Angela Macri with some of the children from Angela Women’s School in Bangladesh. The school is named after Macri whose volunteer work has helped the school flourish. Photo courtesy of Angela Macri

Toronto Catholic board alumni makes a difference in Bangladeshi girls’ lives

By 
  • December 20, 2011

TORONTO - During a trip to Bangladesh, Angela Grace Macri watched with her daughter, Mary Anne, as Bangladeshi mothers taught children the lessons they learned at the Amarok Society’s “Angela Women’s School.”

It’s a school named after Macri, the 2011 Toronto Catholic District School Board Alumni Award winner.

Macri says helping to educate girls through her volunteer work with the non-profit Amarok Society borrows lessons learned about her Catholic faith from her parents and her teachers at Toronto’s Loretto Abbey High School.

“The core values of my faith are to give back and to treat everyone with love and equality,” said Macri, who is the president of Haulover Investments Ltd.

Amarok Society was founded by Gem and Tanyss Munro, a former senior adviser for federal Ministers of Indian and Northern Affairs. The name Amarok means “wolf” in the Inuktitut language which reflects its early work with the aboriginal community.

In 2006, Amarok started projects in Bangladesh where the Amarok Society runs 12 schools in some of the poorest slums. Macri, 55, said having worked as a teacher for two years, she knows how important education is “to break the cycle of poverty.”

At Loretto Abbey, Macri learned to “recognize that there is definitely something greater than ourselves, that would be God, and that above all, we should be grateful.” She also learned firsthand to “love your neighbour” through the school’s volunteer visits to the Good Shepherd Refuge.

“The general focus of service to others in the name of God was very inspiring and has stuck with me,” she said.

The TCDSB is looking for the next Angela Macri. Nominations are being sought for its annual Alumni Award. Deadline for nominations is Jan. 20, 2012. (For more information, see www.tcdsb.org.)

The TCDSB Alumni Award and Award of Merit recognize alumni who have distinguished themselves in their careers or accomplishments and the many contributions of friends in the Catholic community have made to Catholic education and the board.

“These individuals are witnesses to the Gospel values of our Catholic faith that were instilled in them by their families, their communities and the Church,” according to the board.

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