Fondazzjoni U, whcih has organised a number of TV marathons in support of missionary works in developing countries, will be holding a 42-hour marathon on June 3, 4 and 5.

Last January, €253,610 were collected. From this sum, €70,000 went to the Sisters of the Heart of Jesus to feed, dress and educate more than 300 abandoned children living in orphanages in India, the Philippines and Kenya.

Fr Ray Portelli, a doctor and priest from Nadur, was given €45,000 to run his clinic for the poor people of Iquitos in Peru. From the remaining funds of the January marathon, Fondazzjoni U continued to invest in the Life Saver Jerry Cans, which are to be distributed in Kenya, Ghana, Chad, Cameroun and Central Africa, in villages with no access to clean water.

The June marathon will be primarily supporting groups, movements and organisations who will follow missionary experiences this summer. Last February, the foundation published a call for applications for missionary groups who wished to participate. Five groups answered this call.

The groups will undertake five projects in Tanzania, Kenya and India: Fr Ġorġ Grima’s project to build a secondary school for children with disability in Kenya; a project by Fr Karmenu Zammit, leader of Karibu Malta, who will be going to Mbani, a primitive village in Kenya, where 300 children receive their education in huts made of sticks without water, electricity and benches; a project by Keralaid, a missionary group who will be supporting the Salesians of Don Bosco to set up a shelter for more than 50 boys who do not have showers and bathrooms; a project by the Missionary Group for Tanzania, led by Joan Degabriele and Furtu Caruana, who will be constructing a hostel for girls aged 12 to 15 and a borehole for the locality of Makiungu; and a project for the construction of a home for poor children in the village of Tamir Nadu in South India.

Those wishing to donate can call 5160 2042 (€10), 5170 2085 (€15) or 5180 2061 (€25), send an SMS to 5061 7361 (€2.33) or 5061 8198 (€4.66) or online at www.maratonamissjoni.donate.com.mt.

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