Solidarity Matters March 2024

FROM THE CEO BEC BROMHEAD

WSOLIDARITY MATTERS

AUTUMN 2024

elcome to the first edition of Solidarity Matters for 2024. It’s hard to believe we’re already a quarter of the way through the year. It has been a busy start to the year for our AMS team.

We recently held a 2-day Immersions Workshop which highlighted the importance of the work we do alongside our project partners throughout the Asia Pacific. The Workshop involved passionate Immersions Coordinators from Australian Marist schools and ministries. We also had several guest speakers, including Bishop Tim Norton of the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

A recurring theme of the Workshop was interculturality - how our own cultures influence our worldview and how to best encounter another culture. This is at the heart of the immersion experience for our students and staff. It also is the heart of solidarity: offering something of ourselves, of our Australian way, in service of our neighbouring nations.

As is observed by those who lead immersion programs, it’s a two-way exchange. Indeed, immersion participants often gain more from an immersion experience than what they offer their host community.

Our work of solidarity invites us to learn a new way of being in our world. For our friends and supporters, hopefully through AMS and publications like this edition of Solidarity Matters, you are exposed to new ways of thinking and being.

As Pope Francis expresses in his Message for World Mission Day 2024, “The Gospel...calls individuals to encounter one another.”

So, thank you for connecting with AMS. We hope you and your family have a blessed Easter.

Yours in solidarity,

Bec Bromhead, CEO

WHO WE ARE

Australian Marist Solidarity (AMS) believes in a world where young people have hope and the opportunity to access education. Our vision is a world that reflects Marists' desire that vulnerable young people are brought towards the centre, from the margins through access to education. Our mission is to empower people by enhancing their human dignity and developing their capacity to transform their lives and communities.

We partner with communities in the Asia-Pacific region to facilitate access to education for young people in need. We work alongside grassroots movements, supporting locallyled efforts to make a change in their own communities. Our programs focus on providing access to education for vulnerable young people, building facilities for the future to ensure safe spaces for learning, and investing in resilience and readiness to help young people who need a little extra support to thrive in learning environments. Together, we transform the lives of young people by raising awareness of the power of education and the funds that make it possible. Together,

HOW YOUR SUPPORT IS CHANGING LIVES

In Thailand, Burmese migrants can access housing, education and on-going medical support thanks to your generous donations. Through your contributions, the Marist Asia Foundation (MAF) is able to provide hope and life changing assistance to migrant families and their children on the Thailand-Myanmar border in Ranong.

Your support has helped young adults like John (name changed here for privacy). John is a 29 year old, who migrated from Myanmar to Ranong, a bordertown in Thailand, without family, money or a place to call home. Due to his declining condition as a result of being HIV positive, concerned individuals reached out to MAF to help John, who couldn’t access vital medical support.

MAF reports,

“Despite the difficulties he faces, John grows to be a resilient person, strengthened by the unwavering support of MAF and the community. Day after day, he finds the strength inside himself to overcome obstacles and live a meaningful life.”

Thanks to you - and the support of the Marist Mission Centre and the Marist Fathers - we have been able to fund health and education programs at the Marist Asia Foundation.

Your support also improves the situation for students at the LaValla Project in neighbouring Cambodia. Last year, thanks to your donations, AMS was able to purchase a new four-wheel

drive vehicle to support LaValla’s operation. The vehicle has been used to travel to prospective students and families in remote areas, transport students between school and home, send students to access medical and rehabilitation appointments and to deliver food and other critical items to families in rural communities during crisis.

LaValla’s School Principal, Um Srey Nan, said, “Without your support, we cannot live in a dignified way.”

The support of AMS donors has helped create cultural and institutional change, while continuing St Marcellin Champagnat’s legacy. This is the case in India, where the Marist Brothers are celebrating 50 years of Marist presence. Throughout that time, AMS supporters have contributed to the building and development of three schools.

Furthermore, with your contribution, AMS has supported projects like Operation Rainbow and the Chetana Tribal Boys Hostel, through which the Brothers have continued St Marcellin’s legacy of loving every child and person and loving them equally.

Images from Top to Bottom:

The Marist Asia Foundation provides vital supports to Burmese migrants in the border-town of Ranong; LaValla students access transport to home or appointments in their new vehicle; Australian Marist Brother Br Jeff Crowe participates in the Pongal Ceremony at Operation Rainbow in India.

EXPANDING SCHOOLS IN THE SOLOMONS

Nestled in a quiet, tranquil bay, located East of Makira lies Our Lady Queen of Martyrs (OLQM) coeducational boarding school, the only Catholic school in the Makira Province. Home to 400 students, OLQM in Wainoni Bay attracts students from across Makira and surrounding provinces. Previously shut down in 1975 due to lack of funding, the Archdiocese of Honiara, Marist Fathers and Australian Marist Solidarity were able to reopen the school in 2018 after much needed renovations. The school now takes enrolments up to Year 10 but is hoping to extend the teaching curriculum to Year 11.

Fr Patelisio Tauga SM, the local parish priest, reports on the need for a school at Wainoni Bay: “After having meetings with parishioners, we have witnessed the need to establish a Catholic School to serve their children not only through academic levels but for spiritual support as well. Moreover, we have also seen all sorts of problems faced by their children which they believe can be solved with the right support. We believe that everyone deserves the chance to grow into healthy maturity and live holistic, happy lives.”

Due to its remote location, students attending the school can only access the road by boat - which is expensive due to increasing fuel prices - or by foot. Those travelling by boat can be subjected to rough seas due to the open ocean and wild weather patterns. Students travelling by foot can walk for up

to two days.

As they are almost always unaccompanied by an adult during their travels, parents pack provisions for their journey. For safety reasons, students almost never travel alone, walking in groups with fellow peers, navigating their way along the coast towards the school and sleeping overnight, outside where they are safe and dry.

Only in recent years has a cell tower been erected for the surrounding village community in Wainoni Bay. This has meant that while the school is remote, there are now tele-communications available for students to contact their parents. The school however is entirely run on solar energy as the community does not have access to the electrical grid. Water is pumped from a local water source.

The rising population of youth in the Solomon Islands has led to a sharp increase in student enrolments. Through your support, AMS has provided support to construct a building block with six classrooms to meet the increased demand and additional enrolments. Construction for the site is to be finished in early-2024 with great progress shown.

Furthermore, you have helped support the building of male and female ablution blocks. To date, the female toilets and bathrooms have been completed, built close to their boarding houses. The previous location of the bathrooms block was problematic due to its far proximity. The new bathroom

amenities help female students feel safer accessing the facilities after dark. The male bathroom amenities are nearing completion.

Through your continued support, we can continue to provide facilities and amenities that ensure safe and accessible education for students in remote sites like Wainoni Bay.

Images from Top to Bottom: The idyllic Wainoni Bay in the Makira Province of the Solomon Islands can only be accessed by boat or by foot. Building continues on new classrooms to allow for schooling to continue through to Year 11.

MARIST SCHOOLS ARE ON THE MONEY

We are thankful for all the donations and contributions received from MSA school communities across Australia. Every donation helps AMS to create opportunities for young people to access education in the Asia Pacific region.

AMS recognises that many people contribute to school fundraising: parents, grandparents, staff members and friends who all give generously to the various fundraising activities schools conduct. Through these efforts, five schools contributed more than $20,000 in 2023, while many more conducted successful fundraising campaigns.

We recognise the sponsors of the Cardijn College students who participated in the City to Bay fun run to raise funds for AMS. We acknowledge the green-thumb efforts of the staff, students, families and former students who contributed plants to John Therry’s 3rd Annual Plant Sale - proceeds going to AMS’ work. And we acknowledge the parents and caregivers of students at St Augustine’s College in Cairns, who spared loose change for boys to participate in Lenten Fundraising activities. All three schools received awards for Marist Spirit.

Schools are dynamic communities, and many schools conduct phenomenal fundraising and advocacy efforts, all in support of AMS’ work throughout the Asia Pacific region.

SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN

Each year, AMS coordinates a Schools Campaign with Marist Schools in Australia, which has a focus on a particular country and project. The 2024 AMS Schools Campaign, entitled Light Up the World, takes its inspiration from Cambodia and the LaValla Project.

The LaValla Primary School was founded by Australian Marist Brothers over 25 years ago in Phnom Penh to provide education to young people with disabilities. The LaValla Project has since grown to include the LaValla Village, an accomodation precinct supporting young people with disabilities to continue their education at the local high school. Notably, LaValla is still the only school for young people with disabilities endorsed by the Cambodian Government.

The Campaign Kit and videos we have created to accompany the Campaign are a great resource for learning more about the LaValla Project. To access the resources, click the banner above or follow this link:

https://www. australianmaristsolidarity.net.au/ learn/

Pictured, top to bottom: Marist College Ashgrove Head of Mission, Anna Nasr, receives the trophy for Highest Fundraising School 2023. Judith Botha from Cardijn College accepts the trophy for Marist Spirit.

HOW YOU CAN CONTINUE TO MAKE AN IMPACT

In our last newsletter, we told you the story of Maria, from Kulugia primary school in rural Timor-Leste. The school is unsafe and urgently needs to be rebuilt. She shared:

“I am sad about the condition of this damaged school. If it rains and storms we can’t go to school. I am asking AMS to improve our school, so it doesn’t hinder the learning process in the future.”

Thank you to all our wonderful supporters that generously donated to Maria’s school. We have so far raised $29k towards rebuilding the school.

The best way to support Maria and projects at AMS is to become a monthly giver. Please can you give $59 a month to help young people access education across Asia and the Pacific.

It’s quick and simple to become a monthly giver - but your support makes a huge difference to the young people we work with.

My name is Adam Burns, I’m the Communications and Engagement Officer at AMSand the voice behind Solidarity Matters! I came on board with AMS last August. I previously worked as a Regional Coordinator in Marist Youth Ministry, and attended a Marist school (Trinity College, Beenleigh).

I’ve also been a regular giver to AMS. I became a regular giver because of my personal experience going on immersion to Cambodia.

Seeing firsthand the difference education makes for young people on the margins left a strong impression on me.

I became a regular giver because I wanted to contribute to the good work AMS is involved in and to see even more young people have access to life-changing education.

WITH US