| About VIDES |
| What VIDES means |
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VIDES is an Italian acronym (Volontariato Internazzionale Donna Educazione Sviluppo) or, simply translated – international volunteers organization for the formation of volunteers towards solidarity and the education and development of women and the poorest young. It is the volunteer arm of the FMA Congregation or the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians more popularly known as the Salesian Sisters of Saint John Bosco. |
| Origins |
VIDES was organized by Sr. Maria Grazia Caputo, FMA in 1987 in response to Mother Marinella Castagno, then Superior General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, whose vision it was to form an organization which will respond to the needs of the young in the area of solidarity. By 1991, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recognized VIDES as a non-government organization (NGO) authorized to propose projects for development.
From its early beginnings in Italy, VIDES spread to other parts of Europe and the rest of the world. Today, VIDES is in 31 countries around the world including Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. In the Americas, VIDES is in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Canada, Panama, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Guatemala, Chile and the United States. And in Asia, VIDES is in India, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.
VIDES operates under the Salesian Sisters’ Commission on the Salesian Family and on the Youth Pastoral. At the international level, it is governed by a Directive Council comprised of fifteen lay and FMA members. Its Presidential Council includes a President, Director General, Secretary, Treasurer and Adviser. A Formation Commission is charged with setting the formative criteria for the formation of volunteers. |
| How VIDES is Organized |
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Anywhere in the world, the name for the Salesian Sisters’ volunteer organizations remains VIDES. It carries out the same aim, that of opening FMA communities in an organized way of evangelizing, accompanying and giving the young concrete proposals of volunteerism particularly favoring marginalized children and women. VIDES chapters are organized at the local level to institute projects and activities which respond to the tangible demands of the territory but are at the same time geared towards four major characteristic elements: Salesian, formation, education and apostolic mission. |
| Accreditations |
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VIDES is a member of the European Anti-Poverty Network, the UNESCO Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS), and is recognized as an NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
| VIDES Philippines |
In the Philippines, VIDES was a spin-off of the Laura Vicuña Foundation which was established by the Salesian Sisters as a means of addressing the problems brought about by the growing number of street children. When it was formed in 1990, ten young people responded as the first volunteers.
In 1995, Sr. Ma. Victoria P. Sta. Ana, FMA was tasked to form a local VIDES organization in the Philippines by incorporating the group of volunteers already servicing street children. VIDES Philippines evolved as a dynamic and unified group of socially oriented individuals working with the Salesian Sisters for the development of families especially women and children.
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