John Bosco was born in the little hamlet of Becchi some 20 kms. from Turin, Italy. His father, Francis Bosco, was only 2 years old. The griefstricken words of his mother, telling him deeply impressed in the child’s mind and perhaps helped to instill into his mind the intense empathy for the orphans and the homeless which became the dominant note of his life. The story of the exertions and sacrifices made by him and his mother cannot be told her in detail. Working as a servant, teaching, assisting a tailor, doing chores for blacksmith and keeping score at a billiard table were some of the things he did in order to pay for his food, lodging and tuition while at school.