (VIE province), was able to draft a simple semester's program for their kind of 'Music Oratory' with the following needs that are turned into an Oratory program, teaching these vulnerable youth some important 'soft skills' like personal communication, how to improve physical health without medication, how to learn effectively English and music, how to regulate their emotional life, how to advance in social sciences and how to grow in the art of listening and communication skills.

After this basic listening, a four month program was drafted for this 'Music Migrant Oratory' held every Saturday for the Vietnamese youth studying around Parañaque. The basic principle is 'No Music-No Oratory' and each Saturday (August - December 2019) a substantial class of bamboo float is offered , after which follows some kind of youth life skills and catechesis time, animated by different Brothers from Sandor community, all of different nationalities.

This simple but creative apostolic experience may inspire our young Salesians to listen more closely to the needs of our young people, who can help us to answer the basic question of General Chapter 28: "What kind of Salesians do we need today?"

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