Lenten appeal 2018

Our school campaign for Lent 2018 focuses on the first Marist school in Bangladesh and in particular how families, as a result of the school, now see a brighter future for their children.

Many families in Bangladesh are reliant on work in tea gardens. Unfortunately since the days of British rule, there are very few regulations around working conditions and pay. Children that work in the tea gardens have very little chance of an education, individuals will earn just $1 per kilogram of tea leaves picked. The tea companies also control housing and medical access; this means that entire families are tied to the tea companies for their day to day existence. It is estimated that over 700,000 people live in the tea gardens, with more than 100,000 of them being children of school age. Almost half of all villages in the tea gardens have no educational facility, which contributes to the shockingly low literacy rate of tea garden children.

St Marcellin School in Giasnogor opened in January 2017 and is providing secondary education to 96 Year six 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.

The boys have been asked to contribute whatever they can afford. The amount is not important but what is important is that they are making a sacrifice out of care for someone who is less fortunate than themselves.