Judith and Martyn Donlon visit
In August 2018 Judith and Martyn Donlon visited the school. These are some thoughts and memories from Judith’s visit. I ran the London Marathon to raise money for SMC earlier in the year and we wanted to visit the school not only to see how the money had been spent but most importantly to meet the children living in the boarding house and to learn more about the charity and the work they do.
The whole visit was special, and we were so impressed by everything we saw but I will focus on just a few of those things as I was asked to write a few lines and not an essay!
Firstly, the children and young people who live at Don Bosco. They were all so lovely and their happy, smiling faces are forever etched on our minds. You would never know the hardship and sadness that they have endured. Backgrounds where the loss of one or more parent, many through suicide and accidents is common, of extreme poverty, parental alcoholism, parental unemployment meaning the children must work instead of going to school, family members with chronic health problems and having to pay for medicines; the list goes on. Their resilience is inspiring. We had the privilege to hear some of their stories and the reasons why they need to stay at the school and most importantly be sponsored as without that they really wouldn’t have a chance of a better future.
Secondly, Raj and Parvini, and the vision they have for SMC along with Fr Dominic. What they have achieved in such a short space of time is incredible and includes the boarding house and a school with about 1000 pupils from nursery to high school. But it is more than just the school with their work, supported by the Lions Club in the region, extending into the community through the provision of health clinics for local villages, bicycles so children can get to school, resources to other schools and sewing machines for local woman so they can learn new skills and support their families. All of which is aimed at ultimately creating a better future for the local children.
