Working together
Celebrating seven years supporting Father Simon Khurshid's vision for educating the disadvantaged
Fatima Boys HostelFather Simon Khurshid is a Catholic priest who is dedicated to improving the lives of desperately poor people in Faisalabad Pakistan. He believes education is the way to do this.
A group of friends in Perth Western Australia warmed to Father's Simon's vision and formed Vincent House Incorporated to fund education and living costs for boys at the Fatima Boys Hostel, a home for orphaned and unsupported boys in Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Gojra Pakistan. V.H.I. also provided ten computers for a study area at the Hostel. Vincent House School for Street Children. In late 2021 Father Simon was made parish priest at St Henry's Church in Christian Town Faisalabad, where there was an even greater need for pastoral care. In Pakistan the term "street children" indicates children who play on the street all day because they cannot access schooling. The school is housed in church buildings, and VHI funds school bags and stationery and the salary of a teacher. There are 80+ students and the teacher works with the help of volunteers.
Vincent House Sewing School Father Simon was asked by the Bishop to find a way for iliterate girls to earn a living. He knew that having sewing skills was a good way to do this.A local person gave the use of a house free ofcharge, our Pakistan co-ordinator Faraz Yousaf paid for renovations and V.H.I. paid for some sewing machines. We fund the salary of an instructor who is experienced in commercial manufacturing and all aspects garment production.
Coming from Nowhere
Creating a new charity out of nothing was new to us all
Fortunately, we were blessed with generous committee members and friends who donated monthly; however, we needed a bit more to pay for the monthly needs of the 34 Fatima Hostel Boys.
While many individual parishioners helped us greatly, disappointingly our parish council decided against allowing us to fund raise by selling food within our church facilities or allowing us to use the parish hall. This meant we would have to hire halls for fund raising events and that cost would be prohibitive. We needed to find another way.
Recycling for profit
Local governments here in Western Australia have yearly "junk collections" where unwanted items too large to fit into a wheelie bin; furniture, toys, carpets, prams, wall art, etc are left on the roadside verge outside homes for collection by a refuse truck. We obtained the calendars for these collections from surrounding suburbs and rummaged through the piles, gathering the best items for stock, and hoping that what one person discarded, another would buy.
To our delight people did indeed buy some of our carefully selected items and we began making regular profits recycling the material from the junk collections at a Sunday car boot sale run by the Belmont Rotary Club.
And so began a marriage made in heaven!
A Beautiful New Friend
A local newspaper published an article about our charity because of our weekly market stall. It was titled "34 new reasons to love", referring to the 34 Fatima Hostel Boys. A woman named Patricia saw the article and offered to donate items as she and her husband were moving to a smaller house.
Since that time, two years ago, we are so thankful to Patricia, her daughter Michele and their family and friends who have donated many car loads of items to sell.
No more junk collecting
We hope our junk collecting days are well and truly behind us now. We are so grateful to the very kind and generous donors, of money and saleable items, they, and they alone have made our charity a reality.
Vincent House for Street Children
Father Simon Khurshid had a long-held dream of starting a school for the children of the very poor.
It would be for parents whose earnings were so low they could not even afford the costs of uniforms or travel for their children to attend school.
The minority Christian Hindu and Sikh communities formed this group.
In October 2021 Fr Simon was moved from Gojra to St Dominic's Parish in Faisalabad, which is in an area where many brick kiln and sanitary workers live. Father Simon wasted no time, and the Vincent House School for Street Children was opened on 30 October 2021.
VHI funded school bags and stationery for the children and committed to pay for the teacher's salary and other ongoing costs with monthly payments.
The opening was a cause of great celebration, and the teacher Huma quickly taught some of the children dance routines for the occasion.
The school began with eighty-eight students, and they were taught within the church buildings by Huma and her volunteer helpers. When Huma left Faisalabad in early 2022 a new teacher Maham took her place.
Vincent House Sewing School
The uneducated young women in the Faisalabad area are at a great disadvantage because their job opportunities are few. Father Simon Khurshid had opended a sewing school fifteen years earlier and knew this offered girls the opportunity to gain independence. So with the help of locals in the community he was able to open Vincent House Sewing School on 14 June 2022.
We at Vincent House did our best, but because of inflation in Pakistan were only able to supply six sewing machines. However the sewing school opened with a wonderful teacher named Rukshana. Rukshana started working with the girls before she even received her first salary, bringing small pieces of fabric to sew and newspaper to teach them cutting. With the help of donors and volunteers we aim to acquire some furniture and more sewing machines soon.