Luanda (Angola) Since the beginning of the lockdown in March 2020 for the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the closure of educational facilities, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Queen of Peace Preprovince (ANG) sought a way to help young people and families who had lost their jobs and found themselves without resources to buy basic necessities.
Thus, in Zango, on the outskirts of Luanda, an area of migration with a high rate of youth unemployment, the FMA of the BL. Maria Romero Meneses Community, who manage a Vocational Training Center, created four small cooperatives – Atelier Salesianart – for the production of African handicrafts: household items, curtains, bags for women and men, etc. One of the cooperatives is dedicated to the processing of sacred art fabrics through embroidery with industrial machines.
The advertising and sale of products takes place through social networks, where it is possible to view the articles and place orders for the articles online, which are then delivered to your home. The proceeds are shared between young people and working women to support their families.
In this way, young people are educated to reinvent themselves in times of crisis, to develop an entrepreneurial mentality, to work in a team, and to use the network and social media as work tools.
For the FMA Community this experience has turned into an opportunity to respond to the Covid-19 emergency and help the population with creativity and enthusiasm, following the invitation of Pope Francis in the General Audience on 12 August 2020:
“In this way believers, contemplating their neighbor as a brother/sister, look at them compassionately and empathetically… Contemplating the world in the light of faith, with the help of grace, we strive to develop our creativity and enthusiasm in order to resolve the ordeals of history”.
