By INA SocCom

Indonesia, 14 August 2024 -- Taking advantage of his coming to the EAO Brothers Congress in Jakarta - Indonesia, having given his conference on day 1 (Monday, 5 August) and taken lunch with the participants of the Congress, Br. Jean Paul Muller started his trip to visit communities in INA which lasted from 5 to 10 August. The communities he visited are Tigaraksa-Banten, Purwodadi-Central Java, Blitar-East Java, Surabaya-East Java, Waipengali-Sumba, and Gerak village-Flores.

In those communities, Br. Muller learned how the works of education and training are carried out, observed the facilities, gave feedback on the projects, talked with the students, and gave good night talks to the communities and conferences to the Novices, Prenovices, and Aspirants.

Br. Muller says it is a very different thing between reading the documents received in Rome and then observing directly the realities of the mission. Here below is what Br. Muller writes on his visit:

The purpose of the visit to the Salesian institutions in Indonesia was to gain a better understanding of the development of the respective centers and to identify the challenges they face. The Economer General was particularly interested in the level of technical training in the TVET centers and the quality of the training provided to teachers and trainers.

Cooperation with industry and local companies is a good basis for placing graduates in jobs, and it was clear that there are more job vacancies than job seekers.

Despite the long distances, it was possible to visit the centers in Tigaraksa, Purwodadi, Blitar, Surabaya, Waipengali, Sumba and Gerak and to speak to the people in charge there, thanks to the good organization on the part of the Economer of the Province.

The changes in society require the Salesians to adapt quickly to the demands of the labor market, which in turn has consequences for investments and for the creation of new job profiles in schools and workshops. The courses for teachers, which are also being continued by the government, are leading to intensive reflection on the school curriculum and the adaptation of Don Bosco's preventive system in the institutions, which is contributing to an increase in educational quality.

It is clear that the technical schools in particular, but also the schools in general, need further support in order to be able to offer didactic and technical training material for young people. The great solidarity of the local Christian communities with the Salesians has already achieved a great deal of good here in the past, but it is desirable that the circle of benefactors should be more widely spread. This applies especially where new buildings are needed due to construction difficulties or where restructuring is pending.

The huge difference between the opportunities available to young people in rural and urban areas emphasizes the need for boarding schools, where children from poor families in particular can be admitted. However, this is only possible if sponsorships can be found for the children, which would finance both the expensive transport to the cities and their accommodation.

The General Economer met with the novices, as well as with the aspirants and the pre-novices. After his respective conferences, he answered the questions of the young men and remained in conversation with them. In his good-night tasks, he addressed the upcoming General Chapter and, based on the changes in society and the Church, emphasized the importance of a lived, intensive spiritual dimension of the Salesians in order to fulfill their mission as preachers of the Gospel.

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