Help Bring Hope and Opportunity to Children in Sri Lanka and Australia

The angel’s message to the shepherds on that first Christmas Eve was one of peace, reconciliation and hope.

Two of ABM AID’s partners, the Diocese of Colombo in Sri Lanka and Gawura in Sydney, are working towards that same peace, reconciliation and hope by providing education to disadvantaged children in Sri Lanka and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Sydney.

Sri Lanka

Many children have been impoverished by the economic crisis that has plagued Sri Lanka in recent years. Some are from families internally displaced following the Sri Lankan civil war, and some are from fisherfolk families with limited resources to educate their children.

The Diocese of Colombo, through centres including the Oppuravillam Peace Centre, offers hope for a better future to such children via classes in IT, extra coaching towards their national exams, awareness sessions for teenagers in child and drug abuse and the wise use of social media and mobile phones, as well as nutritional supplements for pre-schoolers. Scholarships are also provided to some especially vulnerable children.  Support is provided to teachers via training in Early Childhood.

Mr S. Sureshkumar, Manager of the Oppuravillam Peace Centre, recently told visiting ABM AID staff member, Ms Simolyn Delgado:

“We appreciate the support of ABM AID.

“We are mainly supporting children to improve their computer knowledge here through evening classes. The children come from a small village and don’t have money for their tuition, or for their meals and other needs, and they don’t have their own computers. But here at the Centre they have the opportunity to learn some computer knowledge. We are teaching them Microsoft Office and basic knowledge of the computer.

“Then in the evenings we are supporting a teacher by paying her salary to teach maths and history to 37 students so they can do the national exams at ordinary level. We are also giving scholarships to some students.

“So, the support we get from you is very helpful to the students. Thank you.”

The mother of a preschool student said:

“I’m living near the Oppuravillam Centre. I have to say thank you very much to the person who provides the nutritional food for my child. We are very suffering from this economic crisis. In this situation, I could not provide healthy meals for my children. Thank you so much for your support.”

Gawura

If you were in the audience of this June’s Gawura NAIDOC Assembly, you would have seen the students perform cultural dances, choreographed by Aunty Rayma Johnson, including the Cod dance and the Travelling dance. You would also have seen the Year 6 students proudly sharing their Aboriginal heroes, including Charles Perkins, Christina Anu and Michael O’Loughlin, in keeping with the NAIDOC theme of “Blak, Loud and Proud – Keep the Fires Burning”.

Accessing the strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is seen as key to the success of Gawura which provides a primary school education to up to 42 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Sydney. When the Gawura graduates enter Year 7 at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, they are supported through this transition by two staff members.  Gawura reports that the 2024 Year 7 students “are already making new friends and grasping all that Middle School has to offer”.

Your gift this Advent and Christmas can help ABM AID continue its mission, delivering peace, hope, and opportunities to children who need it most. Join us in making a difference this season, bringing the angel’s message to life through the gift of education and empowerment.

Prayer

Lord, our Strength and our Song,
we pray for the Diocese of Colombo in Sri Lanka and its work for peace, hope and reconciliation,
and the staff and students of Gawura School
this Advent and Christmas.

We pray for the children in Sri Lanka that this appeal seeks to help:
those whose families are suffering from the economic crisis
and those who were forced to live elsewhere because of the Sri Lankan civil war.
We give you thanks for the nutritional supplements,
IT classes, extra coaching, and awareness-raising sessions
that will be given to the students.

We pray for students who attend Gawura School.
We praise you for the cultures that they embrace through dances
and for the heroes they hold on to and yet share with others –
heroes who have contributed to building up our common life in Australia.

May we hear the angels’ song of peace, hope and reconciliation,
and may we join them through our prayers and our giving
as we commemorate the coming and birth of our Salvation.

Amen.