De La Salle students in Waterford to work on education facilities in India
Four former De la Salle College students, Patrick O'Leary, Liam Steenson, Conor Golden and Fionn McGrath along with Thomas O'Neill and Br. Tom, will be Lasallian volunteers and travel to India to help build an all-purpose building that will cater for their needs. Photo: Joe Evans
Students from De La Salle College will be among a delegation of Lasallian volunteers who will travel to India to help those who are under-privileged to access education facilties.
The students, in carrying out the work, will be continuing a tradition of voluntary work that stretches back almost 40 years.
Lasallian volunteers have helped provide educational facilities for the poorest of the poor in many Asian and African countries for the past thirty eight years.
That has been accomplished through the help and support of many local communities along with the generosity of people and companies in Waterford and throughout the country, over the years.
A spokesperson for those involved in organising the forthcoming trip commented on the project to Waterford News & Star.
"This June and July, seven volunteers from Waterford will set out to advance and complete projects in southern India," he said.
"A project that was started in Saint Joseph’s De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, Tamil Nadu, last year, will be completed," he added.
"This consists of the building of eight classrooms for primary school children who are the poorest in this vast rural area and who otherwise would have very little chance of getting a good standard of education," said the spokesperson.
He went on to highlight that in Saint James' School, in Suranam, the Brothers recently started a primary school to provide an education for the children from what is a very poverty stricken region.
The volunteers who will be travelling over will be helping to construct an all-purpose building that will cater for their needs.
In August, 2024, monsoon rains destroyed the tanks that were used for holding water which was used in the school every day.
It's hoped that part of the work carried out by the volunteers will include the building of new tanks to provide what is an essential facility for the children.
The St. LaSalle School in Keelamudiman s managed by the congregation of De La Salle Brothers.
The school offers qualitative, adequate and integral formation to the students of Keelamudiman and its surrounding villages and is a vital facility in the region.
The St. LaSalle School began its journey on June 7, 2018, with grade Pre-Kg and it serves now up to IX standard in a co-educational system.
The St. La Salle school is an English medium establishment and the eight new classrooms will help serve over 800 pupils.
The children attending the school from around 22 surrounding villages and they attend both morning and afternoon shifts.
The school, along with St. Joseph School, are the two schools in the Keelamudiman area.
Keelamudiman is located in the rural Tamil Nadu region, in southern India.
The Tamil Nadu region is known for its rich culture, history and agricultural heritage.
The capital of the region is Chennai and it's also a significant industrial centre.
The area borders the states of Andhra Pradesh to the north, Karnataka to the northwest, and Kerala to the west.
The region is also bordered by the Bay of Bengal, to the east, and the Indian Ocean to the south and southeast.
The state is straddled by the Western Ghats and Deccan Plateau in the west, the Eastern Ghats in the north, and the Eastern Coastal Plains lining the Bay of Bengal in the east and the Kaveri river bisects the state.
The southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, Kanyakumari, is located in Tamil Nadu.
