Education

 

St. Francis Convent School St. Francis Convent School, Budni, India

The 400 students attending St. Francis Convent School in Budni have no private sacred place to pray or engage in personal reflection. Students and their families must travel more than 20 miles to the closest place of worship. A chapel and prayer hall within the school would allow them to experience the Eucharist as a faith community. Furnishing needs include a crucifix, altar, tabernacle, furniture and vestments.

 

The student population is quickly outgrowing the single school building, so computers and other furnishings also are needed as the school builds a private counseling space for parents and teachers to discuss the students’ educational needs. The cost for the prayer hall and counseling space needs is $6,200.

 

St. Francis Convent, Jabalpur, India

Twenty-one girls between the ages of 17 and 20 stay at St. Francis Convent in Jabalpur while attending college because it provides a safe place to live while completing their studies.  Without the ability to stay at the convent, these girls would have no access to higher education.

 

Poor soil and heavy rains in the region often cause the bathroom facilities at the convent to flood. A renovation of the toilets and laundry areas is needed, at a cost of $3,333.

 

Assisi Special SchoolAssisi Special School, Bangalore

Assisi Special School serves 63 mentally and physically challenged children in Bangalore. This mission has outgrown its current building as more and more people from remote villages have brought their children to the school to be taught basic skills and receive physical therapy. Funds to cover the construction costs for a new school building and to pay teacher salaries will enable our sisters to continue to care for and educate these children with special needs. The cost for salaries is $18,000 and construction costs are $400,000.

 

Maria Sadan HostelMaria Sadan Hostel, Bichhiya, India

More than 100 girls from remote villages live at Maria Sadan Hostel in Bichhiya, Madhysa Pradesh, so they can receive an education that would otherwise be beyond their reach. The hostel needs a water harvesting process to capture and store water during the rainy season and sustain them during the dry season. This important project will also protect the integrity of the facility so water will not soak and collapse the roof into the building. 

 

Education scholarships and funding for health services and daily living expenses also are a great need. The cost for the water harvesting project is $2,330. Scholarship, health care and basic needs for all the girls for one year totals $9,400.

 

Casa Alexia LibraryCasa Alexia Mission on the Border, El Paso Texas

Children living in the poor, unincorporated colonias neighborhoods of El Paso, Texas, have limited transportation options and virtually no access to reading materials during the summer months. Through our sisters’ efforts, four home-based libraries offer these children the joy of reading when school is not in session. The cost for this summer reading program is $6,000.

 

Hogares WordshopHogares Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Santa Apolonia, Guatemala
The children's home, where our sisters meet the needs of 42 orphaned and abandoned children and teens, wishes to reorganize its carpentry and tailoring trade workshops by hiring a dedicated instructor for each trade. Teens will now receive professional instruction two days per week. The annual cost to hire two instructors is $19,200.

 

 

Outreach EventsOutreach Events Ministry, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hundreds of people from all socio-economic levels are joining with our sisters and associates to participate in learning and cultural activities sponsored by the U.S. Province in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Free and affordably priced spiritual workshops, concerts, and ethnic celebrations are part of robust and varied outreach ministry hosted at St. Joseph Center, our community’s international motherhouse. The annual cost to sustain this ministry is $10,000.

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