Two projects were recently completed in the Holy Land

Thanks to a contribution from the Austrian Lieutenancy, the Latin Patriarchate school in Nablus was able to upgrade its IT equipment. The Saint Joseph school has 22 classrooms, one PC laboratory and one library for a total of 608 students. The PC laboratory was very old and needed immediate rehabilitation since nowadays computers are useful tools for different subjects across the curriculum. The Latin Patriarchate therefore considered the upgrading of the IT equipment of this school a priority in order to improve the learning environment and provide students with good services. With new and high quality computers and projectors, the Saint Joseph school will continue its mission to shape new skills and prepare generations of students.

Another project that was recently completed was the purchase of a bus to help with transfers of young Syrian refugee students to the parish of Saint Joseph in Mafraq thanks also to a contribution from the Lieutenancy for Canada Montreal. Mafraq is a small city situated in northern Jordan, only 20 kilometres from the Syrian border. Its Latin parish supports the refugees daily by coordinating different activities with the aim of alleviating their situation. Some teachers and volunteers took the initiative of arranging educational activities and classes Two projects were recently completed in the Holy Land for the Syrian kids in order to give them the opportunity to go on studying and learning before they can be officially enrolled within the Jordanian school system. Also some non curriculum activities like dancing, painting and playing are offered.

The parish priest, Father Francis Shahin takes responsibility every day of transferring the students from the refugee camps spread on the borders between Syria and Jordan to the parish of Mafraq for these classes. The school bus was used for this service but was definitely insufficient for 350 students and the parish had to rent many times buses and this became expensive. Thanks to some benefactors and mainly the Lieutenancy for Canada Montreal it was finally possible to purchase a new bus allowing these young Syrian students to reach the Saint Joseph parish more easily and enjoy all the activities organized there to bring some relief to their challenging situation.

(September 2018)