La Salle Green Hills visit De La in our activities, including touring neighbouring towns and sites, eating at delicious restaurants and educating them on the finer points of a few Aussie Card games. Leaving Keesera at the end of the month was difficult for all of us. We had spent four weeks working, playing and talking with the children, young adults and teachers who all have so little, yet their pride in themselves and the value they place on education was something that we all, and in particular our young men, saw as inspirational. With the work finished, we became tourists and visited the ruins at Hampi, the beaches at Mangalore and the magnificent Amber Palace at Mysore. Christmas Day saw us enjoying a smorgasbord lunch beside a pool at a Mangalore Hotel, whilst New Year’s Eve found us at the base of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur witnessing the firework display. It is with much sadness that we farewell Br Denis from the Coolies project for the time being. His initiative and dream has inspired over fifty young men and an increasing number of staff to step out of their comfort zone to experience the wonder of India and lend a hand to those in need. From my perspective, it is an experience to visit this intoxicating country and truly a privilege to be involved in this project. I will forever remember the parting words to our young men by Br Tom Walsh who organizes the volunteers at Keesera: “You will probably never truly comprehend the effect you have had on the children at this school, but be assured that your presence, work, smiles and kindness will live with them for a very long time.” Mrs Christine Thompson
From 2nd to 16th July this year, De La Salle families hosted 17 students from La Salle Green Hills, Manila. Many of our visitors stayed with De La Salle boys who had visited them the previous year in the Philippines. Our visitors were treated to classes at De La Salle, an Outdoor Education experience at Philip Island, visits to St James and St Bede’s schools and various excursions within and around Melbourne. A very special treat was feeding wallabies at Healesville Sanctuary! The boys from Manila found Melbourne to be a beautiful city, and their host families were extremely generous providing a variety of snapshots of Australian life with many boys returning home passionate supporters of different football clubs. On their penultimate evening in Australia, the school hosted a cocktail party to celebrate the success of the exchange. It was a very enjoyable evening with many stories shared. The Filipinas, donning special clothing and hats for the event, performed a traditional dance for their appreciative audience. It was a lovely chance to chat with families and see just how special their host sons had become to them. The next morning silence was shattered when the students lined up to board the bus to the airport. Hugs, promises to keep in touch and laughter were the order of the day, and the excited chatter on the bus about all the things that had been seen and done during their visit indicated the success of the exchange. With bulging bags the students and teachers lined up to board the plane, and with thanks, smiles and hugs, I waved goodbye to some very special young men. Their exchange would not have been such a success without the help of many people including Mr Peter Riordan, Mrs Carmel Dwyer, Mr Andrew Wozencroft, and Ms Jan Martin for taking our guests to different places, and Mrs Trish Woodman for all her help and advice in organising host families and helping the party be a success. A very big thank you also goes to Mr David Alexander and Mr David Ferguson who ran the Outdoor Education excursion to Philip Island. Finally, I would like to thank the families who made the boys welcome in their homes for those two weeks in May. This was a trip that our guests from the Philippines will remember always and I thank the students and families of De La Salle for their generosity. Ms Liz O’Connell
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