Don Bosco
Don Bosco was a simple peasant priest who was born on August 16, 1815 in Bechi, a little hamlet in Italy. Having lost his father at the age of two, the responsibility of raising three children fell on the shoulders of Mamma Margret, his mother. She struggled to rise up her family and had to send little Bosco to the town to earn by himself and study since she could not afford to send him to the school.
Little Bosco worked hard and slowly with the help of a priest, he studied and became a priest. From then on he began his work for poor and abandoned youth. As he walked around the streets of Turin, a town in Italy, he found number of youngsters who had come over to the town leaving their villages in search of jobs. A few managed to find some jobs for a very meagre income while the landlords exploited them demanding too much of work. Don Bosco wanted to do something to these youngsters to alleviate their plight. He began a technical school to teach them basic skills and help them to earn a decent salary. As a young lad, he had learnt tailoring, music, shoemaking and bookbinding. These skills helped him to run a very efficient and model technical school.
He began opening a few schools and orphanages and worked tirelessly for the abandoned youth. His work flourished and he found a society of priests and brothers who would, in future, continue the work that he had began. He is an educator at heart and created a system of education called the Preventive system, which encompasses reason, religion and loving kindness, a system that captures the hearts of the young.
Salesians of Don Bosco
Today the priests and brothers who are working with the charism of Don Bosco are commonly known as the Salesians of Don Bosco. The noble work began by Don Bosco had spread all over the world. In Tamil Nadu alone we have nearly about hundred centers which run with the charism of Don Bosco. Pastor Lenssen Polytechnic College is one such institution.
International and National Linkages
International Link
Don Bosco institutions all around the world are linked under the banner ‘Salesians of Don Bosco’. Through this, Pastor Lenssen Polytechnic College is enhanced to interact, network and enter into partnership programme with the other international institutions. (www.sdb.org)
National Level Link – Don Bosco Tech.
In India, DB Tech is a network, connecting nearly 170 Don Bosco technical institutions, spread in 28 states which makes the largest NGO engaged in technical training. All the institutions cater to the youngsters who are deprived and underprivileged. They provide technical training and career guidance to the economically and socially marginalised youth. (www.dbtech.in)
Province Level
Various Don Bosco institutions present in Southern Tamil Nadu are linked together as one province with the name, Salesian Province of Annai Vellankanni. The Provincial of this province is the President of Sebastian Educational and Charitable Trust.
Salesian Mission & Choice
The first and principle beneficiaries of our mission are the young, especially the poorest of them, young workers and those preparing themselves for work.
We carry out our activities and works in areas where it is possible to promote the human and Christian education. Some of the works carried out across the globe for integral formation of young people are:
- The Oratories and Youth Centers
- Academic Schools and Technical Schools
- Boarding and Hostels
- Social Services and works for youth-at-risk
- Pastoral Services
- Arts & Science Colleges,
- Professional Colleges
- Social Communication, etc.
Salesian Style
Don Bosco passed on to us a unique style of living and working, an original blend of life and action, which we call it as the Salesian spirit. Here is an outline of its characteristics:
A special concern for the welfare of young people.
Loving kindness and a welcoming attitude – lived out in openness, cordiality, readiness to make the first approach and to put others at ease with our friendship, respect and patience.
Our educative method – ‘The Preventive System’ – is a system based entirely on reason, religion and loving kindness, a unique spiritual and educational experience of working with and through the young for their and our salvation.
Deep trust in God and a constant listening to His will are the spiritual foundations of our work. In this way we strive to keep alive our collaboration in God’s creative and loving action in history.