Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Freetown (Agenzia Fides) – On February 17, 2009, the NGO AVSI will join efforts with their local partner the “Family Home Movement,” to inaugurate the new secondary school “Senior Holy Family” at the Mayenkineh Educational Center, thus offering 1,200 students a unique educational program in the country, recognized as well by the Minister of Education. After building the primary school, a high school, a center for teachers' training, a carpentry workshop, and a center for the disabled, the Senior Holy Family School offers 100 students per year the chance to complete their secondary school studies, giving them the possibility of going on to university studies or beginning a job in the working world with a diploma and sufficient preparation.
AVSI began its work in Sierra Leone in 2000, supporting the work of the Family Homes Movement (FHM), its local NGO partner, in caring for disadvantaged youth. It has been a long journey, made possible thanks to financial donations from many international institutions and organizations. The Family Homes Movement began in 1985 by Fr. Giuseppe (Bepi) Berton, a Xaverian missionary who has lived in the country for over 30 years. From 1985 to 1996, the FHM's main activity was that of creating centers for abandoned children and youth, involving the families in the community who were able to take them into their home, assuring them of love and affection. Another important initiative they carry out is their educational work in reinserting thousands of former child soldiers into society, including after the conflict is over, in various areas in the country, thus creating projects that are ready to respond to the needs of these abandoned and marginalized youth. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 16/2/2009)
