São Paulo and Kisarawe
This month we were delighted to have updates with the Sisters of Mary schools in São Paulo, Brazil and Tanzania, and to witness all the educational progress that our generous supporters have made possible.
Update from the Elementary school, São Paulo.
We spoke to Sr Maria and Sr Lourdes, who provided an update on their Elementary and Kindergarten schools in São Paulo.
303 boys and girls are attending the elementary school in São Paulo from Grade 1 (age 6 years) to Grade 5 (age 11 years). 157 children attend in the morning sessions (7.30am – 12.30pm) and 136 children attend in the afternoon (1pm – 6pm). All the students study Maths, English, Portuguese, Social Studies, PE, Computing, Geography, History, Art and Religion. They receive two meals, either breakfast and lunch or lunch and a snack.
The majority of the children who are welcomed into these school places come from the favelas1Favelas – slums in Brazil https://www.britannica.com/topic/favela of the country where poverty is extreme, and where families cannot afford for their children to attend school. These regions have seen an increase in drug- related violence which has made it a priority for the Sisters to reach them and offer them a safe place at school.
The Sisters have met hundreds of families but they cannot accept every child. Many difficult decisions have to be made to give as many families as possible the opportunity for their child to receive quality schooling and the tools they need for a better, poverty free life.
Educating communities
Parents in these deprived families have little education or understanding of the importance of education for their future life. Much of the Sisters work involves educating these parents on the needs of their children and how essential education is to lift their families and communities out of poverty.
Children joining the elementary school now face many challenges. Learning lost during the pandemic has made it particularly difficult for them to concentrate or to learn quickly but they love to play outside and the freedom and safety of being in the school.
The Sisters maintain regular contact with the parents of these children to discuss their child’s progress. This helps to show how the parents can further support each child and ensure their youngster stays in school.
“Comparing this year to post pandemic, it is more difficult, especially when there are new comers from the government’s schools, they find it difficult to learn fast compared to students who started with us from kindergarten.“ – Sr Lourdes.
Sao Paulo Day-Care centre
In the São Paulo day care centre the Sisters now care for 161 toddlers aged 3-5. Like the Elementary school, these children are welcomed from the poorest favelas in the region. The boys and girls come for the whole day, many arriving at 7.30 am in the morning and staying until 5 pm.
The children have three full meals during the day as well as milk. Their studies are based on the Montessori method of teaching and follow the other day-care facilities at the SoM programmes worldwide.
For the young parents or single mothers in this country who struggle with employment and earn a meagre salary, this programme is a lifeline providing vital childcare and nutrition for their vulnerable youngsters whilst they access better job opportunities and support their families.
Call with the Sisters in São Paulo
The Sisters discuss the difficulty in helping parents
Award winning education
The children have structured activity with nursery teachers to stimulate active learning in the morning and love their playtime in the afternoon. They learn to communicate, listen, make friends and build relationships with others and they are taught the basics of reading and writing early on. Their time with the Sisters provides vital foundational learning for the youngsters and gives them a head-start for future education. Consequently the places at the centre are many times oversubscribed.
Requests for places have also increased following the recent award received by the school from the Municipality for being the best school in the region. Families are consequently desperate to enrol their children because they know they will receive a quality education.
Update from Kisarawe Girlstown, and Kiluvya Training Centre and Nursery
On 25th July, Sister Merry Jane and the Sisters in Kisarawe gave us an update on their girls’ school, day care and training centre programmes.
New starters at Kisarawe
The 170 new girls who joined Kisarawe in January are settling in and the Sisters are seeing good progress, especially in their English language capabilities. With a regular nutritious diet the girls are growing physically and enjoying their classes. The Sisters perform classroom observations regularly to see how the girls are doing and they report that they are focused on their studies and enjoy learning.
Meeting girls in their communities
One of our new girls comes from a remote community in Kasanga, Morogoro. Located in Mikumi National Park, the communities live alongside the wildlife. When the Sisters met this new girl, they asked if she lived close so that they could visit her family. She said it was “near” but they walked for over an hour to reach her home from her primary school, a journey she had to make alone twice every day, a dangerous journey for a young girl. When asked what she wants to be after school, she did not know because she has had such limited exposure to the opportunities there are for her. Now she is with the Sisters in Kisarawe, she is enjoying the safety of a school environment where everything is provided. She also has the space to learn, grow, and dream about what her future can look like – away from poverty.
The Sisters tell us about meeting girls in Morogoro, Tanzania
Defying expectations
The girls in Kisarawe continue to excel in all their endeavours. One of our Form 4 students showed such talent in volleyball that she has now been scouted by the local international school and offered a full volleyball scholarship to continue her secondary education and study and play volleyball in Uganda. This is one of the amazing benefits for young girls in our schools – the chance to nurture their skills and talents.
(Literally) levelling the playing field
Kisarawe Girlstown is in need of a sports field. At the moment, our girls practise football and run on the cement playground as it is the only even area available to them. Kisarawe Girlstown is located in a hilly area and levelling the slopes to create an appropriate field requires funding. We will be supporting this project in the coming months.
Cultivating a sustainable programme
We were encouraged to hear that the gardening programme is going very well! Despite a setback with the newly constructed greenhouse suffering damage during the heavy rains, the children and Sisters have worked hard to cultivate the garden. They currently grow sweet potatoes, okra, tomatoes, cassava, maize and many fruit trees.
The gardens not only teach the children agricultural skills, but help to supplement the kitchens and keep food costs lower. The Sisters are now self-sufficient in many green vegetables, only needing to buy cabbage, carrots, and tomatoes as the rest is provided from the school garden. This helps to reduce food costs, which are unpredictable and rise quickly.
Looking forward to the birthday
At this time of the year all the girls are focused on the upcoming birthday celebration and the Sisters are currently preparing the birthday gifts for the girls in Kisarawe which will contain t-shirts, sweets, clothes, and colouring and painting materials. The girls are particularly interested in Art and so to encourage their creativity, this year’s birthday gift will include art supplies.
The birthday celebrations this year will be extra special as they also include celebrations for 60 years since the foundation of the Sisters of Mary.
The girls are making posters and preparing dances for the big day. There is an atmosphere of anticipation and joy, especially for the Form 1 girls who will celebrate Every Child’s Birthday for the first time.
All of these things are possible because of the amazing support from our donors. We hear the stories of how overwhelming it is for girls to arrive into a safe place built to meet their needs and give them a bright future. When the girls arrive they say “we did not even know that there is a school like this”. They have enough food, the teachers are there to teach them and they arrive into a family. Thank you!