Multi Purpose Hall renovations needed
Recently Br Peter Abraham wrote to the Lasallian Foundation and requested funds to repurpose a dilapidated hall in to a multi purpose hall for the students who board there. It will be used for assemblies, liturgies and recreationally when students have free time. It needs refurbishment and additional facilitates for the different activities. Overall the renovations include painting and repairs to the walls, electrical work, storage cupboards, a detachable stage, projector and sound system. The estimated cost of this project is AUD$20,000. The Lasallian Foundation is reaching out to Lasallian teachers, students, families and former students in Australia and New Zealand to assist with this project and enable the hostel to continue it’s work in providing a clean, healthy and safe environment. The best way to make a contribute is by using the ‘donate now’ button on the Lasallian Foundation website and make a regular monthly contribution that will provide a partial or full scholarship. Your support is both needed and appreciated. Online Donation.
St Joseph’s hostel is located in the city of Gujranwala in Punjab, Pakistan. Since 1965 It has provided boarding facilities for poor and vulnerable boys from both urban and rural areas to receive a quality Christian education at the nearby St Joseph’s High School. The De La Salle Brothers have been managing the hostel since 2020. Currently there are 30 boys aged between 8 and 16 years old who board at the hostel
Most of the students who arrive at the hostel are disadvantaged financially and socially. Some boys come from broken families and have been placed with other families. Others have parents who are unable to afford the necessities of life. Parents and guardians contribute what they can to cover some of the operating costs of the hostel and the tuition of the boys, but their capacity to contribute is very limited.
The boys in the hostel are all Christians. In Pakistan being a Christian is to be part of an economically disadvantaged group who have menial jobs if they can get jobs at all. Pakistani Christians suffer discrimination for their faith they are sometimes persecuted using blasphemy laws, and occasionally are injured or killed by Muslim extremists simply because they are Christian. Seventy percent of Christians, particularly day wagers and labourers, lost their jobs during the pandemic. Unemployment, under-employment and poor housing are widespread in the Pakistani Christian community. Churches are surrounded by armed police or soldiers during Sunday masses to protect the worshippers from terrorist attacks. Your donation will make a difference their lives.
