Founder welcome note

Dear friends,

It is with great joy that I invite you to our web site. Oasis de Paix was founded in February 2006. With a strong and united team, we have made tremendous progress in helping our out-of-school youngsters.

Our students originate from the poorest families in the country and have been rejected by the country’s elitist education system. Despite the difficulties we have experienced, we feel we have achieved our primary objective of educating our students and helping them to achieve employment.

Our site contains a wealth of information about the progress of our school and the various events during the year.

We constantly seek volunteers who wish to help by dedicating some of their free time to contribute to the education of our youngsters. We also ask heads of companies and small businesses to provide apprenticeships and training opportunities to help our students discover new skills through hands-on experience and access employment opportunities.

To our sponsors, friends and contributors, thank you for your unflinching support and trust. We will continue to work together to build a better future for the youngsters of Mauritius.

With kind regards
Monique Leung

An Oasis for our children by Father Henri Souchon, co-founder of Oasis de Paix.

At the school, 170 students who have not passed their Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) exams are cared for by our teaching staff and a number of volunteers.  We succeed in teaching them reading, writing and numerical skills within 2 to 3 years. Those who succeed at CPE rejoin the mainstream education system. Others attend pre-professional training in a bid to becoming employed.

Through continuous monitoring, we discover the numerous skills of our students which have led to the creation in 2010 of an arts and crafts workshop for the girls and a wood-working one for the boys. Our 2010 budget is around Rs2m (€48,000), of which 75% is for the salaries of our teachers.

We need your assistance in a number of areas. Please come and visit us and discover how you can help. Thank you and see you soon.
Best wishes
Father Henri Souchon