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Name: Mary Lassance Becker, from: Dubuque, IA
Education: BA, May 07, History, Pre-Medicine from St Louis U, MO
Service: computer help to both FMA & SDB, teaching chemistry,
English, music, extra curricular activities, and grant writing
Education: BA, May 07, History, Pre-Medicine from St Louis U, MO
Service: computer help to both FMA & SDB, teaching chemistry,
English, music, extra curricular activities, and grant writing
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Mission
The mission of the Laura Fund is to support the education,
development and social outreach projects of the Salesian Sisters in
Inharrime, Mozambique, for the benefit of WOMEN and YOUNG people.
By connecting the Laura Vicuña family with people in the United States,
we will also forge connections between two different cultures in hopes
of building friendship, awareness, and fostering solidarity.
The fund works through VIDES – Volunteers International for
Development, Education and Service – A non-profit organization of
volunteer missioners founded and promoted by the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters), an international order of Catholic
sisters.
Background
As a VIDES+USA volunteer, I (Mary Becker) have worked to start this
small fund as a way to help benefit the project in which I work – I donate
lots of time and hard work here every day, but my own funds are limited.
As several friends and family members from the US have already
approached me wishing to be part of my service here in Mozambique, I
invite you – enter the Laura Fund!
Overview
The Salesian Sisters of Mozambique founded the Laura Vicuña Center
in Inharrime in 2004, and already the project is thriving in outreach to
the local community. The financial support generated with the Laura
Fund will be for the benefit of children, youth, and women in at at-risk
situations in the Inharrime, Mozambique area.
It will be of support for the following:
- Orphan Center – currently home to 36 young girls age
4-15, and constantly growing. These children and young
women provide the main focus of the Laura Vicuña Center.
By enveloping the young girls in a loving community, the
Salesian Sisters and international volunteers help the girls
grow and learn important study and work habits, as well as
provide them with a family-like community of support.
- Secondary School – an 8th through 10th grade – The school is only
in its 3rd year of existence, and has added one grade each year – in
the end it will provide up through 12th grade, becoming the first school
in the Inharrime district to offer past 10th grade. The Mozambican
school system still feels the effects of many years of colonialism and
civil war, and the majority of schools in the country remain weak. The
Salesians aim to create a strong school in Inharrime – one free of
corruption and with as many educational tools as possible.
- Sponsorship Program – More than 300 children in the Inharrime
area have sponsors in Europe or North America who send a small
monthly contribution (~$10 per month) to the sisters that provides
nutritional and financial support to pay school fees, medical costs, or
other emergencies to the child.
- Water and Literacy – The Salesians built a large well and set up two
water pumps close to the Laura Vicuña center where local women may
come and get clean water for daily use in their houses without indoor
plumbing. The water (unlike many pumps) is free of charge – under
one condition. Women who have not yet completed a 5th grade
education must agree to attend literacy classes at the secondary
school in exchange for getting water at the sisters’ pump. The literacy
classes are also a condition of enrolling one’s child in the sponsorship
program. More than 120 women have already graduated from these
classes in the last three years.
Other soon-to-be-initiated projects:
• Primary School – Grades 1 and 2 were initiated in February 2008 in
the first building of the primary school. Over the coming years, an
Italian group has agreed to finance the construction of buildings to
accommodate a 1-7 th grade school and a sports field.
• Bakery – Large baking ovens will arrive soon and the Laura Vicuña
bakery will open for business! The bakery will not only provide bread at
least 6 outposts in the Inharrime area, it will also serve as a training
post for Mozambican youth in at-risk situations to learn skills in baking
that they can later use to procure employment.
Immediate needs:
• Provide support for the students of Laura Vicuña Secondary School
– school supplies, books (even textbooks, which are extremely hard to
come by in schools here),
other educational tools that students in this area cannot afford, such as
8th grade Chemistry, Biology, or English textbook ~ $13 each
Set of notebooks and pens for a year ~ $2.20
• Support for the water and literacy program
One month electric bill for the water pump ~ $200
• Add extra support to the sponsorship program to ensure availability
of food for all the children each month (the number of children enrolled
in the program currently is larger than the number of sponsors)
Long Term Goals
The mission of the Laura Fund is to support the education,
development and social outreach projects of the Salesian Sisters in
Inharrime, Mozambique, for the benefit of WOMEN and YOUNG people.
By connecting the Laura Vicuña family with people in the United States,
we will also forge connections between two different cultures in hopes
of building friendship, awareness, and fostering solidarity.
The fund works through VIDES – Volunteers International for
Development, Education and Service – A non-profit organization of
volunteer missioners founded and promoted by the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters), an international order of Catholic
sisters.
Background
As a VIDES+USA volunteer, I (Mary Becker) have worked to start this
small fund as a way to help benefit the project in which I work – I donate
lots of time and hard work here every day, but my own funds are limited.
As several friends and family members from the US have already
approached me wishing to be part of my service here in Mozambique, I
invite you – enter the Laura Fund!
Overview
The Salesian Sisters of Mozambique founded the Laura Vicuña Center
in Inharrime in 2004, and already the project is thriving in outreach to
the local community. The financial support generated with the Laura
Fund will be for the benefit of children, youth, and women in at at-risk
situations in the Inharrime, Mozambique area.
It will be of support for the following:
- Orphan Center – currently home to 36 young girls age
4-15, and constantly growing. These children and young
women provide the main focus of the Laura Vicuña Center.
By enveloping the young girls in a loving community, the
Salesian Sisters and international volunteers help the girls
grow and learn important study and work habits, as well as
provide them with a family-like community of support.
- Secondary School – an 8th through 10th grade – The school is only
in its 3rd year of existence, and has added one grade each year – in
the end it will provide up through 12th grade, becoming the first school
in the Inharrime district to offer past 10th grade. The Mozambican
school system still feels the effects of many years of colonialism and
civil war, and the majority of schools in the country remain weak. The
Salesians aim to create a strong school in Inharrime – one free of
corruption and with as many educational tools as possible.
- Sponsorship Program – More than 300 children in the Inharrime
area have sponsors in Europe or North America who send a small
monthly contribution (~$10 per month) to the sisters that provides
nutritional and financial support to pay school fees, medical costs, or
other emergencies to the child.
- Water and Literacy – The Salesians built a large well and set up two
water pumps close to the Laura Vicuña center where local women may
come and get clean water for daily use in their houses without indoor
plumbing. The water (unlike many pumps) is free of charge – under
one condition. Women who have not yet completed a 5th grade
education must agree to attend literacy classes at the secondary
school in exchange for getting water at the sisters’ pump. The literacy
classes are also a condition of enrolling one’s child in the sponsorship
program. More than 120 women have already graduated from these
classes in the last three years.
Other soon-to-be-initiated projects:
• Primary School – Grades 1 and 2 were initiated in February 2008 in
the first building of the primary school. Over the coming years, an
Italian group has agreed to finance the construction of buildings to
accommodate a 1-7 th grade school and a sports field.
• Bakery – Large baking ovens will arrive soon and the Laura Vicuña
bakery will open for business! The bakery will not only provide bread at
least 6 outposts in the Inharrime area, it will also serve as a training
post for Mozambican youth in at-risk situations to learn skills in baking
that they can later use to procure employment.
Immediate needs:
• Provide support for the students of Laura Vicuña Secondary School
– school supplies, books (even textbooks, which are extremely hard to
come by in schools here),
other educational tools that students in this area cannot afford, such as
8th grade Chemistry, Biology, or English textbook ~ $13 each
Set of notebooks and pens for a year ~ $2.20
• Support for the water and literacy program
One month electric bill for the water pump ~ $200
• Add extra support to the sponsorship program to ensure availability
of food for all the children each month (the number of children enrolled
in the program currently is larger than the number of sponsors)
Long Term Goals
- Help to build a library for the Laura Vicuña Secondary School
where books and study materials are very scarce - Fund a simple ''school lunch'' program for the secondary school
students who live far from school (some walk 4 or 5 miles each
day to get to school)
"Experiencing, Sharing Life in Christ"
|
| The LAURA FUND “I never want to become indifferent to anyone.” Laura Vicuña |
| Mary Becker with the Sisters, boarders, and other volunteers |
| You can be part of my VIDES+USA mission: Donate to the LAURA FUND |