Myanmar Journey: Religious sisters perform 'hidden'
works of charity
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| A Good Shepherd sisters' school in the Myanmar town of Magyikwin.- RV |
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis arrived
in Myanmar on Monday, for the first papal visit to
the nation, which has recently emerged from over a half a century of military
rule.
When the army first took power in 1962, all foreign
missionaries were expelled; but since then, a number of religious
congregations have returned to the country to set up some much needed
health, education, and development programmes.
Ahead of the Pope’s visit, Vatican Radio’s Philippa
Hitchen spent some time in Myanmar to report on the ‘hidden’ work
being carried out by Catholic women in the country today:
It’s a four hour drive north of Yangon to reach the village
of Magyikwin. The roads leading out of the city are heavily congested, with
children weaving in and out of the cars and trucks, hawking sweets, drinks and
garlands of sweet-smelling jasmine flowers. With the liberalisation of the
economy over the last few years, the number of cars on the roads has spiralled,
filling the air with noxious fumes and the constant cacophony of beeping horns.
Out of town, however, the pace slows and bicycles or
motorbikes become the most common mode of transport. The road winds its way
northwards through paddy fields and lush vegetation, interspersed by huddles of
wooden huts, with dirt tracks leading off towards isolated village communities.
Each village is marked by the presence of a pagoda, with golden pointed domes
rising above the trees and dominating the surrounding landscape.
Until quite recently, Magyikwin village was cut off from the
main road by a river which floods each rainy season. One small boat was the
only way across until the government built a bridge linking the main road to
the potholed track leading into village. When the Good Shepherd Sisters arrived
over 40 years ago, the place was renowned for its high alcohol consumption and
the fighting that regularly broke out as a result. Malnutrition, child
mortality and illiteracy rates were high, with people largely living a
hand-to-mouth existence.
The sisters set about building a small church and starting classes
for the children, offering them a meal as well to encourage parents to enrol
their offspring. Today there are over 160 children attending early morning and
evening classes to supplement the education they receive in the government run
school. There is no electricity in the village, but the sisters use solar power
and an ancient generator for light to study by. Improved education means many
kids now pass 10th grade exams, gaining access to university and the prospect
of decent job opportunities.
Sr Maria Goretti Lwin and a young trainee teacher, Francis
Lwin, introduce us to a class of teenagers from Catholic, Baptist and Buddhist
families. They’re especially proud of the children’s singing skills and are
busy preparing for a Christmas choir competition in Yangon.
The sisters have also started microcredit schemes, loaning
money to buy pigs for breeding and selling the piglets at the local market.
They’ve also begun asking parents to contribute to their children’s education,
paying whatever they can afford, to encourage budgeting and a move away from a
charity handout mentality. At the same time, they’ve started taking in a
handful of girls (and one boy) from high risk families, where children are
especially vulnerable to violence, abuse or human trafficking.
Pictures of Good Shepherd Congregation’s foundress, Rose
Virginie Pellettier, hang on the classroom walls, next to images of popular
Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and these sisters are rightly proud of the
progress that’s been achieved in the village over recent decades. Under the
watchful eye of their foundress, they carry on the work that she started,
almost two centuries ago: to provide support for vulnerable women and girls,
and, in the process, bring dignity and hope to whole communities.
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