LaValla200>

Mount Druitt Community is the new community created by the Region Oceania answering to the Brother Emili’s call to create International Communities for a new beginning.

Mount Druitt is located 45km west of Sydney CBD, New South Wales, Australia. Our suburb has been identified as the most disadvantaged area of Sydney. It is also the most culturally diverse and has the highest population density of indigenous people in the country. Unemployment, family violence, crime, homelessness and drug use are out of control in this, Sydney’s poorest suburb. Many children are disengaged from schooling and wander the streets, especially those of indigenous background, or refugee children from Africa or the Middle East.

When the  LaValla200> project begins in Mount Druitt, we will be targeting young people who are not at school. We will establish a new pathway for disengaged youth to re-connect with education, other forms of training or employment. In partnership with Local Catholic Education Authorities we aim to begin a centre in Mount Druitt, Marist Learning Zone, where each young person will be given fresh educational opportunities, and  the hope of a more promising future.

Once established, the new community will comprise Argelia Hernández Mendoza and Rodrigo Gris Castro, a young married couple from Mexico Occidental Province and Lawrie McCane, a Brother from the Province of Australia. Negotiations are continuing for others to join the community as well.