In Philippines, school offers training, but nuns provide sense of family
Sister Rachel Myriam Luxford from New Zealand, a member of the Community of the Beatitudes, visits in 2019 with Senan Duran and Raymart Montinola in Manila, Philippines, both alumni of the Second Chance program. (CNS photo/courtesy Charity Durano)
By Gail DeGeorge and Charity Durano, Catholic News Service
QUEZON CITY, Philippines Jane Ollivier lost her parents by the age of 10. For five years, she bounced among various relatives before she entered the School of Life, a residential program for teenage girls in metropolitan Manila run by the Missionaries of Mary.
Jane Ollivier, pictured at left in 2015, entered the School of Life at age 15 after being orphaned and passed around various relatives. While living at the School of Life, she earned an education degree, taught school and now works as a home life officer for ACAY to help other teen girls. (Courtesy of the Missionaries of Mary)
Quezon City, Philippines Jane Ollivier lost her parents by the age of 10. For five years, she bounced around between various relatives before she entered the School of Life, a residential program for teenage girls in metropolitan Manila run by the Missionaries of Mary. I wasn t treated as a child who needed help, but as a member of a family, she said. I found the care of a family that I was looking for.