austraLasia

By Fr. Dindo Vitung, SDB
DB TEACH ASEAN COORDINATOR

Parañaque, Manila, Philippines, 29 August 2019 -- During the recent August 2019 Paranaque Curatorium meeting second level (Provincials and Superiors of the Delegation) the 'DB TECH ASEAN' was also present. This is a network of some 40 Don Bosco TVET centers working for the needy youth in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and Timor Leste. The Provincials and Delegation Superiors received the ongoing project report from the DB TECH ASEAN coordinator Fr. Dindo Vitug (FIN province - Manila) and improved their understanding of its progress and challenges.

The DB TECH ASEAN Coordinator emphasized that this project makes an impact especially on the quality of our technical vocational education of the young in the ASEAN region and caters to the holistic development of youth. He mentioned that the most important effect is 'becoming one network': We work together in the ASEAN region with networking—we exchange ideas and best practices. Fr Vitug also enumerated the challenges on the way: lack of qualified personnel, need to develop more program offerings and improve our training equipment. He also encouraged the Provincials and the Delegation Superiors at the Curatorium to come up with 'projects for their country" where their TVET are based. So far during the first 6 months of DB TECH ASEAN the project already gained many visible outcomes -greater confidence of our lay mission partners after specific courses, a broader vision regarding TVET (networking with other public or private TVETs in their respective countries). Last but not the least much appreciated is the 'peer-to-peer' training of SDBs and the formation of trainers among the nearby provinces (e.g. TLS and INA).

In the name of the gathered Superiors, Fr. Godofredo Atienza (FIS) expressed "appreciation to the DB TECH ASEAN, which does so much good for the young who can really have work after a few months of stay with us and enhances the quality of our commitment for the preferential beneficiaries of our mission."

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