Sister’s Blog Posts

Renewing My Faith at Lourdes

Posted on April 24, 2015

Lourdes200x200St. Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes has always been the patron saint of Maryknoll Sister Bernadette Cordis Duggan, so when the opportunity to spend her season of renewal, in part at least, on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, Sister Bernadette was thrilled.

The gift of a family member, Sister Bernadette’s journey was well-timed.  Not only had the poor dear become a bit injured just months before the opportunity to travel to Lourdes arose, but 2014 would be the 60th anniversary of the National Lourdes Pilgrimage Tour, organized annually by the Knights of Columbus.

The following is Sister Bernadette’s own brief account of her Lourdes journey, which also included a large group of handicapped children from the Archdiocese of New York.

We checked into our assigned hotel, St. Sauveur, and went to lunch in the hotel dining room where we began to know each other over a huge ham steak and French fries, not counting the salad and delicious French pastry.

I sat across from Joseph, blind from birth, in his 50s and not a happy fellow. Bernard, large and placid, and his traveling companion, patiently answered Joseph’s rapid fire questions, told him what was on his plate, and listened to his complaints.

Jim, an emergency medical technician from New Jersey, offered to take me — in the wheelchair that was waiting for me in the lobby — for a ride around the Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes, an area of ground more commonly called “The Domain” in which the Basilicas and chapels where we would go for daily Mass were located. I, of course, agreed.

The atmosphere in the Domain struck me forcefully. There were thousands of us convened there, gathered together in groups, following banners from all over Europe and the United States, some in national dress but all of us faith-filled pilgrims. There were no tourists snapping pictures and talking loudly, but quiet talk and processions forming, and liturgies starting with the priests who had come with the groups.

The weather caused many changes of venue, as we had only two clear days, and rain on the other days, either morning or afternoon or all day. One volunteer noticed that I did not have a raincoat, though I had an umbrella, so he bought me a plastic raincoat and hood, and would not let me pay for it.

There were 13 lovely young student-nurses from Misericordia College in Detroit giving volunteer service for a semester. Two were assigned to meet me every morning and push me to Mass in the Domain every day and to the Rosary Procession in the afternoon, and the other special events each day, the time of anointing in Pius X underground church, the Benediction procession and blessing at every grouping of seats and wheelchair groups, the renewal of marriage vows of the married couples present, and more.

Please know that all my Maryknoll family and associates and friends were in my prayers at each Mass for your intentions.

With gratitude and prayers,

 — Sister Bernadette Cordis Duggan, MM

 

Pittsburgh Shaped My Mission Vision

Posted on April 24, 2015

Sister Janice McLaughlin, MMI have worked on the African continent for most of my adult life – almost 40 years – and have visited at least a dozen countries on all five continents in the past six years as President of the Maryknoll Sisters. Although I have this vast international experience – Pittsburgh will always be my home. It has shaped me and formed my vision of a world where no one is hungry, homeless or jobless and where all have enough.

Near the corner of Penn Avenue and Atlantic was St. Lawrence O’Toole church and school, which I attended for 12 years. Pittsburgh has undergone a radical transformation from the smoky steel capital of my childhood to the cultural, medical and educational center that it has become today but its ethnic diversity and working class pride have endured. The values instilled in me then continue to guide and excite me many years later.

McLaughlin_Zimbabwe_0My parents, Paul McLaughlin and Mary Louise Schaub, taught me and my sister Mary Ellen to treat all people as equals – from a street cleaner to the President. This has served me well as I have worked in refugee camps, poor townships and in the office of the President of Zimbabwe. As you heard, I also spent some time in prison in Rhodesia, where I made friends with my guards as well as with the other prisoners.

This was a lesson I learned early in life – to respect all people and treat them the same. It was no wonder that I became involved in the civil rights movement here at home and went on to support liberation from colonial rule in Southern Africa.

 

The Dominican Sisters from Columbus, Ohio, now Dominican Sisters of Peace, who taught me for 13 years, instilled in me a strong sense of justice and concern for the weak and vulnerable in society. In high school, we helped out several afternoons a week at the home for the elderly run by the Little Sisters of the Poor that was directly across from our school. I learned then that poverty and inequality were right in my own backyard.

The Thomas Merton Center (that nominated me for this Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania award) was also right in my own backyard (on Penn Avenue). The staff connected with me when I was deported from Rhodesia in 1977 and we have remained kindred spirits ever since – together with the Association of Pittsburgh Priests. They are the missionaries here at home, bringing the message of peace, justice and equality for all to the people of Pittsburgh, while I carry the message to the African continent as a Maryknoll Sister.

Sometimes this message can be unsettling and make people uncomfortable. When I supported majority rule in Southern Africa, it made the government of Ian Smith so uncomfortable that they deported me – back to Pittsburgh.

When I was home again, I lobbied against steel companies in Pittsburgh that were violating international sanctions against Rhodesia by doing business there. I began to get hate mail and threatening phone messages. One day my mother looked at me and said, “You better go back to Africa. When you speak out against injustice there, you are a hero. When you speak out against injustice here, you are just a troublemaker!” A mother’s wisdom spoke deep truth.

Here in the United States, we see so many frightening and depressing images of Africa. The media captures stories and photos of the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa, the kidnapping of school girls in northern Nigeria, and the hijacking of freighters by pirates off the coast of Somalia. These tragedies make headlines but are only a small sliver of the reality.

There is another face of Africa that we rarely see – a dynamic continent of creative and resilient people who are full of faith in God and hope in the future. They are empowered by a belief in ‘ubuntu,’ a philosophy of life that holds that all people are connected with one another and that your destiny is related to mine. Relationships and a sense of family are at the heart of their joy and their ability to overcome problems.

McLaughlin2_ZimbabweI lived through many changes on the African continent – from the oppression of colonialism, through liberation wars that have left behind a legacy of violence, to the heady days of independence when it seemed that anything was possible. Today the continent struggles to find a new identity that honors the past while embracing a better future for all.

The Shona people of Zimbabwe have many names for God. My favorite is Chipindikure – The One Who Turns Things Upside Down.  It sums up my experience. This transformation, and sometimes uncomfortable uprooting from the familiar, has been the essence of my life. I think I have been able to embrace many changes because I am rooted in the love of family, friends and my Maryknoll community. Maryknoll opened the doors of the world to me – but no matter how far I have wandered, I knew I could always come home to Pittsburgh and find a loving welcome.

I accept this award on behalf of all the wonderful people who have loved me, formed me and encouraged me – in Pittsburgh, Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and around the world. Thank you.

 

Caring for Our Trailblazers

Posted on April 24, 2015

Sister Anne Marie Emdin, MMIn the gospel of St. John (21:18), Jesus says to Peter, “When you were young, you were able to do what you liked and go where you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will direct you and take you where you don’t want to go.”

While I was at Maryknoll, NY, getting checked out for health reasons (aside from my problem of  being “fat,” which I have known for 70+ years), I took the opportunity to visit the Maryknoll Sisters who are now living on our “Archcare” section of the main part of our mission center. These are Sisters, who in my younger days as a Maryknoll Sister, were the “movers and changers” of community and mission life.

They opened missions in different lands, founded schools, hospitals, homes for unwanted girls (and sometimes boys), and were “trailblazers” that we dreamt would be our future.

Today, age and failing health have them holding out their hands while others lead them in some of the very basic necessities of daily living.  I did not find them downcast however but saw in them a deeper sense of mission as they reached out to the caretakers and to each other in order to make their situation as much of a mission to others today as they did in their very active past history.  Their days are punctuated by times of prayer, physical and mental activities, and sharing life with one another and their caretakers. That which made them then and now keeps them true missionaries! Seeing and, in a small way, sharing with them their present lifestyles was what really made my two-month stay a Maryknoll a very full and enjoyable time.

I did, however, also have a grand week with my sister who took me with her to a three-day camping experience with the children from the Thea Bowman Day Care Center where she volunteers. I was asked to “help” with the various arts and crafts for groups from kindergarten to high school, and although I did enjoy it immensely, I know the elderly are my forte. Children you teach, the elderly you just enjoy!

 

What Humankind Is Meant To Be

Posted on April 15, 2015

ClimateMarch200x200We Maryknoll Sisters were holding our General Assembly in New Jersey. The beautiful closing ceremony was on Saturday evening, just in time for us to make it. The Peoples’ Climate March was to start at 11 a.m. Sunday (September 21) and some events were even scheduled to happen around 9:00.

The Creator wanted us to be there.  Our group-of-nine were able to get an early start by boarding a nearby New Jersey Transit train.  When we entered the car, we were greeted with a big cheer by the whole car…all going to join “our march on behalf of Earth” and all her creatures…including us!

So, the March had started, right there on the train. That Group took us in, shared their signs and information. One of their members was from Nigeria and she shared with us the disaster that the oil companies are generating there.  We practiced chants with them, offering one of our own from Japan, in English, of course:  “Turn down the lights – turn off the heat – when you go out, use your feet!”

We kept connecting along the way until we reached the subway, where the promised extra “C” trains never came!  You can imagine the hoards as we tried to board the one that finally did come.  Just like Tokyo!  So when the group said “we can’t get in,” three of us from Japan replied: ‘Oh yes, we can!” and I became an official pusher.  We all made it on and off at the right place while other groups in the car continued on to their designated areas.  It was a good start and the March continued!

When we arrived at Columbus Circle, one of my Dominican friends pointed out “our” area.  We had decided to join the section where all religions assembled together… We found them easily… I wish you could have seen it…hundreds of us…all diverse religious beliefs…all there for the same reason… all together in solidarity on behalf of Earth, the great gift given to humankind.  No matter Who we named as Creator…no matter how we differed in theology, we were all one, even as representatives of each religion spoke or prayed, this diverse mass of folks from all over prayed together, laughed together, sang together and cried together.  This is what religions are meant to be…the energy that draws us all together in our beautiful diversity to become one humanity!  This is what humankind is meant to be!  Climate change is the reason, but the threat to our Earth is the call.

We started to March a little after 1:30 p.m.  That meant we had been standing together for around four hours, so we certainly were ready to go when asked:  Are you ready?   In front of us was an Ark with folks from our religions on board along with some animals (stuffed). That was a statement of survival in itself.  Just as we started off, a young woman came running up and asked if we were Maryknoll Sisters!  She just returned from Alaska, where she had given two years of her life in service as a volunteer; she wanted us to give loving greetings to her Maryknoll Sister Aunt Katie!

The police certainly had it easy since the organizers took over directing the crowd of groups as we marched along.  There was a feeling of urgent peacefulness.  Figure that one out, but it was true; a totally cooperative 310.000 people walking together to say…”we have got to do it now!  Everyone of us, every level of us… from governments to corporations, from industries & banks to just you and I”

If we do not want us all to experience a Katrina or Sandy or Fukushima or places where floods, landslides & tornados have become a way of life, we need to change our way of life… learning how to live without all the frills and privileges we have become so used to!  Guess that means back to the basics!  Our March was scheduled to give this message…all of it…to the United Nations… we are ready!

The climate march showed us how, by doing it together, we can turn it around….one humanity on this, our one and only Earth.  Its scientific name is morphogenic energy and we experienced it.

— Sister Jean Fallon, MM

I Have Good News to Share

Posted on April 15, 2015

Fallon200x200_ClimateTo each one…

We wish to share the good news with each of you! At the People’s Climate March in New York City on Sunday (September 21, 2014), ten of our Maryknoll Sisters joined the marchers in a “quantum entanglement” of the peace-filled energy of the whole!

A coalition of more than 1,000 organizations, the People’s Climate March was a mass demonstration for climate action which they hope will inspire “action, not words” at the Climate Change Summit, taking place two days later at the United Nations. President Obama and other world leaders will attend the Summit, hosted by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It is seen as a critical moment to build momentum for a new international climate treaty that countries hope to finalize in Paris next December. Click to see more Maryknoll missioners at the march.

We hope you are entangled with us so that this threat to Earth will change to a new relationship with Earth and with each other…

That is what happened Sunday!

— Sister Jean Fallon, MM

Responding to a Felt Need in Korea

Posted on April 15, 2015

Korea10202014I became acutely aware of the need for more anesthesia providers in Korea as I was working at Maryknoll Hospital in Busan (previously Pusan). In many small hospitals, the medical doctor first gave the anesthetic, then operated, with no one watching the patient. This led to many unnecessary deaths which affected me deeply. Soon a kernel of an idea was beginning to take form–why not extend myself by teaching others to do anesthesia.

This is what I did. In 1970, with the support of our hospital administrator, the first class of nurses began. These men and women are still active in anesthesia, and have done exemplary work in the field over the years. I am so proud of them. As the students completed their study, they easily found placements in local hospitals which recognized their excellence in administering safe “watchful care” anesthesia.

By 1974, as we grew, the need became apparent to form an association of nurse anesthetists for updating, ongoing study, sharing of experiences and fellowship with each other. This was begun and the Korean Association of Nurse Anesthetists (KANA) was born. Our first meeting had 27 members. This past year, the group numbered over 600 members.

The next step was to have the program recognized as a certified program with the National Ministry in Korea. By the late 1970s, the program received approval as a certified program for nurse anesthetists, recognized by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. This was a moment of sheer joy for us all. I realized, in implementing the above and know now for sure, that it could not have accomplished this without the support, dedication and enthusiasm of the courageous men and women whom I had taught over the years.

While attending international anesthesia meetings, I learned from others that Korea was not unique in its professional challenges. Many other countries are confronted with similar difficulties and challenges.  By supporting each other over country boundaries, we can succeed as one across the world.  So remembering this, I look forward with much hope to the future of Nurse Anesthesia (NA), not only in Korea but around the world and that it be recognized for the remarkable service it is giving to all people.

As I reflect on those early years of our growth, what was so quickly noticeable was: initiating the NA program was a response to a real, felt need in Korean society in the field of anesthesia. The development of the KANA responded to a need for stability and organization: united together, we could effectively face the obstacles in our professional development and delivery of anesthesia. The KANA succeeded because of its devoted and committed members. In the formative years we received much support and assistance from members of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), namely John Garde, Ron Caulk and Sandra Maree Ouellette, who came to Korea as  guest speakers several times at our annual meetings. We coordinated our meetings with those of the AANA and the IFNA, of which Korea is one of the Charter members.

I am pleased, honored and humbled to accept this prestigious award, the Hermi Lohnert Award–and very special thanks to the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists (IFNA) board for selecting me, to the AANA for arranging this ceremony (held in Orlando, FL, on September 13, 2014), and to those who nominated me and supported my nomination. Also an enormous salute to Marianne Reisen of Switzerland, the other nominee for this year’s award. And thank you to my friends and colleagues in the field who have inspired me nationally and internationally, to ensure the relevance of nurse anesthesia in this changing world.

Lastly, I feel this award could rightly be given to the nurse anesthetists of Korea, for without them, nothing would have been developed over the years. I had the kernel of the idea, they were the leaven which made it increase and expand beyond our dreams or expectations!  Over the years, I  watched the development of the nurse anesthetists in Korea, and the advancements they have made personally and professionally in so many ways.  The people of Korea have been beneficiaries of excellent anesthesia care, and I realize how fortunate I am to leave this legacy to the nurse anesthetists of Korea, confident that they will continue to initiate timely advances in promoting the continued success of the profession on the Korean peninsula.

In closing, our Maryknoll Sisters foundress, Mary Josephine Rogers, left us a great legacy, and much wisdom. I quote her here, for it also applies to the work in Korea:

    “There is nothing more astonishing than life, just as it is,
Nothing more miraculous than growth and change and development,
Just as revealed to us.
And as happens so often when we stop to regard God’s work,
There is nothing to do but wonder and thank God,
Realizing how little we planned,
And yet how much has been done.”

                                                                              –Mother Mary Josephine Rogers, MM (1936)

I am extremely grateful for having been in anesthesia and having been assigned to Korea, where my life blossomed thanks to God’s grace and the many wonderful, faithful, creative and talented people with whom I met over the years. Thank you.
— Sister Margaret Kollmer MM

May We Give Birth to This Dream

Posted on April 15, 2015

Janice_McLaughlinCropped“Our missionary vocation is essentially a work of great expectations and lively hope.” These words of our founder Mother Mary Joseph, spoken in 1949, were sent to us by the Eden community for this General Assembly. They have a special relevance, I believe, to the work that we will be doing during these two weeks as we explore the meaning of our missionary vocation for today’s world. What are our great expectations? What is our hope?

As we gather together, 146 delegates and 6 official participants, who come from 18 countries, including the United States and work in 24 countries (including the USA), we reflect this global world in which we are living.

We meet at a time of many crises in this global village. Unless we are walking through life with our eyes closed, the signs of death and destruction are everywhere: melting ice caps, extreme weather; struggles over resources; migration of peoples from violence and climate change on a scale never seen before and the resulting trafficking and enslavement of people; water shortages and hunger on every continent; wars in Syria, Ukraine, Iraq, between Palestinians and Israelis; radical jihadist movements in northern Nigeria, Somalia, Syria and Iraq. Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The list is long and could go on.

In the midst of so many problems, so much violence and destruction – what is our hope? What are our expectations?  What is our role? We are rooted in the life and mission of Jesus; in the Gospel vision of a new heaven and a new earth; of a world turned upside down in the prophetic words of Mary’s Magnificat.  We ourselves have been stretched, transformed, turned upside down by our relationships with the poor and marginalized people with whom we live and work. Yes, we have acquired the smell of the sheep!

We are also rooted in a vision that is still unfolding – an evolutionary consciousness informed by recent scientific discoveries. This vision liberates us from a dualistic mentality and opens us to the lure of the cosmic Christ; a God of the future who invites us to be co-creators of a new world order.

We face many challenges, both within and without, some of which have been named in the reports of the CLT and the Treasurer. We have the opportunity to make decisions at this Assembly that will enable us to reshape or re-position ourselves for the future.

We will hear more about what this may entail from Ilia Delio, our keynote speaker, and from our Advisory Board. There will be briefings from the pre-gathering of newer members and from the vocation and integration circles as well as others that you may wish to convene.

The 23 proposals that have been submitted will form the basis for our discussion and may lead us to new insights and fresh discoveries. We will begin with some visioning about the world we wish to co-create together with partners who share our vision. “Behold I am doing something new. Can you not see it,” we are asked in Isaiah 43. Isaiah goes on to say: “I am opening up a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

May our deliberations open our eyes to the new that has been emerging during our futuring workshops, leading to IAC (our 2011 Inter-Assembly Conference), and then our Centennial year, the induction of MMJ into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and during these months of preparation for our Assembly.  Are not these experiences the opening in the wilderness? Have we not been drinking from the rivers of an awakening consciousness in the desert of today’s compelling questions?

On September 15, we will recall Mollie’s resolve – her commitment to mission in 1910, when she did not yet know how this would unfold and where it would lead her. This gathering gives us the opportunity to recommitment ourselves to our mission charism, without knowing fully what it will mean in the future and where it will lead us. Mollie’s times are not our times. Can we discern together what her commitment means for us today and into the next millenium?

I am holding a Makonde carving from Tanzania, a tree of life representing the inter-relationships among the human family; as well as our unity with our earth family, one with all that is – ostriches, dung beetles, baobab trees, the stars, the planets, and all things. It also represents our union with one another, our sisters in Maryknoll as well as with our partners in mission, who are represented by the official participants at this Assembly. May it remind us of the world that God created and continues to create together with us. May it symbolize our common desire to be sisters and brothers to one another, co-creating the future that will respect all life. In the words of the Earth Charter: “Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life….”

Let us be prepared to embrace the dawn, however dark the night. In the words of Maya Angelou, renowned author and poet laureate who died earlier this year:

I, the Rock, I, the River, I, the Tree…

Lift up your faces,

You have a piercing need for this bright morning dawning for you.

History, despite its wrenching pain,

Cannot be unlived, but if faced

With courage, need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes

Upon this day breaking for you.

Give birth again

To the dream.

May we give birth to the dream at this Assembly, one in mind and spirit, energized by Mollie’s vision, ready to embrace the dawn.

With these few words, I declare this 17th General Assembly officially opened.

— Sister Janice McLaughlin, MM

 

This Is Holy Ground

Posted on April 15, 2015

MtWilsonEver since we were young children, we’ve been looking up at the night sky, perhaps saying silently or calling out, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or “the stars at night are big and bright…”  That attraction, that wonder, that allurement led us to journey recently to Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California.

How did the object of our trip, Mount Wilson Observatory, come into existence?  It was the dream of George Ellery Hale, who began the project in 1904.  Earlier in the day we had been driving up the winding, curving, paved road.  We marveled at what the early construction crews had to accomplish.  They carved out and built a dirt road, narrow and winding upward with predominately mule-driven wagons as transport for building materials, tools, scientific equipment, food supplies, and the human labor required.  It was a daunting task!  These wagons needed to be guided by sure-footed and courageous men as the mule train progressed up this precarious slope, with long dangerous drops over the sides to the canyons below.

Another feature of this area is that there is also an inversion layer (dense marine fog) that traps the smog over Los Angeles.  Therefore Mount Wilson has naturally steadier air, which makes it an ideal place for astronomical research.  We ourselves drove up and through the marine layer until we reached the point where the sun was shining brightly and the sky was a clear vivid blue!  The scenery immediately around us had also changed from the Yucca cactus and chaparral style to pine trees of several varieties which flourished on the upper slopes.

HolyGround2The “We” of this journey were six Maryknoll Sisters and Sister Maureen’s nephew, Tim Gunning.  We came already somewhat formed in global hearts and eyes through our mission lives and experiences: Pat Conroy and Chris Ortis in Korea and Nepal; Joan Crevcoure in Hawaii and the Marshall Islands; Maureen Gunning in the Los Angeles Japanese Mission and Taiwan; Mary Lou Higa in Sri Lanka and Hong Kong; Jo Lucker in Africa and El Salvador; Tim Gunning in Illinois and California.  However, now, standing on the top of Mount Wilson, looking over our world from the very spot where astronomer Edwin Hubble had made the astounding discovery in the 1920’s that our Universe was not static but was expanding, that our Earth-home in the Milky Way was only one of many galaxies, left us in “awe-filled wonder.” (At right is a photo we took of the view from Mount Wilson.)

Sometime later, Einstein, who had developed the Law of Relativity, accepted the invitation to come to the Mount Wilson Observatory and see, with his own eyes, how the mathematical calculations he had laboriously worked on (and later hedged) were indeed true!  The 100-inch telescope, the world’s largest from 1917 to 1949, was subsequently named the Hubble Telescope in honor of Edwin Hubble.

It was both humbling and glorious to realize that right here, in this place, was the scientific foundation of a new Cosmology and so a new Universe Story.  As this awareness resonated deeply within us, we felt that this was holy ground and that we were here, now, to live and love in this new developing consciousness, this intimate relationship with all of Creation centered in our God Who Is Love.

In the words of Teilhard de Chardin, “We are the universe become conscious of itself.”

— Sister Josephine Lucker, MM

Sister Marge Lived Life Fully

Posted on April 15, 2015

Kulage_PhilippinesSeveral weeks ago, Sister Marge Kulage, M.M., died. I was with Sister Marge.  She was 107 years old.

Shortly before her gentle departure from this world, I said the words of our vow form to help her renew her promise of faithfulness to God, hoping she could still hear. With a few other Sisters, we sang the Salve Regina. Later a larger number of Sisters came to her bedside when they heard of her death. I’m filled with the wonder of life…the Mystery of Life.

With each person’s opportunity to live, we choose how we want to live.  Marge chose to give herself wholeheartedly to continuing the mission of Jesus as a Maryknoll Sister.

I knew her best from her work in the Philippines, where I, too, had the privilege of working. Her enthusiasm and joy of living was catching.  We know that in death, “life is changed, not taken away,” so we rejoice with Sister Marge on the gift of eternal life.

May all of us grow in our appreciation of the gift of life, that will lead us into eternal life.

—  Sister Virgeen Healey, MM

This Needs Our Attention Now

Posted on April 15, 2015

Mullady_RallyI went to a rally in Washington, D.C., on July 25 for the protection of Central American children entering the United States illegally. The rally was held in back of the White House at the same time President Obama was having a meeting with the presidents from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. I felt an affinity for the children since I was in El Salvador and Guatemala from 1997-2006 and also had just finished volunteering in a summer program for children with special needs in Baltimore.

The rally speakers claimed that many of the unaccompanied children were fleeing violent situations and called for better treatment as they crossed the border into the U.S. They also talked about the proposals from the White House and Congress that failed to address the underlying factors forcing children to flee their homes.

At the rally, I recalled the many times I visited children in their homes and was offered a glass of water when I entered. Their homes were of cement block or aluminum siding and had one or two rooms. In Guatemala, I met children in the nearby churches and we did schoolwork, colored pictures, and played with puzzles. One time, we went to a Guatemala City movie theater. Besides the movie, another thrill was the flushing toilets.

Mullady_El-SalvadorIn El Salvador, I volunteered in a library in a Fe y Alegria School. The school was well-directed, and besides keeping track of books, I tutored children in math and English.

Sonia Nazario, the author of Enrique’s Journey, wrote in a recent New York Timesarticle that children from Honduras have been killed and are threatened daily by gangs. Also, Oscar Arias, a former president of Costa Rica who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987, claimed in a Wall Street Journal editorial that the recent surge of young Central American immigrants is both an historical and political issue that needs special attention immediately.

— Sister Mary Mullady, MM