Educational Project 2017 - Indonesia + Japan

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Following on from previous trips to Africa and the 2015 project working with pupils of our Brothers' schools in Haiti, this Easter (leaving on Friday) I will be taking two current Yr. 12 students and a former student now in his mid-twenties (Andrew Rowan) on a De La Mennais Brothers Educational Project trip to Indonesia (9 days) and Japan (4 days).

Our objectives are to:
• learn about the lives of people from another culture and learn more about ourselves through shared activities e.g. workshops, dialogue, recreation, sport, music, etc... many summer camp-style activities from primary school children lead by our young people themselves
• open our hearts to respond to the human, spiritual and material needs of others
• change our vision of the world
• develop skills and help others to develop theirs
• learn to look back over our experiences and be able to share them with others.

We will be visiting Brothers' schools, working with their primary school children and others from local orphanages, as well as meeting with older students who will help us to discover the local culture and natural environment. We will also be involved in some English language activities with a group 8 young Indonesian men currently considering a vocation to be a Brother. In both countries we will be looked after by Brothers' communities belonging to my congregation, containing a mixture of nationalities (French, Spanish, Canadian, Indonesian, Japanese and Ugandan).

In Indonesia, we will be staying in Larantuka on the island of Flores in a strongly Catholic area and will be attending the local Easter Triduum celebrations (which apparently involve quite spectacular processions and an outdoor Passion Play) with the Brothers and local parishioners.

I will be posting Facebook + blog articles (including photos) during the trip. Here are some photos of our school and the Brothers in Larantuka to give you a flavour of what we will be encountering.





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