What connects Catholic religious education with an HTL in Tyrol and volunteering in Kenya? What is the (life) relevance for the students at the International School Kufstein?
In the 19th century, Don (John) Bosco paved the way for a bright future for many young people, taking them from the streets to a home, from poverty to faith. Salesians of Don Bosco can now look back on more than 150 years of history since their foundation. Their community now comprises 14,500 Salesians in 130 countries.
After the students of class 6A had learned about Don Bosco and his legacy, the question arose as to how the students could best understand the significance of this one person for the present day. After all, we know of many impressive and influential people in the Catholic Church, for example.
The first obvious idea was an excursion to Fulpmes, where there is a Salesian Don Bosco student residence attached to the HTL. However, we didn't have to travel very far to bring Don Bosco indirectly to our school. A big thank you goes to Father Peter Rinderer, the director of the student residence in Fulpmes, whose commitment made it possible for a lecture for class 6A to take place at our school through “Volunteering moves” (https://www.volontariat.at). This initiative is supported by the “Salesians of Don Bosco” and “Jugend eine Welt” (Youth One World).
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Markus Thaler, who is now studying at the MCI in Innsbruck, for his time and comprehensive insight into his volunteer work in Kenya, where he completed his volunteer year in Embu instead of doing community service here in Austria.
As we learned from Markus Thaler, Don Bosco's legacy lives on strongly at Don Bosco Embu through Don Bosco's idea of combining the four pillars of “home,” “play,” “faith,” and “education” to give young people a better future. The motto “Quality Training for Quality Life” implies a clear commitment on the part of the students that they are grateful to receive an education, an education that we largely take for granted.
In Kenya, 70% of the population is Christian. Morning prayers, Holy Mass, prayers before and after each meal, as well as the rosary and evening prayers are an important part of the community in Embu.
“Volunteering moves” is a great opportunity to get to know foreign cultures and their way of life and circumstances firsthand, to experience them up close, so to speak. The presentation also gave us an impression of Kenya's diverse landscape with wonderful pictures. The day is characterized by a regular schedule in which all four pillars find sufficient space. The students receive lessons in the basics of Microsoft Office, Mathematics, Technical Drawing, and German, for example. In addition, workshops are held on welding, carpentry and joinery, installation work (plumbing), electrical engineering, and bricklaying. The time spent together playing, singing, celebrating, eating, and dancing particularly helps to strengthen the community.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming Markus Thaler back to our school to provide graduates with more information about the possibility of volunteering.
Stefan Höck, BSc – Teacher of Catholic Religion
