Fr Gene Kirke Fundraiser for Wayna Sayary School

The “Wayna Sayary” school is in the Villa El Salvador shanty town on the outskirts of, Lima, Peru. It was founded by Fr Gene Kirke in 2012 and aims to provide classes where young people can discover and hone their talents in a safe environment. Many of the children go on to continue their studies or get a trade, and so avoid falling in with the drugs gangs that plague the community.

Fr Kirke (originally from Kilkerley in Co Louth) has lived in Villa El Salvador for over 50 years. During that time the shanty town on the edge of a dessert has grown to have over 500,000 inhabitants. He has worked with the local community on many successful projects, like building a bakery and two well equipped clinics for the native people.

He noted how the local educational system was failing the most vulnerable, despite the work of many dedicated people. Children often leave school with limited skills and little opportunity of getting a job. The Wayna Sayary School aims to redress this for as many of the local children as is possible. It provides additional education to students in areas such as maths, English, bakery and computer science. The school also has psychologists who give counseling free of charge.

Perhaps just as importantly as all the above, it teaches children values such as respect, honesty, hard work and team work.

 

As the community continues to grow, the demands on “Wayna Sayary” grow ever greater. If you could please make a small donation then your money can be used to give another vulnerable child an opportunity to escape poverty through education. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. If you wish to learn more about this worthwhile project then please check out Wayna Sayary on Facebook.