Focolare Movement

“School friends at a distance” is growing

Apr 4, 2007

Five years after its international debut, the "Schoolmates" project is reaching more and more schools and children. This report looks at India and Albania

Thirty-five projects in twenty-nine countries of the world, and 1,847 bursaries given over five years. A network of sharing has come to life at a global level, among “Schoolmates”- school friends at a distance. This is a project of Teens for Unity, of the Focolare Movement, which is reaching more schools each year. In 2006, 455 bursaries were awarded. What is Schoolmates? With this project, Teens for Unity promote a network of relationships among schools. Classes from different countries write to one another, to share their talents and their culture, language, traditions, and their current projects for a more united world. A solidarity fund provides bursaries for courses for children in less developed countries. The commitment: Any class or group that wants to join Schoolmates, must commit itself to living the Golden Rule, “to do to others what you would have them do to you, and not do to others, what you wouldn’t want them to do to you”, to start correspondence with other classes or groups, and support bursaries for studies. A class can commit itself to one bursary per year, with each child who takes part giving 1 euro per month. The contribution can come either from personal savings, or from the involvement of the whole class in various activities depending on the creativity of the children. Eagerly awaited activities each year are the Spring Fairs. In 2007 there are 30 projects in 26 countries. Here we take a closer look at some of them. In recent years, the lack of resources and of a national programme have resulted in the collapse of the Albanian school system. The most serious problems are low salaries for teachers, and the lack of teaching materials and suitable buildings. The project aims to give the poorest children the opportunity of completing compulsory schooling, and to take professional courses to improve their prospects and to contribute as adults to the life of their nation. See the project at: http://school-mates.org/progetti/main_albania_ita.html    In Bandra the “queen of suburbs” of Mumbai, support for the most marginalized children. There are 20 million inhabitants in Mumbai, and the continual process of urbanisation has led to the formation of enormous slums where masses of people, attracted to the city by the possibility of earning minimal wages, live in extreme poverty. Before school starts, the slum children go to work in order to earn something, and are tired out by the time they arrive. Although they study hard, in those conditions they often fail. At present there are 16 bursaries in action to enable the recipients to finish their studies and find a decent job in the future. See the project at: http://school-mates.org/progetti/main_india_bandra_ita.html To improve school attendance in Albania.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

One step from Giving Up

One step from Giving Up

A chance encounter in hospital rekindles the concrete sense of helping one another, restores hope to someone who was ready to give up and gives life to the memory of a desire: to be builders of a better world.

Ave Cerquetti: Beauty as a way to God

Ave Cerquetti: Beauty as a way to God

From shaping clay as a child to the desire to see sculpture and sacred art as a language capable of bringing God to the people of our time, Ave Cerquetti, a longstanding member of the Focolare family who died at the age of 95, left a legacy that combines art, spirituality and above all communion.

What’s UP? The journey continues

What’s UP? The journey continues

Welcome back to “What’s UP?”, a space for connection of the Focolare Movement that brings us closer together and makes us more and more like family