LEAD Story 314

Organised by the Hong Kong Lasallian Family, the Tercentenary Thanksgiving Mass for the completion of the earthly journey of our Holy Founder, St. John Baptist de La Salle was held on 21st September 2019 at La Salle Primary School. Five Old Boy Priests, eleven Brothers, and stakeholders from all our eight Lasallian schools in Hong Kong attended the mass and thanked God for his continued blessings throughout the years.

All of our schools offered help in one way or another in the organisation and operation of the mass. There were eight readers, one from each of our schools, offering the readings. Apart from the usual offerings of bread and wine at the altar, the offerings included the student handbooks and the school ties from our students. These gifts represented our desire to continue being faithful to our rich heritage, together with our Catholic and Lasallian ethos.

We continue to have two FSC Communities in Singapore. One is located in St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) and the other at St Patrick’s School (SPS). On 27-29 August, Br. Armin visited the Brothers’ Community at SJI. At present, there are 4 Brothers living in this community: Larry Humphrey (director), Paul Ho, John Win Kyaw and Paul Mata. Br. Armin met each of us individually, and then met us all together as one community to discuss matters relating to our community life and welfare as Brothers.

On 2-3 September, after his trip to Sri Lanka, Br. Armin headed back to Singapore to visit our Brothers, this time in the community of St Patrick’s School located in the East Coast of Singapore. It is a community of three Brothers namely: Nicholas Seet, Collin Wee and Gregory Lim. He met each one individually and gathered them together to have a fruitful discussion on the Brothers’ life. (Text & Photo: Br. Paul Mata FSC)

On 25-26 September 2019, Br. Felipe, Auxiliary Visitor of LEAD, visited the Maymyo community in Myanmar. This is his first pastoral visit to Myanmar since he became Auxiliary Visitor. He met all the community members individually as well as together as a community. Knowing all the concerns that were brought up by the Brothers, he encouraged and shared what needs to be done in the future. (Text & Photo: Br. Lucas Ah Do FSC)

In the border between Thailand and Myanmar, is the Bamboo School. It has been nearly twelve years since the mission of the Brothers in the Bamboo School began. The school is opened to educate the stateless and marginalised children.

The story of the Bamboo school would not be complete if we do not talk about our Lasallian volunteers from the many countries around the world. They have shared a lot of their effort and hard work to support the Bamboo School projects. One volunteer group that comes every year is from St. Bede’s College in Melbourne, Australia.

St. Bede’s has been sending volunteers to the Bamboo School for years. Two groups are sent each year. The first group comes at the end of June and another visits at the end of September. They mainly help out in construction work done at the La Salle Sangklaburi School, specifically in the Blue Sky Home. This year, their project is to do work on the school parking lots and build the school workshop, where a Life Skills program for the students will be implemented. (Text & Photos: Br. Matthew Thawatchai FSC)