The Salesian Order
Salesian History
Our long and proud history began on August 16, 1815 with the birth of our founder, St. John “Don” Bosco, who influenced his peers even as a child. In 1841 he was ordained a priest and in 1859 he established the Society of St. Francis of Sales – popularly known as the Salesians. Since its humble beginnings, the Salesians have always focused on the education of the poor and most vulnerable young people.
Today we are in more than 135 countries and touch the lives of millions of children and families.
Watch this short video on the Life of Don Bosco
Salesians In South Africa
It was in 1883 that Don Bosco received a request from Bishop Leonard of Cape Town to send Salesians to South Africa. Only in 1896, however, did it become possible, when a group of five pioneers arrived in Cape Town from England.
The leader was a young Italian priest, accompanied by a clerical student and three Salesian Brothers, craftsmen in printing, bookbinding, and joinery. These crafts were to be the first of several trades to be taught to poor and needy boys for whom the Salesians had come to work. Many were orphans, and all needed a trade with which to earn a living upon leaving school.
The Salesian order has been working for the education and training of youth in their present premises at No. 2 Somerset Road since 1910.
To read more about the Salesian Missions in Southern Africa, click here.
“You catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a barrel of vinegar.”
Salesian Institute Youth Projects - Non Profit Orginisation
Providing job training and social skills for the 21st century
Since 1990, the Salesian Institute Youth Projects have developed programmes to teach critical life skills and help disadvantaged youth get back on their feet and enter the increasingly competitive job market.
The work for youth in Cape Town is generously supported by worldwide Salesian funding networks together with several philanthropic foundations and many private benefactors.
We transform youth at risk into successful citizens
The Salesian Institute Youth Projects serves vulnerable children and youth at risk regardless of religion, race, gender, or nationality. Authentic education prepares the youth for productive engagement within the world of work. At the very least this is the ability to build and maintain a sustainable livelihood, preferably thriving, even flourishing livelihoods- requiring a state of work readiness that enables them to engage in value-adding and worthy transactions in the workplaces in which they find themselves.
South Africa Youth In Crisis:
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 64% for those aged 15-24 and 42% for those aged 25-34 years, while the current official national rate stands at 35%. In the Western Cape province where Salesian Institute Youth Projects work, 44% of the population are young people under the age of 25.
Too many young people, do not have jobs or have given up looking for jobs, in the Western Cape. Nearly a third of them live in poverty, with one in five suffering severe deprivation.
Cape Town has a very high level of chronic homelessness, with 50% homeless, compared to 5% to 25% in other countries.
There are an estimated 14,357 street people in Cape Town, and many of them are young people.