CHANGE A LIFE
Educational Sponsorship Program
http://www.theworldnow.com/cal/
Sent to Sponsors, Supporters and Friends of Regina Pacis
Convent School, Bombay, India
cal@theworldnow.com
Your input, suggestions, comments, are always needed and
extremely welcome. ____________________________________________________
EASTER LETTER UPDATE
FROM SR. MARGARET FERNANDES,
SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
To
Our Readers and Well-Wishers
On the CHANGE A LIFE PROGRAM
Dear Friends
It is high time I got in touch
again. Let me wish you all a very happy
Easter. I hope and pray that the Risen Jesus may make His presence felt in your lives giving you His Joy, Peace
and Love.
We, here at Regina Pacis have had
a very active and fruitful life. The children are well and happy. At the moment some of them have started
their annual exams…others are preparing for
them. They will have all finished by the 10th of April and
then they have a long summer holiday..
Those who have homes will go to them even if it only a hut. They are happy here
but naturally they long to be with their families. Only a very few will be left
behind as they have really no place to
go. So we’ll try to make their holiday a good one by taking them out of Bombay
to one of our other houses in Nasik or
Gujarat.
I. myself have not been too well
and the other day I was deeply touched. The little ones had noticed that I was
not around so the first time they saw me again in the garden, they surrounded
me to express their concern and when I told them I was better and was about to go out on work, they brought
tears to my eyes because like little mothers they protested and told me I
should not exert myself and why
couldn’t I send someone else to do the
work. At moments like these when one
feels the children’s love, one feels truly rewarded.
The new building is coming up
fast. We hope to be able to occupy the premises in August this year. All
the cement and brick work is over and
the tiling of the floors and the walls is going on. There are lots of exciting decisions to
make. We have chosen and ordered the
type of bunker beds we want for the children. The wall cupboards have
been designed. The children will
sleep about 14 to a dormitory. There
are two dormitories which are a little larger and will accommodate 10 beds i.e. 20 children. The smaller ones will be on the ground floor. It is with great
satisfaction that I can tell you that we are going to have a separate infirmary
so that when the children are ill, they
will be comfortable and we will be able
to isolate them. The infirmary will
have its own bath and toilet and a
little medicine cupboard room
One of the ex-boarders who spent all her childhood in this boarding…is now married and has no children herself.. is helping me to lay in a stack of
bed linen for the dormitories. I have found
quite a few donors for the beds and mattresses.. I hope to find the
remaining funds from other kind and
generous donors. Each bed set (double bunker and two mattresses costs Rs
9150/- [about $210 USD]. Each dormitory will be in a different
colour.
The oldest girls are now appearing for the final exam of the Secondary school….what we call the S.S.C. (Secondary School Certificate) With this their High school stage is over.
There are eight of them this year. This
is a public exam and for them quite difficult but we hope
they will all pass. Last year we had
100 percent results ..we hope for the same this year. Then they go on to junior
college or what is called pre-University. Normally we encourage them to work and study so they gradually become more independent. With the
new building we hope to be able to provide a space for these young girls, our
own as well as others who come to us looking for accommodation. These too are
very much in need as they are all from the lower income group and have great aspirations of being able to
acquire a university education and then be able to have a choice of careers.
I thank all our sponsors for
their generous contributions and above all I thank those who are in touch with
the children. The children enjoy receiving
letters from their sponsors. One
little one says mournfully “My sponsor
does not write to me” As soon as the
exams are over the children will work
on making their Easter cards and
writing to their sponsors.
Once again a very Happy
Easter and good health and happiness to
all
Margaret Mary Fernandes
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This update sent to Sponsors and friends of the
Change A Life Program. This update may be freely distributed if copied in
its entirety. It cannot be printed for public distribution nor emailed
commercially without permission.
**********************
Your input, suggestions, comments, are always needed and extremely welcome.
If you need information about the program or paperwork or if you have
questions, don't hesitate to send an email to
cal@theworldnow.com