Lasallian Projects 2025 - Keelamudiman & Suranam

Lasallian Projects

From the very start, John Baptist De La Salle set out to address the educational needs of the poor and we follow in his footsteps. As Lasallians, the provision of education for the poor is central to what we do, as we see it as the way out of poverty. To achieve this aim we build and improve educational facilities in communities where poverty is rampant and where the literacy rate is very low. For the last thirty eight years, Lasallian volunteers from Ireland have completed hundreds of projects both big and small in Asia and Africa, thus making sure that education is provided for the poor, the marginalized, the downtrodden, and those with little hope. All our efforts and resources are concentrated on small regional areas to gain the optimum impact and a lasting positive result.

Keelamudiman Project

In 2013 we got a request from St Joseph's De La Salle School in Keelamudiman, India to help them with a project. We learned of the dire educational situation in the surrounding area and decided to help out. At the time many primary school students in the local villages had little to no access to education due to social inequality. Even if they managed to get a place in 1 of the 7 primary schools run by the Government, they were treated differently due to their background, being told to sit on the floor and not being allowed to make friends with the other children. As a result of these social class barriers, over 50% of these children did not go to school at all. St Joseph's De La Salle however did not discriminate on any basis and welcomed students of all backgrounds, social class or gender. The enrolment numbers at the time were near 400 and demand was rapidly increasing. Thus, they need our help renovating the school to accommodate more students.

That year, volunteers came together and with the help of sponsors as well as the local communities, they managed to fundraise enough to enable St Joseph's De La Salle to add a second floor extension which allowed over 100 more students to attend the school. We returned again in 2018 to build an all-purpose building, two stories in height, used everyday by over 120 students to study and attend class. It is also rented out during holidays to help collect funds for the next school period. In 2022 returned again to complete the construction of an all-purpose building which allows up to 400 students to study in comfort, as oppose to previous circumstances, having to study in stifling heat and dust during the dry season or monsoon rains during wet seasons.

There are currently 750 students in the school from the surrounding 22 villages and last year we commenced the building of 8 new classrooms to facilitate the huge rise in demand for places in the school. We are now raising money to help finish these classrooms and have them ready for students in August for the start of the new school year.

Suranam Project

The De La Salle Brothers set up St James Secondary School in 1986 in a poor rural area, with students from 35 of the surrounding villages. The majority of the population were rice farmers and with crops failing evert 3 years on average due to drought, this can lead to huge economic stress in the area. As a result of the brothers efforts the literacy rate has increased from around 12% to over 80% for people living in these villages. During the Covid-19 Pandemic we had enough funds to complete the construction of a multi-purpose facility which has become invaluable to the local community. Over 650 students use this facility weekly for studies, classes and physical education. The Brothers have recently started a primary school and there is only one vacant classroom for these children. We hope to build a smaller all-purpose building for these children this year with the funds we raise.

In August of this year horrendous monsoon rains came and destroyed the tanks the locals had for holding water, which the school used everyday. The ground water in the region cannot be drank because of its salt contents and thus, the brothers have had to resort to travelling 20km everyday to bring drinking water by tanker to the school. When it rains, Rain water is collected off of roofs and stored but this is not a reliable or steady source of drinking water, especially during the dry season. We hope to raise enough money to replace these tanks broken and improve this necessary facility.

We thank you for your past support and hope that you will be able to support us further with the projects for this year. Any support is greatly appreciated. Please feel free to share around on social media or in person. If you wish to learn more or contact us, more information is available at our website https://www.lasallianprojects2025.ie/