The presentation at the school assembly
On March 18, 2016, at the school assembly, Principal Adrian Gladsby, staff and students from St Christopher’s Primary School, Airport West, Melbourne, presented a cheque for $36,935.32 to Fr Gary Walker, the Regional Director of Columban Mission Society in Australia and New Zealand.
The money was raised for a Columban supported project in Lima, Peru, the “Manuel Duato School”, which is a school for children living with intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments and Down Syndrome. The Manuel Duato School is St Christopher’s sister school.
In his acceptance speech, Fr Gary thanked the staff, children and parents for their generosity. He spoke about the Manuel Duato School and how the funds would make such a difference to the students there. He reminded those at the assembly that in poor countries it was very difficult to receive an education and especially so when you have a disability. Thanks to the school community of St Christopher’s, those children can now look forward to a much better future.
Background to the project
It Christopher’s, the fourth largest primary school in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, with 720 students, is committed to educating their students in social justice and believe that all children have a right to education.
In 2010 a group of teachers were looking for a project for the school to support. They approached the then, Principal, Gary Trainor, with this idea. He said it would be good to consider a Columban project, due to the long term friendship the school had with Columban Fr Bernard (Bernie) Lane, who has worked in Lima, Peru, for many years.
Fr Bernie, originally from Essendon, returns home regularly to visit his family and friends. On these occasions, he always visits St Christopher’s to speak to the students and teachers. He always makes a strong impression on them. This in turn has developed into support for Columban Mission in Peru, specifically the Manuel Duato School.
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To date St Christopher’s has raised over $100,000 for the Manuel Duato School which has enabled them to purchase a bus to transport the students to and from school. It also enables them to provide occupational therapy, giving the students a chance to learn living skills for their adult years.
Every couple of years, two of St Christopher’s teachers travel to Peru to visit the Manuel Duato School. Columban Missionaries accompany them and translate for them on these visits. This year, Jemma McVeigh and Maria Tasevski travelled to Peru to represent St Christopher’s school community.
During their visit to the Manuel Duato School, Jemma and Maria got to know staff, worked with the students and their families as well as immersing themselves in Peruvian culture. They shared their experience with the St Christopher’s school community back home through regular updates on Facebook.
Some highlights of the visit posted on Facebook - Manuel Duato, Lima, Peru
Giving out the special gifts made by our students at St Christopher’s for the students. Words cannot explain the joy and happiness that came over these children's faces as they received their gift. We all sat down to read the books together and swapped them around to share the love.
A visit to the Sensory room was something that was new and that we as a community had helped make happen. It is filled with colour, lights, musical equipment and resources that help the children regulate their sensory experiences so that they can tackle the real world.
The computer room was a different story all together. It was a dull, outdated and moderately functioning. After speaking to the teachers who were asking us for ideas that would help the kids manipulate the keyboard and mouse, we were hit with the grim reality that it would be difficult to gets children interested and enthusiastic about technology with the 'disc' programs they were using. They lacked colour, sound and speed. We now know that children with Down syndrome have short attention spans and respond to sound and visuals. The challenges these teachers face to build their student’s ability to 'integrate' is difficult. Our hearts went out to the teachers as their frustrations and helplessness in being able to bring about change was evident.
On April 10, Jemma and Maria were farewelled. They said, “We feel felt truly blessed to have had the opportunity to come to Peru and represent St Christopher’s School Community. It has been an incredible experience to witness the difference we have made at the Manuel Duato School and to meet so many inspiring and beautiful souls.”
Recently, the Manuel Duato School Community sent the following message, “To our St Christopher’s School Community, thank you for your continued support of this amazing initiative. We are truly humbled by your generosity, compassion, care and kindness.”
Janette Mentha is the Director of the Communications & Publications Department at the Columban Mission Centre, Essendon.