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Lasallian Developing Worlds Project—Kenya 2013

“Education is the single most powerful weapon against poverty.”     

During my five week stay in the village of Naroosura in Kenya this statement was drawn to my attention on many occasions. While helping to build a classroom for a small school in Kanunka (a neighbouring village) we were given the opportunity to interact with the school children; both teaching them and dancing and singing with them during their breaks. The children have so little in terms of material goods compared to us in the U.K. but in my opinion have so much more. They are happier and value what they have; people and education in particular. They are able to live the simple life that I often wish I had.

At the end of break one day I noticed Setian, one of the young girls from the ‘baby class’ standing still, not joining her classmates in the usual dash back to their desks. She was very upset and I realised that in the excitement of playing during break she had dropped her pencil. Despite its ridiculously small size I managed to find it in amongst the dirt on the ground. The look on Setian’s face when I returned it to her is something I will never forget. She smiled up at me in thanks before running back to her class. As each child treasures their own tatty pencil, and the teacher has none spare, returning without hers would have meant she would have been unable to participate fully in the next lesson. This little incident reminded me of all the times throughout my school years when a pencil was purposely snapped in half; or the tip was broken so class time could be wasted sharpening it at the bin; or simply just thrown out because it was ‘too small’ to be used comfortably. I love that something so important can be taken from such a simple event: we should not waste a moment of the education that we are so blessed to have.

The time I spent building for, and working with, the children in Kenya has been the best use of my time so far. They appreciated us sharing our knowledge, teaching them our songs and dances and attempting to learn theirs more than I could have imagined. The classroom we helped build will allow for more children to be educated and knowing that I have provided even just a few children with a small part of the education that they treasure means so much to me. I touched their lives and in turn they touched mine.

Frances Lowrie (Graduate 2013)

The Oliver Blog (September)

As many of you will know, this year’s school show is Oliver. In fact, you will see Frankie O’Donnell (S2), who has been given the role of Oliver, writing here too. My role here is to let everyone know what’s happening in the rehearsals each month.

The first two rehearsals were held in a music room, learning some of the songs, so I won’t go into detail about them. In the third rehearsal, we started setting scenes out. The scene we did then was the Food, Glorious Food! scene. Rehearsals were well into way when BBC cameras starting arriving. Everyone was a little nervous, especially when the Music Department’s Mr McKinnon chose my table to be interviewed. 

You might have seen us on Reporting Scotland a few days ago. They had been investigating an American survey which said that Scottish people were losing their accents as TV was affecting us and changing them.  We managed to prove the survey wrong, as we came to the conclusion that most of our accents had not been affected.

The fourth and final rehearsal I will share with you was extremely fun. We learned more of the Food, Glorious Food! scene and what was particularly thrilling was the main moment, in which our very own Frankie O’Donnell, as Oliver, says the doomed words ‘Please sir, I want some more!’. The reactions of Mr. Bumble, Widow Corny and the warders are certainly something to look forward to. Singing and also making the facial expressions to show mood is quite fun, especially when the threatening and frightening Mr. Bumble walks over – everyone must cower in terror!

Already, there’s an overall sense of pride spreading throughout the cast and crew. There’s nothing like singing a song or doing a scene together successfully, knowing that you all put something into it. There is this inner feeling that you are making something that really means something. Something amazing.

Hannah O’Donnell (2a1)

Rome 2013

Without a doubt, our trip to Rome must have been the highlight of my year so far. From the minute we landed until the minute we waved goodbye to the Eternal city, the group barely had time to draw breath. Our accommodation, Hotel dei Mille, was situated in a central location from which the metro and the bus station were only minutes away. Our jam packed schedule ensured that we saw nearly all sights and partook in the many opportunities Rome had to offer and I found that being able to discover an unfamiliar city with both my friends and chaplain priest made the experience particularly unforgettable.

Throughout the week, we saw many amazing sights, both religious and historical. On the first day we celebrated mass at Santa Maria Maggiore, which was a spiritual start to the week. At night, we ate in the family-run restaurant for the first time before heading to the famous Trevi Fountain. I must admit, the food was different to what we might eat normally but I thoroughly enjoyed our time in the restaurant, and genuinely appreciated their hospitality. Before leaving for Rome, we had been made aware of the late nights and early mornings but admittedly I did not fully appreciate how much of a challenge this would be. Rising at half 6 in the morning of the papal mass seemed unbearable at the time, but as soon as I saw the vast number of people crowded round St Peter’s Square I realised just how essential it was to make full use of the time we had. Seeing Pope Francis was, for me, the highlight of the trip. Not only was I affected by his blessing and gospel reading, but I found that being united with so many other people in faith deepened my own understanding of religion and strengthened my relationship with God. 

Aside from the Vatican and the view from the Dome over St Peter’s, I was more than impressed by the Coliseum.  Even with its missing sections you can imagine the spectacle it must have been at the time of the Roman Empire and thought that overall, it had a certain class that hasn’t been lost to time. Although we celebrated mass on several occasions – including the feast day of St Ninian our patron – in several unique and sacred places I found our time in the interior chapel in the Pantheon the most inspiring.  Being allowed in a chapel that not even the majority of the Romans have seen inside of was undeniably a privilege; one in which I would not have experienced if not with St Ninian’s. The other sights we visited included St Peter’s Cathedral in Frascati, the Vatican museum, the Catacombs of St Callisto, the Spanish steps and many others, all of which were architecturally unbelievable and of great interest.  Although the trip was fundamentally based on our religion, we were given the chance to relax, to explore and to shop by ourselves on a few occasions. Although there were, of course, various shops in which we could buy holy souvenirs or presents, there were also plenty of Italian ‘high street’ stores such as ‘Kiko’, which proved to be a favourite for many of the girls.

Overall, my trip to Rome was one of the best, most fulfilling faith and enjoyable experiences of my life not only because of the actual city itself, but the people I travelled with, both staff and pupils.

Hannah Gillan (6a9)

Lasallian Developing Worlds Project—Thailand 2013

During my recent trip to Thailand we stayed in a very remote area situated closely to the border with Burma. With many people illegally crossing the border into Thailand, these immigrants were not recognised as Thai citizens and lacked basic rights.

The children we met while here often had left their families behind in order to access education and hopefully escape the depravation they were subjected to. However, conditions are very basic and without their parents, daily life is very hard. Witnessing the brutal reality for these people opened my eyes to how lucky we are to have things we take for granted, such as running water and electricity.

Not only was I thrilled to be given the opportunity to experience life as a local but they to were appreciative that we had come to help them and were eager to learn about our culture. When I first arrived to discover the hole in the ground that was to become our toilet, the bucket with murky water which was our shower and the mat on the floor which was our bed for five weeks, I couldn’t help but question what I had let myself in for.

However, by the end of the project I was actually sad to leave such a simple way of life, one where technology was not the centre of everyone’s daily routine but instead pulling together as a community is the key to happiness. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the children just because we had spent time with them was extremely rewarding and I hope I made a difference to their lives, as much as they made a difference to mine.

Chloe Stuart (Graduate 2013)

Lasallian Developing Worlds Project – Uganda 2012

My name is Aisling Connolly and I am a former pupil of St Ninian’s High School. After I left school I had the most amazing but challenging five weeks of my life. I took part in the Lasallian Developing World Project which is a charity which helps education in the third world. I was lucky enough to travel to a small town in Uganda called Lutisi. Myself and eleven other volunteers from around Scotland and England built accommodation for teachers. We worked with a charity called Kulika, which is a charity committed to improving the livelihood of those in need through community development and education. The project was a huge challenge for me but I knew it was something I had always wanted to do. I had the most incredible, life changing experience that I cannot fully explain. The trip had a great impact on me and it was a massive learning experience as I have not only learnt about the country of Uganda and the people but I also learnt a lot about myself. During my stay I witnessed an enormous amount of poverty which really made me realise how different life really is here.

I became extremely close to the builders we worked with. On our building site we had nine builders, and although some were much better at English than others we still managed to get to know them all and form relationships with them. All nine workers were poor and did not receive an education, but most of them were working to make money to make sure they are able to give their children the education that they didn’t receive. The building work was challenging especially in the heat but I had an amazing group and we all motivated one another.

The children without a doubt made my trip. One thing that I was really apprehensive about was that I knew I was going to find it hard seeing children live in poor conditions and suffering. However, I was surprised at what I saw, all the children are happy. When walking around the streets, I found many children who enjoyed the freedom and playing with other children. I realised that the children in Scotland are caught up on having the latest gadget and have the pressure of their peers which means they don’t appreciate what they have. This opened my eyes as I realised I was guilty of this and the people of Uganda have virtually nothing.

Whilst we were in Uganda we were lucky enough to visit schools. This was one of the many highlights of my trip. Our first school visit was overwhelming, when we arrived at the school, I am not exaggerating when I say about 300 children came running towards us. In Uganda, like many other developing countries, having people from outwith their community visit their school was a great novelty.  We were warmly welcomed into the school.

The weekend trips were amazing as we were able to relax and also see beautiful sites. After a hard week of work we would visit different parts of Uganda, including the safari, the source of the River Nile, Lake Binyoni and Jinja which is the second largest town in Uganda after the capital Kampala, which was incredible.

I had a fantastic summer.  I have gained so much from this experience and I hope I that I have made an impact on at least one person whilst I was away. I would definitely recommend participating in the Lasallian Developing World Project as it will be an experience you will never forget.  I am lucky enough to have been selected to go on a teaching project next year to Sri Lanka.  I can’t wait.

More information about Lasallian Developing World Projects can be found at www.delasalle.org.uk

Aisling Connolly (Graduate 2012)

World Youth Day – Rio 2013

“During the summer I was lucky enough to go to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day 2013.  I went with a group of over two hundred young people from all over the UK.  Before we left we had a responsibility to fundraise  and so organised a number of events including a ceilidh and bake sale.  Then we made Year of Faith candles and sold them in most of the parishes in Glasgow.  Thanks to the amazing generosity of parishioners in Glasgow we raised enough money to ensure that all who wanted to go to Brazil were able to.

While in Brazil we visited many places such as Salvador, Sao Paulo and Franca. In these cities we stayed in the homes of families from the parishes. It was incredible to see that although they had very little, they welcomed us into their homes and gave us everything that we needed. In Rio we visited the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugar Loaf mountain.

After two weeks we returned to Rio for World Youth Day. Due to flooding the meeting was moved from an airfield to Copacabana beach where three million young people from around the world celebrated Mass with Pope Francis.  During his homily the Pope spoke of the mission of the Church to go out into the streets and how it must bring the word of God to many people. After evening prayer with the Pope we slept overnight on the beach in our sleeping bags.  It was an incredible experience to be there with three million young people celebrating our faith.

After this meeting we stayed in Rio for a couple of days and then we visited the sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida where we prayed the Rosary. It was amazing to experience a whole other life and culture for those three weeks and the trip really strengthened my faith.”

Louise Swan (5a7)

Scotland’s Rio 2013 – World Youth Day

“When Mr McGeehan asked me to attend Scotland’s Rio, I was a bit sceptical.  Hundreds of questions went through my mind – What was it ? Will we pray the whole weekend? Was I religious enough? How can Scotland have World Youth Day without the rest of the world? These thoughts were firmly planted in my mind until we arrived at the Stirling University Campus.  Then they all disappeared as I very quickly realised, no one was going to enrol me into a convent (against my will), I wasn’t going to have to say the creed alone in front of everyone or even go to confession on a stage in front of an audience and tell them all my sins.  There were 299 other people in exactly the same boat as me and this was made clear to me as soon as I stepped off the bus.

The weekend was non stop, there was everything … From Christian rock concerts to arts and crafts, Brazilian nights to ceilidhs, sports to faith and worship and catechises. It was the busiest weekend of my life, and despite all the running back and forth and the universal exhaustion we all felt, everyone got on very well as we experienced something that not many people are ever fortunate enough to experience – 300 young people, from all different dioceses coming together with a common thread of faith and having the opportunity to pray together as one. It has to be said that before attending Scotland’s Rio, I was worried about the future of the church, as it depends on us, the youth of today to carry it through tomorrow, and I never thought we’d be up to the task but after my experience at Scotland’s Rio – I can say that I think we’ll do a great job and we can be trusted to hand down the church one day to our children, just as our parents gave the gift of the church to us.

 Although I enjoyed the entire weekend, my favourite part of it was the Saturday Vigil, which included a rosary procession and a blessed sacrament procession, and in true Scottish style, the heavens opened and it poured the whole time. But I have never experienced anything as moving as seeing so many people, and young people at that, holding candles high in acknowledgement of our faith, in the pouring rain and singing hymns as we followed the blessed sacrament, it was something no one can describe, the level of serenity and hope and reverence was truly breath taking and I am honoured to have been a part of it.

So although sceptical at first, I am so pleased to have experienced Scotland’s Rio, to have met such lovely people and formed new friendships but also to have reaffirmed my faith in God, in myself and the youth of today.”

Sarah McIlwham (6a5)