Sponsor child update 2016

We have decided to provide an annual update on the children from Labuan Bajo who are being sponsored by Australian friends of the mission. So this is the 2016 update. This year is a milestone for our sponsorship program in that we now sponsor 13 primary and secondary school children. All of these children and their families are very poor. Of the 13 children, the fathers of five children are deceased and another two children have been abandoned by their fathers. The remaining six children are also from very poor families in which the fathers of the children either have a permanent disability and cannot work or have very little education and thus are payed very poorly. Thanks to our sponsors in Australia, all of the children are now receiving a primary and secondary education which, prior to sponsorship, was not possible. An education is crucial for the people of Labuan Bajo, such as to make it possible for them to be lifted from poverty.

A common practice within families in Labuan Bajo is to give their children a shortened name of endearment. Where possible we have provided these names of endearment in parentheses after their full name. These shortened names are the names they are normally accustomed to. The majority of these images were taken during our visit to the mission in early March this year.

Next time we will publish some unpublished archival material dating back to last year when Fr Richard Ho Lung (Founder) visited Australia. See you then and keep well, Blessings to all!

Trevor and Tina