DUSHANBE (UCAN) -- Summer is here and the time is right for stiff mountain hikes and bracing swims.

That is the plan for St. Joseph Parish’s “Oratory of Blessed Fatima Shepherds,” a children’s group organized on the inspiration of the Marian visions at Fatima and the work of Saint John Bosco (Don Bosco).

Father Pedro Lopez is in charge of the group, whose current 15 members are aged between 7 and 17. Their activities range from musical instrument lessons and learning how to use computers and speak Spanish, to sports and outdoor excursions.

“Tajikistan has wonderful natural attractions,” the Incarnate Word priest told UCA News on June 3, talking about upcoming summer activities. “There are mountains where we can hike, lakes where we can swim and many other interesting places that children can find interesting.”

The group was formed in 2004 to provide young people an alternative way to spend their time away from the dangers of alcohol, drug addiction, pornography and other negative influences on the streets.

Father Lopez, who spends weekends fulfilling his duties as parish priest in Kurgan-Tube, about 100 kilometers south of the capital, said he and some of his fellow priests in Dushanbe were inspired to form the group after they went as pilgrims to Fatima in Portugal in 2004. They decided to make the three shepherd children to whom the Blessed Mother appeared there in 1917 the group’s patrons.

The Incarnate Word priests, to whom Pope John Paul II entrusted the Tajikistan mission in 1997, also looked to Don Bosco's progressive approach to education as based on love and geared toward “health, wisdom and holiness.” Servants of the Lord and Holy Virgin of Matara nuns, also part of the Argentina-based Incarnate Word family, help the Argentine priests in Dushanbe with the youth apostolate.

Summer means the group members -- 12 Catholics and three Muslims -- are not tied to school and are free to go on outings with the priests and nuns for fresh air, hiking, swimming and sightseeing.

Father Lopez said they have at least one trip planned for the mountains this summer. “We also are going to visit museums and other interesting places,” the priest said. Among these will be an outing to Varzob Lake, outside Dushanbe.

Several of the children told UCA News they appreciate the special holiday activities.

Orzu Saidshoev, 17, said it is good to spend the holiday “together with friends,” and especially in the company of priests and nuns.

The Church workers are not just concerned about the Catholic community, which is small in this Muslim-majority country of 6.5 million people. St. Joseph's, where about 100 people regularly attend Mass, is the largest of the three parishes in Tajikistan, which have about 250 registered Catholics in three parishes. Priests visit the smallest parish, in Chkalovsk, 200 kilometers northeast of Dushanbe, once a month to celebrate Mass.

“We don’t differentiate on the basis of religion,” said Father Ezequel Ayala, the St. Joseph parish priest. “The doors of our oratory are open for everyone.”

They don’t attempt to “convert” anyone to Catholicism, he explained, but try to organize the children’s free time to provide them “maximum benefit."

When school is in session, the youngsters come after classes to the parish buildings to learn to play the guitar or organ, brush up on their computer skills, learn Spanish, the language of the priests, or play football, basketball and table tennis.

“Our main goal is to allow children to develop and grow holistically, therefore we pay a lot of attention not only to entertainment but to study as well,” Father Lopez said.

Artem Guresov has taken part in the activities since the group started four years ago. “Visiting the oratory is much more interesting than hanging around on the streets, because my friends are there and we do plenty of interesting activities,” the 13-year-old Catholic boy told UCA News.

His mother, Antonina Guresova, is also happy her son, one of five children, is an active group member. “I don’t worry when my son is at the oratory, because I know he won’t encounter any bad influences there.”

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