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An English woman, Pat McEvoy, the wife of a former missionary in the Solomom Islands, and her four daughters have set up scholarships to assist girls from Malaita Solomon Islands to attend secondary school.
Pat is going to the Solomon Islands to put into place the John McEvoy Scholarship for Girls with money she and her daughters have raised in England. It is hoped that the scholarships will allow seven or eight girls to go to secondary school.
This will be the first time Pat has visited the Solomons, a country where her husband lived and worked as a teacher and missionary for 18 years.
John McEvoy was an Irish priest and missionary with the Society of Mary. In 1952 he went to the Solomon Islands. He ran a school of 400 children at Buma, on the island of Malaita, where he remained for almost 18 years. John was a dedicated teacher who was particularly keen to promote girls’ education. As the saying goes: “Educate a girl and you educate a nation”.
In 1969, because of ill health exacerbated by the tropical climate, he returned to Europe, taking up a parish in Devon. In 1972 he married and had a family of four daughters. He continued teaching in England all his life.
John died in Sept 2009. In his memory, his family and friends have established the John McEvoy Scholarship for Girls to fund and support education for girls from Buma and the surrounding area.
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