2015-11 -- 0105 St Francis St Xavier Feeding PP.indd
Transcription
2015-11 -- 0105 St Francis St Xavier Feeding PP.indd
2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240 PO Box 273908 Boca Raton, Florida 33427-3908 1-800-914-2420 PROJECT 0105 St. Francis Xavier Parish Feeding/Incarnate Word Institute Project — Northern Guyana — “If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10 WWW.CROSSCATHOLIC.ORG INSTITUTE PROJECT PROJECT 0105 Project Synopsis Description This project will subsidize a school lunch program for 400 children from impoverished communities. Purpose Increase school attendance by providing a nutritious lunch, enabling students to focus on education without the distraction of hunger, and increase the number of children who pass on to the next grade. Location The Arapiako, Marlborough, Lima Sands and Charity townships in northern Guyana. Cost $39,600 will fully fund grocery transportation, meals, and salaries for the cooks. Summary • Cross Catholic Outreach supports four feeding centers operated by the Incarnate Word Institute and St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. • Due to food shortages in the region, children lack access to balanced meals. • Malnutrition can have a serious impact on children, hampering their ability to learn and, in extreme cases, causing physical and mental disabilities. • The assurance of a meal will increase attendance, academic performance, and serve as a tangible example to students and their families of Christ’s provision in their lives. 1 INSTITUTE PROJECT PROJECT 0105 The Need: A Balanced Meal Like any mother, a woman who lives along the banks of the Pomeroon River wants the best for her children. She wants to provide safe shelter, regular meals and the opportunities an education can provide. But the harsh realities of life in this impoverished region of Guyana make life difficult — and supplying even basic necessities a challenge. Along the Pomeroon River, parents focus on where the next meal will come from, and many set aside hope their children will be educated because most consider schooling a luxury they can’t afford. This is especially frustrating since Guyana has one of the best educational systems in the Caribbean. Natasha Roberts, her husband Johnrey, and their three boys live in Arapiako Creek on the northern end of the Pomeroon. They drink collected rainwater. To bathe, wash and cook, they rely on the murky jungle river. Johnrey, a carpenter, survives by doing odd jobs and working in hazardous gold mines; Natasha stays home with the children. Their 7-year-old son Bretlee occasionally attends the Kabakaburi School where headmistress Celia Jacobus estimates up to 50 percent of the students come each day with no lunch to eat. “Families are economically unstable,” Jacobus said. “Fathers work far away and cannot send money home. If children are not fed properly, they cannot concentrate.” Seeing this need inspired Cross Catholic Outreach to help, and Bretlee now attends school daily and loves his hot lunch, served at Arapiako church. His favorite dish? Fried rice. Natasha is very thankful. She even helps serve the meals. This year, with your support, Cross would like to continue the program. Our goal is to help feed 400 children. Will you help? Your support will get children in the Pomeroon River townships back in school and help them focus on learning — not on their empty stomachs. Ro loo 2 INSTITUTE PROJECT PROJECT 0105 The Ministry: St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church has operated feeding centers in Pomeroon townships since 1998. Most weekdays, you can find Father Javier Correa on his small motorboat, weaving in and out of the Pomeroon’s tributaries, stopping in front of houses along the shore yelling, “Inside? Inside?” It’s the local way of asking if anyone is at home. Cross Catholic Outreach recently joined Fr. Correa on his visit to the home of Arapiako resident Marlyene Jacobus. Marlyene paddles her boat to Mass with her three sons. This day, she greeted us with her 2 year-old, Raphael, wiggling in her arms. Her older sons, she said happily, were at school — thanks to the feeding program. Like her neighbors, she hopes it will be continued for another year. “The program is very important because sometimes it is difficult to have enough food,” said Marlyene. “It means the kids have better attendance in school, and they learn better because of the program. Now they can pass the regional exams. They never did that before!” Roxanne Henry, a volunteer at the Arapiako church kitchen, had the same experience. Four of her children have passed high school entrance exams — one of them qualifying for an advanced placement school — and she credits last year’s feeding program for the change. “Before the feeding program, my kids were cranky and irritable. They got in fights. Now they are well-behaved. Their appetites grew too! I feel like helping because I see the benefit to the whole school, not just to me and my kids.” If the program is funded again, hot meals will be prepared by Incarnate Word Institute staff members and distributed on foot or by boat to township schools and feeding centers. Teachers will screen students to determine their level of need, and ensure the most needy are made the highest priority. The menu will change daily and include an array of locally sourced food such as chicken, eggs, and fish and plenty of vegetables. Some students will be eating these foods for the first time because their families have never been able to afford such luxuries. Roxanne’s willingness to work at the feeding center is an expression of her faith and she tries to instill in her children the same gratitude to God. “They’re in church every Sunday,” she said. Please support Cross Catholic Outreach and its goal of continuing the feeding program through St. Francis Xavier Church and the Incarnate Word Institute. We can only provide this important outreach to the Pomeroon River townships with your help! 3 INSTITUTE PROJECT PROJECT 0105 Help Now! The children served by this important feeding program rely solely on the support of Cross Catholic Outreach for their hot lunches, and we can only provide this vital outreach to the Pomeroon River townships with your help! For many of the children, this meal is the only nutritious food they will eat all day. They and their families will be deeply grateful for your sacrifice, and your gift will have an important secondary benefit by helping children make the most of their education. In 1 John 3:18, the apostle told believers to “love, not...” in word or speech, but in truth and action.” By seizing this opportunity to act mercifully on behalf of the poor, you can demonstrate the love of God to those who need it most! Our Promise to You! Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred during the current calendar year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry. 4 [fs1511] 2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240 • PO Box 273908 • Boca Raton, Florida 33427-3908 • 1-800-914-2420 Copyright Cross Catholic Outreach. Cost-effectively written, designed and printed in-house.
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