A Marist secondary school programme in Ranong Thailand with close links to New Zealand has re-opened. The school was one of 10 Burmese migrant learning centres closed as a result of the 24 August arrest and deportation of 32 Burmese teachers by Thai officials. News of their reopening on a part-time basis was confirmed on Read more
During the recent summer holiday, eight students and two teachers from St Patrick’s College Wellington went on a two-week school trip to visit the Marist mission in Ranong, Thailand. The purpose of this trip was to experience what life is like for Burmese migrants, see Marist faith in action and teach English to the students attending Read more
LOGOS, the Marist Youth Development agency in Auckland, on November 20 farewelled Tayla Fa’aofo prior to her departure to work at the Marist Asia Foundation in Ranong, Thailand. Tayla will be helping people from Myanmar who have come to Thailand either as refugees escaping conflict and living in refugee camps or as migrants seeking work. The farewell Read more
Aucklander Laura McLellan says her experience working as a teacher Ranong, South Thailand, has had an immense impact on the way she sees her world and the people in it. Laura is working with a Marist community teaching English and social studies within the Burmese migrant community. She was a volunteer in the Marist Youth Read more
70-year-old Brother Denis O’Brien was farewelled from Ōtaki last weekend. He has been there only for a short time but now he is off on a mission to Thailand. He is planning to stay in Thailand for two years and then he will come back to New Zealand. O’Brien celebrates his 50th Jubilee of Marist Religious Read more
Aucklander Kirsten Sloan is a volunteer on mission with Fr Frank Bird and others at the Marist Family Mission in Ranong, Thailand, where she manages the HIV/AIDS Health Project. The mission has been serving Burmese migrants for the past 6 years providing community support, education for Burmese children and support and health access for HIV/AIDs sufferers Read more
Recently I had a great opportunity to know the reality of migrants from Myanmar living on the Myanmar-Thai border. In Ranong, I taught English in a learning centre and I was amazed by the children’s interest in learning and by their respect for their teachers. I also realized that learning English and Thai can make Read more