At our schools around the world it is a priority to ensure that the children maintain regular contact with their families. In addition to the annual holiday, each school sets aside time twice a year for the families to visit and see the progress of the children. In September it was the turn of the schools in Honduras and Tanzania to have a visiting day.
Our children and their families cherish this time. It gives them opportunity to reconnect and catch up on family news in person and provides an opportunity for them to showcase what they are learning at school and the amazing improvements they are making.
The Sisters welcome thousands of family, friends (and pets) and make it a real celebration for all involved.
In Talisay, Philippines, the girls from Grade 12 participated in On the Job Training (OJT) at a local company called Vertex whilst the senior boys in Adlas enjoyed a job fair at school to focus on final employment choices.
OJT is a vital part of the education of our children. Allowing them to use the skills they have learned in the classroom in a practical setting, gaining valuable experience for when they graduate. Many of the students may even be offered jobs while they are part of OJT programmes giving them a job to take up as a soon as they graduate!
The Sisters seek out good, local, companies for partnering with their OJT programmes. Each company will have been visited by the Sisters to ensure that they maintain their high standards for our children, this ensures that the experience they gain is valuable and educational.
We are happy to report that the children continue to excel in their extra curricular activities
In Honduras, the girls from Tegucigalpa won in national competitions for Basketball and football! The Boys also brought home some silverware, coming first in the Volleyball and second in basketball at the UNITEC Youth games.
The Boys’ football team from Guadalajara, Mexico came first in the PROAN competition.
The Philippines saw lots of activity in September with the Talisay girls claiming gold at a volleyball tournament and the Biga Girls participated in the Division Schools Press Conference, winning a gold in Photo journalism and Editorial Writing. Minglanilla boys were very busy with a silver medal at the Zamboanga Hermosa Weightlifting Championships. 1st Runner up in the ANS Basketball 3×3 Tournament and 3rd place in Sepak Takraw.
In September the Sisters in Tanzania and Guatemala continued their community outreach to the most remote regions of the country.
The Sisters travel widely throughout each of the countries where they work to focus on areas where children experience the most extreme deprivation. Parish representatives, previous graduates (in the case of Guatemala) and contacts in these region help them with their travel to access the poorest communities and families.
The Guatemalan Sisters visited the region of Cahabon in Alta Verapaz again in the hope of reaching new children in this place first visited last year. They hope to welcome hundreds more children from all these areas to their schools in January 2025 – including 200 new boys in Dodoma (up from a planned total of 180 for this school- depending on available funds).
In Zona 6 Guatemala, September saw the Sisters continuing their outreach within this country and meeting new families desperately in need of care for their children.
Back at school those boys lucky enough to have a place in the Villa de los Ninos were thrilled to have their learning supported with the gift of new engineering equipment from one generous donor and to enjoy courses provided by the Industrial Bank of Guatemala. All this vocational support helps to ensure the boys are learning practical skills which are up to date and relevant to local employment.
Outside of the classroom, the youngsters continued to follow their passion for gardening, working hard in the school grounds to cultivate crops, learning new agriculture skills and harvesting the fruits of their labours – providing vital food for the school kitchens.
December 2024 News
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This month, we are welcoming hundreds of new children into our Sisters of Mary schools around the world.