Thanks to all our generous supporters and partners who got behind our 2018 midyear appeal.
The 2018 midyear appeal focused on our key projects such as the first Marist School in Bangladesh and our partnership with a local Timorese NGO, Klibur Aleizadus Timor Loro Sa’e (KATILOSA) working with young people with disabilities.
St Marcellin School in Giasnogor, Bangladesh opened in January 2017 and is providing secondary education to 192 grade six and seven children. Each year until 2021, the school will add a new year level until grade 10 and a maximum capacity of 480 students is achieved. This will include boarding facilities for 90 girls and 90 boys. The purpose of St Marcellin School is to provide free education and boarding to tea garden children that enables them to break the cycle of poverty and rise above the bonded life that they were born into. Funds raised from the midyear appeal allocated to St Marcellin School will help to continue infrastructure improvements on the site.
Since 2000, a local organisation known as KATILOSA has worked to improve the lives of children, youth and adults with disabilities. Activities include early detection and intervention, community-based rehabilitation, physiotherapy, skills training and inclusive education in village schools. More than 131 families are currently being supported by KATILOSA and midyear appeal funds allocated to this project will enable KATILOSA to continue providing their crucial services to young people with a disability.
Gatherings across Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane saw over 200 people come together in solidarity for these projects, reinforcing the critical need for education and educational services, particularly for vulnerable young people. St Marcellin School and KATILOSA each impact hundreds of young lives every year.
AMS is committed to supporting these types of programs because they are crucial to improving community capacity for change in developing countries through Asia and the Pacific Islands.