News from our schools - January 2025

During January, the Sisters in the Philippines were busy with community work and meeting with the neediest children in the poorest regions of the country. Their community work took them to the most remote areas, travelling through terrible weather on dirt tracks washed away by rain, to reach the most rural families and communities desperately in need of education and help for their children.

A place at the Sisters of Mary school can change a child’s life forever, giving them the opportunity to escape poverty and thrive. Places at the school are limited and the demand is great so the Sisters can only provide the very neediest with this opportunity. Difficult decisions have to be made but it is thanks to our donors that we are able to provide even more children with a place at school and the education they deserve.

The boys in Guadalajara, Mexico,  have been visiting local companies preparing for work after graduation. These visits are carefully curated by the sisters to ensure the companies provide high quality employment and that the employers will care for and support the children with accommodation and fair pay!

The vocational skills taught to the students at the schools puts them in high demand with local employers once they graduate, they are regarded as hard working and highly skilled. Many former students have become employers in their own right,  thanks to their time at the Sisters of Mary schools.

Elsewhere at the school the boys have been farming, growing crops and raising chickens – everything they can do to help the Sisters with the provision of food for the school, to ensure greater sustainability for the programmes and learn even more skills!

For the older girls in Brazil, January was the beginning of the new term and the chance to return to school and harvest some of the precious crops sown last year. It was an exciting time for them. For the youngsters in Sao Paulo Elementary and Kindergarten they were back to school and the joy of learning new skills in the care of the Sisters.

New girls arrived at the school in Kisarawe, Tanzania and were so thrilled to have their new school uniform and all their new supplies which they will need to study at school.

Elsewhere at the schools around the world, the senior girls in Talisay, the Philippines completed their on the job training, the first batch of children sat their care giving assessment and the school welcomed some new visitors including Leticia Aguilar and her family, visiting the school for the first time from the UK.