Fundraising walk to support construction of school in India
A group of Lasallian volunteers all calling for support to help complete the building of a school in one of the poorest parts of India by raising funds with the ‘Greenway Charity Walk’ on May 17th.
This summer, the group will spend three weeks working on the construction project that will provide an education and give hope to many underprivileged children in the in Saint Joseph’s De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, Tamil Nadu.
Br Tommy Walsh and former De La Salle Waterford teacher, Tom O’Neill, have been the driving force behind this project which commenced last summer when a group of Lasallian Volunteers travelled to India. Prior to their departure, they had raised funds with a series of events across Ireland.
The school will be completed this summer and the building will consist of eight classrooms for primary school children who are the poorest in this vast rural area and who otherwise would have very little chance of getting a good standard of education.
The project was highlighted in the local Waterford News & Star in April.
Funds are needed to complete the building and the group travelling in June and July are seeking support with a special fundraiser in May.
The Lasallian Projects Greenway Walk will take place at 11am on Saturday May 10th and all donations will be great appreciated. To donate click here or scan the QR code below.
The construction of Saint Joseph’s De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, Tamil Nadu is the latest project in the continuing a tradition of Lasallian voluntary work that stretches back almost 40 years in the poorest regions of Asia and Africa.
Mr Tom Leonard on behalf of the Ballyvourney Past Pupils presenting Lasallian Projects Ireland a generous donation towards the 2025 Lasallian projects in India to Br Thomas Walsh and Mr Tom O Neill recently.
Lasallian Projects
From the very start, John Baptist De La Salle set out to address the educational needs of the poor and we follow in his footsteps. As Lasallians, the provision of education for the poor is central to what we do, as we see it as the way out of poverty. To achieve this aim we build and improve educational facilities in communities where poverty is rampant and where the literacy rate is very low. For the last thirty eight years, Lasallian volunteers from Ireland have completed numerous projects both big and small in Asia and Africa, thus making sure that education is provided for the poor, the marginalized, the downtrodden, and those with little hope. All our efforts and resources are concentrated on small regional areas to gain the optimum impact and a lasting positive result.
Keelamudiman Project
In 2013 we got a request from St Joseph's De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, India to help them with a project. We learned of the dire educational situation in the surrounding area and decided to help out. At the time many primary school students in the local villages had little to no access to education due to social inequality. Even if they managed to get a place in 1 of the 7 primary schools run by the Government, they were treated differently due to their background, being told to sit on the floor and not being allowed to make friends with the other children. As a result of these social class barriers, over 50% of these children did not go to school at all. St Joseph's De La Salle however did not discriminate on any basis and welcomed students of all backgrounds, social class or gender. The enrolment numbers at the time were near 400 and demand was rapidly increasing. Thus, they need our help renovating the school to accommodate more students.
That year, volunteers came together and with the help of sponsors as well as the local communities, they managed to fundraise enough to enable St Joseph's De La Salle to add a second floor extension which allowed over 100 more students to attend the school. We returned again in 2018 to build an all-purpose building, two stories in height, used every day by over 120 students to study and attend class. It is also rented out during holidays to help collect funds for the next school period. In 2022 returned again to complete the construction of an all-purpose building which allows up to 400 students to study in comfort, as oppose to previous circumstances, having to study in stifling heat and dust during the dry season or monsoon rains during wet seasons.
There are currently 750 students in the school from the surrounding 22 villages and last year we commenced the building of 8 new classrooms to facilitate the huge rise in demand for places in the school. We are now raising money to help finish these classrooms and have them ready for students in August for the start of the new school year.
