Salesian Mission and the HIV prevention programme in South & East Africa:
The Background: It is true that there was an “Life Choices: Abstinence and Being Faithful Programme” run by the Salesians in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. It is important to note that while in South Africa it was run only in Cape Town – in one community, in Kenya and Tanzania, it was run in all the institutions of Salesians of Don Bosco and some of the institutions of the Salesian Sisters. It is also true that the five year project (2005 to 2010) was funded by USAID and PEPFAR. The Salesian Mission at Washington had applied for the funding on behalf of the Salesians in the three countries and had acted as the office for monitoring and evaluation of the project.
The current web-news concerns the allegations by means of a journalistic report made by Lepanto Institute and re-reported by Lifesite. The report by Lepanto Institute is based on the project reports that were completed by USAID, the Salesian Mission in the U.S., and the training manual that was proposed by the funding agencies. In these documents there is mention of “training in the use of condom” and in one there is a mention of distribution of condom. It is very vital to note that the journalistic report conveniently neglects the project title “Abstinence and Being Faithful Programs” and the mention of other important strategies in the project – prevention of teenage pregnancies, abstinence, and the like.
The fact: I was the Provincial Youth Ministry Delegate of the Salesian Province of Eastern Africa which included Kenya and Tanzania, and by then also Uganda and Sudan, from 2003 to 2008. Though the project in Kenya and Tanzania was implemented by the Don Bosco Development and Planning Office – which for a large part functions as an NGO and I had very little to do with the implementation of the Life Choices Project – I can vouch on these two facts:
1. No condoms were distributed; and
2. The curriculum that was followed did not include any instruction on condom use. The curriculum that was use in Kenya and Tanzania was not the one that was proposed by PEPFAR, but was developed by trainers in Kenya and was of course approved by USAID personnel.
From what I heard from my counter-part then (the Provincial Youth Ministry Delegate of the Salesian Province of South Africa) when we met together in Pan-African meetings: the project in South Africa was small and the province did not have anything direct to do with the project though it was housed in the Salesian institution in Cape Town.
How come “condoms” get mentioned in the reports?
(1) It is very crucial to note that none of the reports that have been used by Lepanto Institute has come directly from the implementer of the project in South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania. So it may not reflect what happened at the ground level.
(2) They all come from Washington. Simply: these phrases could have been put there in the report just to please the U.S. government agencies. (How do I know? I have the evidence that there was no condom distributed nor youth trained in condom use at the Don Bosco premises in Kenya and Tanzania.)
(3) Is it possible that they were put there by those who generated the reports? Yes, remember they are all lay personnel who want to perform by bringing in funds for the Salesian Missions. Weak as this argument may seem, this happens all the time in practice.
(4) If there is an additional evidence in the form of videos or photos, apart from reports, then above 3 points will not hold good.
(5) Salesians are culpable in so far as that they allowed these reports to be submitted on their behalf. If any Salesian put his signature on these reports – if there is such evidence – then he is responsible in front of the respective provinces.
These allegations should not be related to the entire Salesian Congregation. The Salesian congregation, though has a central office in Rome, is divided into 92 provinces which act semi-autonomously in the implementation of projects such as these.
A Final Comment – a very personal one: I am given to understand that the Lepanto Institute and the LifeSite are Pro-life initiatives. I appreciate their efforts on the protection of human life right from conception. In this effort, I would only invite them not to lose wars which focusing on battles!
The above statement may not reflect the official position of the Salesians of Don Bosco in East Africa or anywhere else in the globe.
Sahaya G. Selvam, sdb