Category Archives: Networking

Français, Good Works, Networking

L’équipe de communications des SNDdeN construit des réseaux

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English

UN-a
L’équipe des communications : sœurs Evelyn McKenna, Angela Lewis, Teresa Anyabuike et Anne Stevenson, SNDdeN, se réunissent à Ipswich, MA, pour une mise en réseau sur les projets du site web.

Par l’équipe de communications de la congrégation

Notre équipe de communications de la congrégation se met en réseau avec les sœurs de Notre-Dame de Namur (SNDdeN) au niveau international sur de nombreux projets tout au long de l’année. En utilisant notre système intranet SNDdeN (FirstClass), nous atteignons un large public par de multiples communications. Nous travaillons avec notre équipe de leadership de la congrégation à Rome, en Italie, et les équipes de leadership dans 13 provinces et 17 pays. Nous collaborons avec des collaborateurs et collaboratrices dans des centres à Namur, en Belgique, et à Ipswich, Massachusetts, aux États-Unis. Nous permettons des communications avec un solide réseau de parties prenantes de notre mission: sœurs, Associé.e.s NDdeN, Volontaires de la mission (NDMVA), partenaires et donateurs-donatrices.

En tant que communauté basée sur la foi, nous publions des récits de nos ministères dans l’éducation, les soins de santé, le développement communautaire, le travail pastoral et social sur les cinq continents.

Nous encourageons notre Communauté mondiale Notre-Dame de Namur en mission à raconter ses récits de ministère que nous publions dans des publications internes et externes. Nous communiquons avec un public externe par nos sites web, blogs, médias sociaux, lettres de nouvelles et ‘Bonnes Œuvres’ pour faire connaître la bonté de Dieu dans les “bonnes œuvres” de tous ceux qui participent à notre congrégation internationale et en elle.

Mise en réseau mondiale

SNDdeN-Communications-Network-for-Mission

Récemment, notre équipe de communications a reçu une invitation à soumettre une demande à la Campagne d’action des Nations unies pour les Objectifs de développement durable (ODD). Cette considération confirmait pour notre équipe la réalité que notre communauté de SNDdeN atteint beaucoup de ces objectifs dans les ministères décrits dans nos communications de la congrégation. Notre réseau mondial promeut les ODD par la technologie, des réunions, manifestations et publications diffusées au niveau international. Avec l’approbation de l’équipe de leadership de la congrégation (CLT), notre équipe, en collaboration avec soeurs Amarachi Grace Ezeonu, représentante de l’ONG des SNDdeN à l’ONU et Kristin Hokanson, SNDdeN, directrice de Notre Dame Virtual School (NDVS), a envoyé une candidature à la campagne d’action de l’ONU fin janvier 2019. Nous avons postulé pour un prix pour les Sœurs de Notre Dame de Namur, qui mettent en œuvre les ODD au niveau international. En tant que congrégation, nos sœurs, avec les associés, la NDMVA et tous les participants dans notre mission ont un impact en agissant sur plusieurs de ces objectifs.

Notre candidature met en évidence certains ministères où notre congrégation offre un service direct à des personnes vivant en pauvreté et remplit également des objectifs spécifiques de développement durable. Avec un réseau international, SNDdeN autonomise les personnes à tous les niveaux dans les domaines de l’éducation, des soins de santé et du développement communautaire, du travail pastoral et social. Nous croyons que nos communications internationales éduquent à l’action, en particulier par la promotion du projet photovoltaïque africain, du projet eau propre et des ministères qui atteignent les personnes vulnérables vivant en pauvreté.

De nombreuses actions positives en cours et déjà accomplies par nos sœurs en tant que femmes évangéliques ont un impact sur ces objectifs et les réalisent. Notre équipe a été active dans une initiative mondiale de mise en réseau dans toutes nos communications. Nous nous sommes focalisées d’abord sur les objectifs de développement du millénaire de l’ONU, en collaboration avec notre représentante de l’ONG SNDdeN aux Nations Unies. En 2015, après que les leaders mondiaux ont approuvé les ODD lors du sommet des Nations unies de septembre, nous avons décidé de communiquer avec plusieurs histoires sur les actions en vue des ODD. Maintenant nous promouvons l’information sur les sites web *, trois blogs WordPress: Bonnes œuvres, Justice et Paix, SNDdeN aux Nations unies, et sur les médias sociaux. Nous incluons des histoires d’action dans des documents imprimés, tels que ce magazine international. En travaillant avec notre Bureau de soutien à la mission, nous incluons de nombreux articles dans « Bonnes œuvres » et sur nos sites web au sujet de notre projet photovoltaïque en Afrique, qui montre l’action pour la durabilité dans deux pays en développement des pays. Le projet de carême, sur le site de notre congrégation, présente des récits de nos sœurs, qui mettent en œuvre des actions sur des ODD spécifiques dans leurs ministères.

Soeurs Kristin Hokanson, SNDdeN et Amarachi Grace Ezeonu, SNDdeN

En 2016, nous avons encouragé davantage de projets éducatifs à sensibiliser aux objectifs de développement durable sur notre site web sur l’éducation. * Sr Kristin Hokanson apporte un soutien majeur en postant un calendrier et des thèmes mensuels des ODD pour nos écoles, hautes écoles, universités et centres dans 17 pays. Une brochure intitulée Sœurs de Notre-Dame aux Nations unies, écrite par Sr. Amarachi Grace Ezeonu et imprimée en anglais, français, japonais, flamand, portugais et espagnol est disponible pour nos institutions et pour les visiteurs à l’ONU.

La mission SNDdeN est VIVANTE dans de nombreux pays de notre monde qui souffrent dans une crise mondiale de «personnes appauvries dans un monde marqué par des divisions et inégalités croissantes.” (Appels: Chapitre général 2014, p. 5). Les analyses témoignent de plusieurs nombres de personnes servies dans les ministères des SNDdeN. Notre mission implique plus de 1100 sœurs, des centaines d’associés et de volontaires de la mission, d’innombrables personnes dans les paroisses et toutes nos institutions. Nous continuons à raconter nos histoires à travers plusieurs médias. Nous apportons la «bonne nouvelle» à nos collaborateurs qui travaillent également dans des actions de transformation pour un changement systémique.

Nous choisissons de nous tenir aux côtés des personnes appauvries dans un monde marqué par des divisions et inégalités croissantes.

* Sites Web: http://www.sndden.org et www.notredameonline

Good Works, Networking

SNDdeN Communications Team Builds Networks

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Français

UN-aCommunications Team, Sisters Evelyn McKenna, Angele Lewis, Teresa Anyabuike, and Anne Stevenson, SNDdeN meet at Ipswich, MA for networking on Website Projects.

By Congregational Communications Team

Our Congregational Communications Team networks with Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SNDdeN) internationally on many projects throughout the year. Using our SNDdeN Intranet System (FirstClass), we reach a wide audience by multiple communications. We work with our Congregational Leadership Team in Rome, Italy and Leadership Teams in 13 Provinces in 17 countries. We collaborate with co-workers in centers in Namur, Belgium and Ipswich, MA, USA. We enable communications with a strong network of stakeholders in our Mission: Sisters, NDdeN Associates, Mission Volunteers (NDMVA), partners and donors.

As a faith-based community, we publish stories of our ministries in education, health care, community development, pastoral and social work on five continents. We encourage our world-wide Notre Dame de Namur Community in Mission to tell their ministry stories which we publicize in internal and external publications. We communicate with an external audience with our Websites, Blogs, Social Media, newsletters and Good Works, to make known the goodness of God in the “good works” of all participating with and in our international Congregation.

Global Networking
SNDdeN-Communications-Network-for-Mission

Recently, our Communications Team received an invitation to submit an application to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Action Campaign. This consideration confirmed for our Team the reality that our SNDdeN community is accomplishing many of these goals in ministries described in our congregational communications. Our global network through technology, meetings, events, and publications disseminated internationally promotes the SDGs. With the approval of the Congregational Leadership Team (CLT), our Team, collaborating with Sisters Amarachi Grace Ezeonu, SNDdeN NGO Representative at the UN and Kristin Hokanson, SNDdeN Director of Notre Dame Virtual School (NDVS), sent an application to the UN Action Campaign in late January 2019. We applied for an award for the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who implement the SDGs internationally. As a Congregation, our Sisters, with Associates, NDMVA, and all participants in our Mission are making an impact by taking action on many of these goals.

Our application highlights some ministries where our Congregation gives direct service to people living in poverty and fulfills also specific SDGs. With an international Network, SNDdeN empower people at all levels in education, health care, community
development, pastoral care and social work. We believe that our international communications educate for action, especially in promoting the African Photovoltaic Project, the Clean Water Project and ministries reaching vulnerable people living in poverty.

Many positive actions in process and already accomplished by our Sisters as Gospel women, impact and fulfill these goals. Our Team has been active in a global initiative of networking in all our communications. We focused initially on the UN Millennial Goals, in collaboration with our UN SNDdeN NGO Representative. In 2015, after world leaders at the September UN Summit approved the SDGs, we decided to communicate with multiple stories on SDG actions. Now, we promote information on Websites,* three WordPress Blogs: Good Works, Justice and Peace, SNDdeN at United Nations, and on Social Media. We include action stories in printed materials, such as this international magazine, Good Works. Working with our Mission Support Office, we include many articles in Good Works and on our Websites about our African Photovoltaic Project which shows action for sustainability in two developing countries. The Lenten Project, on our congregational site features stories of our Sisters, implementing action on specific SDGs in their ministries.

Sisters Kristin Hokanson, SNDdeN and Amarachi Grace Ezeonu, SNDdeN

In 2016, we encouraged more education projects to raise awareness of SDGs on our Education Website.* Sr. Kristin Hokanson, gives major support, by posting a calendar and monthly themes of SDGs for our schools, colleges, universities, and centers in 17 countries. A brochure, entitled Sisters of Notre Dame at the United Nations, written by Sr. Amarachi Grace Ezeonu and printed in English, French, Japanese, Flemish, Portuguese
and Spanish is available for our institutions and for visitors to the UN.

SNDdeN Mission is ALIVE in many countries in our world suffering in a global crisis of “people made poor in a world marked by increasing divisions and inequalities.” (Calls: 2014 General Chapter, p. 5) Analytics testify to multiple numbers of people served in SNDdeN ministries. Our Mission involves over 1100 Sisters, hundreds of Associates and Mission Volunteers, innumerable persons in parishes and all our institutions. We continue to tell our stories through multiple media. We bring the “good news” to our
collaborators who work also in transformational action for systemic change.

We choose to stand with people made poor in a world marked by increasing divisions and inequalities.

*Websites: http://www.sndden.org and http://www.notredameonline

 

educating for life, Français, Mission Integration, Networking, Networking for Mission

MINISTERES ND : NOTRE HÉRITAGE VIVANT

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English

Par Sr Maria Delaney, SNDdeN, co-directrice du bureau des Etats-Unis pour les ministères parrainés

L’éducation sous toutes ses formes et expressions extérieures sera toujours au cœur de la mission des Sœurs de Notre-Dame de Namur. Renforcer nos connexions et approfondir nos relations dans les ministères qui portent le nom de Notre-Dame sont des priorités vitales pour assurer la longévité de notre héritage et legs – un legs qui a commencé en 1804, quand Ste Julie Billiart et Françoise Blin de Bourdon ont fondé notre congrégation. Ce ” patrimoine “ a continué à prospérer pendant plus de deux cents ans comme une tapisserie internationale avec notre propre motif distinctif. Tout qui a été un(e) élève ou un(e) collègue, ou un membre de famille d’une sœur de Notre-Dame de Namur pendant les 214 dernières années a tissé un fil unique pour le tissu de ce trésor qui proclame la bonté de Dieu.

gw legacy photo 3Les administrateurs des écoles des Etats-Unis et d’autres continents qui participaient à la 3e conférence de mise en réseau pour la mission à Emmanuel College.

La 3e conférence de mise en réseau pour la mission qui s’est tenue à Emmanuel College la semaine du 22 juillet a marqué un moment significatif pour nos collègues en mission. Cet événement vibrant a réuni plus de 300 personnes de 16 à 90 ans, élèves et collègues de nos ministères de SNDdeN. Plus de cent SNDdeN venues de cinq continents ont accentué la profondeur de notre engagement comme partenaires avec nos collègues laïcs pour proclamer les valeurs et les enseignements qui nous animent tous comme porteurs de notre legs. Les exposés fondamentaux et les ateliers ont éveillé leur enthousiasme et leur énergie, approfondi leurs connexions Notre-Dame et nous ont interpellés alors que nous avançons ensemble dans le ministère.

gw legacy photo 6Administrateurs, enseignants et visiteurs internationaux se joignent aux élèves leaders pour une photo à l’entrée d’Emmanuel College.

POINTS FORTS : OUVERTURE ET DISCOURS

Sr Janet Eisner SNDdeN, présidente d’Emmanuel College, a ouvert la conférence de quatre jours par une histoire du collège à la veille de son 100ième anniversaire qui sera célébré en 2019. En tant que la plus ancienne école supérieure catholique pour femmes, Emmanuel est un tribut à la persévérance et la ténacité qui ont continuellement surmonté les préjugés religieux et de genre pour être contre-culturelle et répondre aux besoins.

gw legacy photo 4Soeur Janet Eisner et Père Brian Hehir

Le Père J. Brian Hehir, premier orateur, a donné une profonde analyse de l’identité catholique et de la manière dont nous manifestons cette identité dans la société pluraliste d’aujourd’hui. Il reconnaît que nous sommes sur une crête croissante où le monde pose de nouvelles questions à d’anciennes traditions. Le P. Hehir nous a interpellés à être des “présences pénétrantes”, témoignant de miséricorde, justice et service dans notre monde et préparant des personnes à avancer avec intelligence et compassion en répondant aux questions émergentes de notre époque.

L’adresse du P. Hehir trouvait un complément dans celle de Sr. Mary Johnson SNDdeN, qui fit le discours d’ouverture le second jour de la conférence. Sr. Mary a cadré son adresse autour du thème: La doctrine sociale de l’Eglise n’est plus un secret, avec le concept de “l’effervescence collective du charisme” – le don spécial donné à chaque groupe dans l’Eglise pour contribuer au bien commun.

Sr. Mary a partagé deux exemples du partage de notre charisme de SNDdeN :

  • Les caractéristiques d’une communauté d’apprentissage Notre-Dame, utilisées dans tant de ministères SNDdeN, qui concrétisent notre témoignage des convictions de la doctrine sociale catholique, et
  • L’encyclique Laudato Si du Pape François qui est reflétée dans les appels du chapitre des SND de Namur à prendre soin de “notre maison commune.”

Sister Simone Campbell, SSA, la Nun on the Bus” (la sœur en bus) a continué à interpeller les participants en ouvrant la troisième journée de la conférence par un discours d’ouverture basé sur l’appel à la sainteté publique à une époque chaotique. Sister Simone a exhorté les participants à toucher les cœurs, écouter des récits, sentir la peine les uns des autres et y répondre de manière compatissante.

Trente ateliers ont augmenté l’impact de ces discours d’ouverture avec des exposés sur notre héritage de Notre-Dame de Namur, les caractéristiques d’une communauté d’apprentissage Notre-Dame, la gouvernance, la technologie et les réseaux sociaux, le programme et la pratique des instructeurs, l’éthique des soins de santé, les transitions de la vie, la sensibilité multiculturelle, le racisme et la résolution non-violente de conflits, la citoyenneté mondiale.

Tous les discours d’ouverture et plusieurs autres causeries, ainsi que les Powerpoints des trente ateliers sont disponibles (en anglais) sur www.notredameonline.org

ELÈVES LEADERS

Avant la conférence, septante élèves de dix écoles secondaires Notre-Dame des Etats-Unis se sont rassemblés pour la troisième conférence annuelle de leadership des élèves. Quatre écoles du Massaschusetts, quatre de l’Ohio, une du Maryland et une de Californie étaient représentées. Les élèves ont participé à trois journées d’ateliers sur sainte Julie, le leadership et la doctrine sociale catholique. Ils ont terminé en participant à la cérémonie et à la messe d’ouverture de la Conférence de mise en réseau pour la mission. Leur présence à la messe célébrait la continuation de notre héritage à l’avenir.

Nos ministères parrainés sont des trésors qui étendent la tapisserie Notre-Dame de Namur en partageant et animant la bonté de Dieu avec des personnes du monde entier. En introduisant de nouveaux fils dans le tissu, ils étendent l’héritage vivant des Sœurs de Notre-Dame de Namur. Dans l’encyclique Gaudete et Exsultate, le Pape François exhorte chacun(e) d’entre nous à “voir l’entièreté de sa vie comme une mission.”

Nous sommes véritablement bénies par nos collègues qui sont nos partenaires pour élargir la portée de notre mission jusqu’aux extrémités de la terre.

Source: Good Works, Vol 4 | No 2 | Octobre 2018. (traduction imprimée avec permission)

 

 

 

educating for life, Mission Integration, Networking, Networking for Mission

ND Ministries: Our Living Legacy

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Françias

By Sister Maria Delaney, SNDdeN, Co-Director for US Office of Sponsored Ministries

Education in all forms and outward expressions will always be at the heart of the Mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SNDdeN). Strengthening our connections and deepening our relationships in the ministries that carry our Notre Dame name are vital priorities to ensure the longevity of our
heritage and legacy – a legacy that began in 1804, when St. Julie Billiart and Françoise Blin de Bourdon founded our Congregation.

gw legacy photo 3Educational Administrators from the United States, and from other continents who participated in the Networking for Mission III Conference at Emmanuel College.

This “inheritance” has continued to thrive for over two hundred years as an international tapestry with our own distinctive motif. Everyone who has been a student or colleague, or a relative of a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur in the past 214 years has woven a unique thread to the fabric of this treasure, which proclaims the goodness of God.

The Networking for Mission III conference held at Emmanuel College during the week of July 22, 2018 marked a significant moment for our colleagues in mission. This vibrant event provided the venue for more than 300 people, aged 16 through 90, gathered as students and colleagues from our SNDdeN ministries. More than one hundred SNDdeN from five continents accentuated the depth of our commitment to partner with our lay colleagues to proclaim the values and the teachings that animate all of us as bearers of our legacy. Keynote presentations and workshops sparked their enthusiasm and energy, deepened their Notre Dame connections and challenged us as we move forward together in ministry.

gw legacy photo 6Educational Administrators from the United States, and from other continents who participated in the Networking for Mission III Conference at Emmanuel College.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Opening and Keynotes

Sister Janet Eisner SNDdeN, President of Emmanuel College, opened the four-day conference with a history of the college on the eve of its 100th Anniversary to be celebrated in 2019. As the oldest Catholic women’s college in New England, Emmanuel towers as a tribute to the perseverance and tenacity of the Sisters who continued to overcome religious and gender bias to be counter-cultural and address existing needs.

gw legacy photo 4Sr. Janet Eisner and Fr. Brian Hehir

Father J. Brian Hehir, the initial keynote speaker, gave a profound analysis of Catholic Identity and how we manifest this identity in today’s multi-pluralistic society. He recognizes that we stand on a growing edge where the world presents new questions to ancient traditions. Father Hehir challenged us to be “penetrating presences,” witnessing to mercy, justice and service in our world and preparing people to move forward with intelligence and compassion in addressing the emerging questions of our times.

Father Hehir’s address was complemented by that of Sister Mary Johnson SNDdeN, who gave the keynote address on the second day of the conference. Sister Mary framed the address around the theme of Catholic Social Teaching – No Longer a Secret, which captured the concept of “the collective effervescence of the Charism” – the special gift given to each group within the Church to contribute to the common good.

Sister Mary shared two examples of sharing our SNDdeN charism:

  • The Hallmarks of a Notre Dame Learning Community, used in so many SNDdeN ministries, “which concretize(s) our witness to the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching” and
  • Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Si which is reflected in the Chapter Calls of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to care for “our common home.”

Sister Simone Campbell, SSA, the “Nun on the Bus” continued the challenge to participants as she opened the third day of the conference with a keynote address based on the Call to Public Holiness in Chaotic Times. Sister Simone brought the participants full circle as she urged them to touch hearts, listen to stories, feel one another’s pain and then respond in acompassionate manner.

Thirty workshops augmented these keynote addresses with presentations on our Notre Dame de Namur Heritage, The Hallmarks of a Notre Dame Learning Community, governance, technology/social media, curriculum and instructional practice, ethics in healthcare, life transitions, multi-cultural responsiveness, racism and nonviolent conflict resolution and global citizenship.

All keynote addresses with several other talks and the power points from thirty workshops are available on www.notredameonline.org.

Student Leaders

Prior to the Networking Conference, seventy students from ten Notre Dame de Namur high schools in the US assembled for the third annual student leadership conference. Notre Dame de Namur Academies from Hingham, Tyngsboro, Worcester, Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School (Massachusetts), Mount Notre Dame, The Summit, Chaminade Julienne and Stephen Badin HS (Ohio), Maryvale Prep (Maryland) and Notre Dame High School (San Jose, California) were well represented.

The students participated in three days of workshops on St. Julie, leadership, Catholic social teaching. They completed their conference by joining in the opening sessions and liturgy of the Networking Conference. The presence of the students at the Mass celebrated the continuation of our legacy into the future.

Our sponsored ministries are treasures that extend the Notre Dame de Namur tapestry by sharing and animating God’s goodness with people all over the world. As they weave new threads into the fabric, they expand the living legacy of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. In the encyclical, Gaudete et Exsultate, Pope Francis exhorts each of us to “see the entirety of your life as a mission.”

We are very blessed by our colleagues who partner with us to broaden the outreach of our mission to the ends of the earth.

Source: Good Works, Vol 14 | No 2 | October 2018. (Reprinted with permission)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Networking, Refugees, Violence

Reaching the Borders for Refugee Women and Children

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By Sisters Denise Curry, Therese (Tracy) Dill, Mary Alice McCabe, SNDdeN

During more than 200 years as a Congregation, we, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur have been and are a strong presence in service to immigrants and refugees around the world. In the United States, with an increasing persecution of immigrants living in this country and the denial of entry to asylum seekers, our Sisters search for new ways to help peoples suffering under inhumane US immigration policies. The CARA Pro Bono Volunteer Project, established by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) with 3 other immigrant advocacy organizations provides a new opportunity to serve immigrant peoples.

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Sisters Denise Curry, Mary Alice McCabe and Tracy Dill, SNDdeN discuss plans for more Sisters to assist the refugees in the detention center.

In 2017, three of us, Sisters Denise Curry, Mary Alice McCabe and Therese (Tracy) Dill spent a week as CARA Project volunteers in Dilley, Texas at a “Family Residential Center,” under US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This privately-owned facility houses 2,400 refugee women and children. It is a detention center, filled to capacity with mothers and their children, fleeing from persecution in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. These mothers make this dangerous flight toward the US border in a desperate attempt to protect their children from violence and even death. In fact, these innocent women and children entering the USA find themselves in a prison which treats them like criminals and terrorists.

VOLUNTEER SERVICE
The CARA Project offers sensitive and compassionate legal assistance to these families. Spanish-speaking mothers prepare for interviewswith ICE asylum officers in which they tell their distressing stories of persecution from either gang-related or domestic violence. As volunteers, we found a number of ways to help at the center. As interpreters in Spanish, we gave in-take talks for helping the women to understand the steps and to feel relaxed and safe in this asylum process. Meeting with each woman individually, we listened to her story and assisted her in preparing for her interview with an ICE asylum officer. We also assisted with the office work that needs to be done in order for the CARA lawyers and paralegals to provide legal services for the women.

To serve the increasing numbers of asylum seekers at Dilley, the Project needs more volunteers: lawyers, paralegals and interpreters. Volunteers meet hundreds of mothers and children, thin, exhausted, and frightened, who have been walking and hiding for weeks. The women and children remain in detention in Dilley until ICE determines their fate. In the interview, the ICE asylum officer listens to the woman’s experience and decides whether or not the persecution in her country of origin is “credible” enough under US immigration law to allow her to seek asylum and stay in the US. The woman must tell her story of having been terrorized and traumatized, in a convincing manner. She must show that she has fled for her life and that return to her country would mean death. The stories are very disturbing: gangs kill family members, kidnap children, force men and teenage boys into gang “membership,” extort monthly payments from well-off and poor alike, abuse and rape girls. In domestic violence cases, women are beaten, treated as property, held captive, and receive death threats.

Stories-in-Central-America-Plate

FUTURE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN
We-are-HumanA positive evaluation from the asylum officer is required for a mother and her children to be released from detention and sent on to their destination in the USA.

A negative evaluation will send the mother and children into the deportation cycle, which in most cases, means a “death sentence.” CARA lawyers always appeal negative evaluations and do everything to give these women and children a chance at a new life.

A week with these mothers and children is an experience that shakes one’s heart and soul in a unique way. We meet brave women from both cultures: Central American women struggling against all odds to protect their families, and North American women, volunteers, pro bono lawyers and our own Sisters committed to social justice and basic human rights for immigrant families. At this time, more Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur are preparing for volunteer service at this detention center in Texas during the current year 2018.

Blue Donate Now button
Donate now to assist the Sisters minister to the refugees at the Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.

Reprinted from Good Works, Volume 14, No. 1, March 2018.

Published in print two times a year and on-line monthly (snddengw.org).

To subscribe to a printed edition, send your name and a mailing address to Sr. Anne Stevenson, SNDdeN by mail: 30 Jeffreys Neck Road, Ipswich, MA 01938 or by email: anne.stevenson@sndden.org. (International subscribers are encouraged to subscribe to this online edition through the WordPress App.)

Collaboration in Education, Networking, Notre Dame Educational System

Educational Vision Crosses Cultures

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By Sisters Masako Miyake and Carol Shoup, SNDdeN

St. Julie envisioned the educational mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to extend worldwide. That vision has unfolded in various ways into the 21st century. One expression of Julie’s early vision is the networking of “Sister Schools” internationally.

Exchange Students
Notre Dame Seishin* Girls’ Junior and Senior High School (NDS) in the city of Kurashiki, in the Okayama Prefecture, Japan, and Notre Dame High School in San Jose (NDSJ), California, U.S.A. are “Sister Schools” and even across a wide and deep ocean, relationships keep building. (Seishin = Immaculate Heart)

IMG_9675-web600px
One student and Amy Huang, (back row-left) Director of the Exchange Program at Notre Dame, San Jose, welcome 12 Japanese students and their teacher, Ms. Kazumi Yamamoto (far right) outside of the school.

Every year young women from both schools have the opportunity to share their unique academic programs, cultures, and learning environments as exchange students. This year, Ms. Amy Huang, Director (NDSJ), organized the many details of the Student Exchange Program. On March 18, Amy and host families welcomed 12 Japanese students, their teacher, Ms. Kazumi Yamamoto, and their Principal, Sister Masako Miyake SNDdeN for two weeks of academic and social sharing.

The first week began with a welcome breakfast and campus tour, including a history of the City of San Jose given by Social Studies teacher Mr. Jim Floyd. Shadowing their host IMG_9680-web600pxstudents to classes during the school week, our visitors experienced spotlights in classes in Global Studies Honors, Advanced Spanish Culture and Conversation, and in Biology Honors Class, where they examined and identified hominid skull casts. Then, hosted by Notre Dame Alumnae, they visited and toured Stanford University and Intel Corporation, for glimpses of higher education and innovation in America.

Highlights of Two Weeks

6-WPP-1-450pxweb
In the gym at NDSJ, Ms. Kazumi Yamamoto and the students from Kurashiki, Japan, share the love of St. Julie Billiart and her mission.

Our new friends enjoyed highlights of the Woman’s Place Project, by the Ninth Grade class, who honor in original table settings, 163 women of history, as well as the Young Woman Advocacy Summit, presentations by the Seniors’ of their yearly service projects on issues of justice and peace. At the end of the first week, our exchange students delighted in a downtown culture walk, a visit and tour of City Hall and the office of International Affairs.

After a weekend with host families and friends, the Japanese students were happy to see their Principal, Sister Masako Miyake, who came for the last week of the program, and curious and eager to explore a sister ND school and capture as much as possible on her camera. The students shared with Sr. Masako their visit to San Jose’s historic Japan town and Yu-Ai Kai, a Japanese-American senior center.

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The students share with Sr. Masako their visit to San Jose’s historic Japan town and Yu-Ai-Kai, a Japanese American senior center.

The girls delighted the senior citizens with Japanese songs and stories and enjoyed lunch before returning to school. During the next two days, the group toured San Francisco, with so many sights, from the cable cars and Fisherman’s Wharf to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate.

Deepened Relationships
Reflection time and discussion were interspersed over the course of the two weeks, for increased understanding and deepening of relationships. The exchange program concluded in a Farewell Party, with certificates for completion awarded to our Japanese students. There were dances and expressions of appreciation, among laughter, smiles, and tears. ND Seishin school gifted to their Sister School some beautifully decorated wooden plates. In return, NDSJ presented our Notre Dame Seishin school with a clock, engraved with a customized quote, “Time does not take away from friendship…”
(Tennessee Williams).

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At the airport, NDSJ students, teachers and some parents say “good-bye” to Japanese students, Ms. Kazumi Yamamoto and Sr. Masako Miyake, SNDdeN.

Thankful for their presence in our school community, teachers and students from NDSJ said farewell to these special young women, their teacher and principal from ND Seishin. Now, both schools begin to plan for ND San Jose students to visit ND Seishin, Kurashiki during the summer of 2018 in order to expand their vision of a Notre Dame Sister School and the culture and beauty of the “Land of the Rising Sun.”

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Collaboration in Education, Networking, Trafficking

Network: A Cry for Life

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Sr. Josineide Maria da Silva, SNDdeN  

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Sr. Josineide Maria da Silva, SNDdeN works with women from other Religious Congregations to prevent trafficking of women and children.

I am a woman religious in the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and a social worker.  As a woman, Christian, religious and social worker, I value my duty to  save lives from any injustice and to struggle for others to protect their human rights.

To combat this crime against the human person, I began to work in 2012 with women of various Religious Congregations who form Network: A Cry for Life, for the purpose of preventing the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation. This Network emerged so that women religious may take an active stance against the reality of human trafficking. In the face of the clamor of the victims of sexual exploitation and the diverse modalities of the trafficking of persons, women religious accept the challenge of a specific ministry, focused on this growing crisis in modern-day society.

The major objectives of the Network are:

  • to raise awareness and provide information by prioritizing groups in situations of vulnerability, community leaders, pastoral agents and others;
  • to organize groups of reflection and study;
  • to spread the ministry by empowering individuals who will empower others;
  • to participate in social movements advocating for public policies for confronting the trafficking of persons.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE 2010), the state of Pará has 7,581,051 inhabitants from 144 counties; these are gigantic proportions compared to most of the other states in the Amazon region.  A negative aspect for this population in Brazil arises from the elevated incidence of women trafficked for sexual exploitation. Women from the peripheries of Belém are recruited for Surinam, French Guyana and other countries to practice obligatory sex and other evil objectives, such as human slavery.

Pastoral Ministry for Women
The trafficking of persons, especially of women, is a consequence of social inequality and an expressed, depraved social issue, from colonial times in Brazil until today. The main victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation are girls and women who live in situations of poverty and social vulnerability.  In the face of this reality, I am sensitive to women and girls who are victims of trafficking for sex and other ends.

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Sr. Josineide presents her paper which shows how social inequality and ineffective public polices contribute trafficking of women and children.

Active Involvement through Education
Professionals in social work face a great variety of challenges in today’s society, with sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy in adolescents, trafficking of persons for sexual exploitation among others.  Social workers seek alternatives to understand these challenges for the persons involved.  As a requirement for completion of a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, I presented a paper at the University on December 5, 2016 on the reality of the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation in the city of Belém, as a current and great challenge for social workers. Researching and writing this paper led me to discover that social inequality and the ineffectiveness of public policies are factors that contribute to many incidences of sexual exploitation. Social Service workers must start by seeking public policies that meet the needs of the women who are victims of sexual exploitation by traffickers of persons.

josi-bz-1-200-px-webI see this crime as happening in a “silent” and “invisible” manner, as exemplified by the reality of women on the periphery of Belém.  I want to work by exposing this crime by ministering to these women as a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur and to assist these victims in collaboration with other women religious for systemic change in Brazil.

A thought that inspires me often as I minister to those in need is the valued ideal of the late Nelson Mandela of South Africa:

 “I struggled against white domination, and I struggled against black domination.  I nourished the ideal of a democratic and free society, in which all live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal that I hope to live to see become reality. But, if necessary, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

 

Africa, Networking, Outreach

Safe Water in Kenya

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Sr. Evalyne Aseyo, SNDdeN

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Sr. Evalyne Aseyo, SNDdeN (center) collaborates with workers, volunteers and Communities to revitalize Primary Health Care in Kenya.

In Kisumu, Kenya, I am engaged in research, teaching and community service at the Tropical Institute of Community Health and Development (Tropical Institute).  In collaboration with Community Health Extension Workers and Community Health Volunteers, we form a partnership to reach out to vulnerable communities.  We mobilize and organize communities into Community Units to ensure dialogue, referrals and feedback mechanisms for communities linked to the health sector.  At the Tropical Institute, we consider this partnership as working together for individuals and institutions in sharing resources, ideas and experiences to support, enrich and attain high quality outcomes in health care for all involved.  To revitalize Comprehensive Primary Health Care in Kenya, we collaborate with workers, volunteers and Community Units to enhance community participation in health care service delivery and health care outcomes.  chalk-board-300-px-webTogether with other partners, we collect data and follow up indicators such as immunization coverage, Ante Natal Care (ANC), use of Insecticide Treated Nets for mothers and children under 5 years, vitamin A uptake, health facility delivery, and treatment for safe water. We post results of these indicators on community chalk boards, located in central places within the community. We discuss this data in a forum of community dialogue which leads to community action days for ongoing health care.

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The PUR Water Packets transform contaminated water to clean and clear water for drinking, cooking, cleaning and bathing.

Support for PUR Water Packets
eva-and-two-co-workers-300-px-webRealizing that the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, through a Congregational Mission Fund, give financial support to vulnerable households, unable to access clean water, I requested financial aid from the international Mission Office in order to purchase water commodities for one Community Unit in Kisumu County. From funds received, I was able to purchase the water treatment commodities of PUR water packets and aquatabs.  Community Health Extension Workers helped to identify Kadero and Okok, Community Units attached to Gita Sub-County Hospital, as the villages, which could benefit most from these commodities. Kadero has 25 villages and Okok comprises 14 villages. The River Awach, passing through these villages as their major source of water used for drinking water and household chores including cooking, poses a risk continually.  Also, some households, not using the river water, use unprotected springs.  In April and May 2016, there was a cholera outbreak, resulting from contaminated water, in these Community Units. In following up the water treatment indicator, with the Community Health Workers, we began to raise awareness in these communities on the importance of household water treatment and to make the use of these commodities of PUR water purification packets and aquatabs a priority in these villages.

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Sr. Evalyne Aseyo (on extreme right) encourages the villagers to use the water purification packets and aquatabs.

Even though clean water is still a critical issue, these commodities have gone a long way in reaching some of the most vulnerable households unable to access clean water. In sustaining and expanding this project, we intend to reach more households in the area. Obviously, this project continues to go a long way to reduce diarrheal diseases and water borne diseases in this community.  The community appreciates the support of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and their generous donors who contribute to this safe water project.

 

educating for life, Ministry, Networking, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, St. Julie Billiart

Corryville Catholic, Cincinnati, OH (USA)

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Sr. Mary Ann Zwijack, SNDdeN teaches Grade 8 and spends extra time with students needing help with special projects.
Sr. Mary Ann Zwijack, SNDdeN teaches Grade 8 and spends extra time with students needing help with special projects.

Sister Marie Smith, SNDdeN, Principal (1983-2013), writes: “Located in this major Ohio city, Corryville has a diverse student body from different socio-economic communities and cultural backgrounds. A wrap-around school, connecting programs and services with specific children, Corryville uses Choices for Children, a project  to meet the needs of individual students. The school’s Mission is to educate the whole child, from pre-school through Grade 8, by meeting the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of each student.”  Learn more

Good Works, March 2015, pp. 8-9.

Abandoned Orphans, Clinic, community gardens, educating for life, Good Works, Health Clinic, Jardim Tropical, Maternity Clinic, Networking, Orphans in the Congo, Rural Schools, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

AH! THE WONDER OF LIGHT, WATER AND COMMUNICATIONS

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APP-2015-iconConceived from Sr. Lorraine’s vision of connecting our Sisters in Africa to places beyond their isolated villages, the African Photovoltaic Project (APP) began to take shape in 2003. Today, the dream has become a reality in Fugar and Awkunanaw, Nigeria and in Kitenda, Lemfu, Ngidinga and Pelende, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with wonderful life changes and options. Convents, schools and clinics/hospital in two countries are now experiencing life with electricity for lighting, refrigeration, water purification and communications. Rooms set up with basic technology equipment in these ministries provide access to the Internet for teachers, primary and secondary classes as well as health care personnel. The Congo compounds organize these facilities by using available materials. Now, the wider community also benefits from technology at these four sites.

Good Works, November 2013, pp. 8-9, 13
http://www.sndden.org