Alumni

We celebrate the resilience and achievements of all the graduates at our schools worldwide and for International Women’s Day we reflect particularly on the achievements of the women who have graduated from the Sisters of Mary schools. Women like Malou.

Sr Abigail serves as ‘School in Charge’ at the Sisters of Mary Girlstown (SoM) programme in Kisaware, Tanzania. With 924 girls in her care, her days are joy-filled but challenging. She shared with us the story of her early life, her mission as a Sister and how together they are protecting the rights of the country’s poorest women by providing education.

Fabian is a graduate of our Sisters of Mary school in Guadalajara, Mexico. From a difficult early start Fabian has transformed his life and now that he has made a successful career he is focused on paying back the care he received from the Sisters to the next generation of boys in their care.

Lety is a graduate of the Sisters of Mary school in Chalco, Mexico. Her life was transformed by the kindness of the Sisters and the support of our donors. Now a member of the alumni group for Mexico she is helping other graduates and students at the school to find work and make their way in the world.

Luisa was born into poverty. Her mother abandoned her and her brother. Despite this hardship, Luisa was determined to study and leave her life of poverty. She eventually found her way to our school.

After a difficult early life Daiane thrived in the care of the Sisters at our school in Brasilia. She focused on working hard to make the most of the opportunity. During her time there she developed a passionate interest in nursing and became a part of the school’s Nursing studies group. She graduated in December, 2015.

Shamin is 19 and from a small family in Tanga, Tanzania. Without money to pay for education Shamin had few prospects for the future.

Sherlyn grew up in one of the poorest towns in the Philippines. 17 years after finishing her college degree, Sherlyn works and travels with the Sisters of Mary, helping other children like her out of poverty.

Rossyle grew up in a rural farming family in the Philippines, near Manila. Ross is the middle child of five, and the only girl. Her family couldn’t afford her education and Ross turned to the Sisters of Mary for her education.

I grew up in a poor family in the Mexican countryside. School was always important to our parents and so they made it possible for me to attend primary school regularly.

In the Philippines Irenea was the eldest of eight children. Her parents had a very basic education, there was little paid work to be found and the family were living a difficult existence.

Arturo’s early life in Monte Blanco, Mexico, was very hard. With no money for food, the family was always hungry and from the age of seven, Arturo was expected to work every day in the fields harvesting coffee and sugar to earn a few pesos to support the family.

Clara is a graduate of Villa de las Ninas and is now a maths and physics teacher there. Clara comes from Sololá, from a poverty-stricken family and is one of 10 children.

Evelyn is one of our first graduates from the Philippines. She was the eldest of five children born in the slums of Manaoag, Pangasinan. Her early life was very hard and she had little hope for the future until she was referred to the Sisters of Mary in 1991.

Jerome was the eldest of four children, living in Mindanao, South of Manila. The area accounts for a third of the Philippines’ poor. His parents had little education and worked at menial jobs to try to sustain their family. There was rarely enough money for food.

Merlie was born the fifth of nine children and she had an impoverished childhood growing up in the province of Oriental Mindoro in the Philippines. Unstable rural work was the family’s only source of income and her future looked bleak.

After graduating Luis went on to study Business Administration and from there, started a master’s degree in Formulation and Evaluation.

Fretch came to the Sisters of Mary School Boystown in Minglanilla, Cebu in April 2002 and after taking Holy Orders now lives in the UK and works as a Priest in the North of England.

We met Fr. Ritche earlier this year and were thrilled to catch up with him and learn about his experience at school and his life here in the UK

Joel comes from a poor family in the Philippines, he had to borrow the bus fare to come to school. He came to the Sisters of Mary knowing that it was his best chance of a better future. Joel has recently graduated from Minglanilla Boystown and represented his school at the 2022 UN Transforming Education Summit in Manila.

Jony is one of the earliest graduates from the first Sisters of Mary school in the Philippines. He treasured his opportunity at school and credits it with turning his life around. He now helps to return the vital support he received by employing new students as they graduate from the schools. Nearly 90% of his current staff are graduates of the boystown and girlstown schools in Cavite.

Junilo graduated from the Cavite boys’ high school in the Philippines in 1999. He went on to achieve a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree from STI College Makati in 2014.

Laura was born in Yucatan in Mexico. Only 2000 people in her village and most earned their living by fishing including her father.

After graduating Luis went on to study Business Administration and from there, started a master’s degree in Formulation and Evaluation.

Manuel entered the Sisters of Mary school for boys in Mexico as a deprived and vulnerable young boy in 2002.

He graduated in 2005 and with the help of the Sisters found a position as a culinary assistant at the Marriott Hotel in Cebu and soon worked his way up developing his skills along the way.

Dora had a very difficult early life. Her single mother struggled to support them by selling bread by the roadside to raise money for her and her five brothers and sisters. Despite this there was never enough food. Thanks to the support of our donors in 2003 Dora was offered a place at the Sisters of Mary Girls school in Guatemala.

Eva was the youngest in a family of eight children living in the slums of Honduras.

David is from a small farming community in Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. In his community everyone is dedicated full time to farming and agriculture. Boys and girls traditionally get married very young because they don’t have access to education or any hope of a better future

Alex was born in the slums of Quezon City, Philippines. He was the middle child of three. At the age of 4 his parents separated and his father left, leaving the children in the care of his mother. A meeting with the Sisters of Mary and the chance of a place at their school in the Philippines has changed his life.