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Continuing our Educational Thrust Continuing our educational thrust in new areas of need is one of hundreds of ways in which Medical Mission Sisters around the world try to be a healing presence to those in need today. Many of our North American Sisters who have turned over their ministries in other lands and returned home have continued their education work in a new way. They draw on their personal and professional experiences to educate those in need, whether in literacy, learning English as a second language, health education or religious education. Among them are Sisters Teresa Arac, Julia Burkart, Isidora Bollich, Celeste DiGiorgio, Alice Hanks, Rosemarie Leier, Alice Marier, Jean Murray, and Pat Tunnicliff.
"My desire is to foster and help children develop a good relationship with Jesus that will grow and deepen throughout their lives," says Sister Rosemarie Leier, a former nursing and midwifery teacher, of her work with the religious education program in her San Diego parish. In City Heights, Sister Rosemarie's urban neighborhood, there is a large multi-ethnic population. Most of the families come from Asia, Africa, Mexico, and Latin America.
"24 languages are spoken in one high school alone," she explains. In addition to her work in religious education, she is an assistant tutor in 2 local schools, working with children on a one-to-one basis.
Sister Julia Burkart, who taught social work for 12 years at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, enjoyed a different type of teaching while living in Tucson after her retirement. "I taught 4 classes in adult education in our 2 churches," she recalls. "The most successful and well-attended class, with 60 students, was on Islam." Sister Pat Tunnicliff has also taught adult education in the Tucson area. In Philadelphia, Sisters Teresa Arac, Isidora Bollich, Alice Hanks, and Jean Murray are involved in outreach programs in their neighborhoods. They tutor school children and adults in reading and math; teach English and literacy to Hispanic neighbors; and serve as mentors in a parish learning lab. Sister Jean Murray, who taught English in Limbe, Malawi, shares a special memory of a Korean student in Philadelphia: "Once, I was explaining the different meanings of the word 'core' to Sarah Kim. Then I asked her to use it in a sentence. She said, 'You are Christian to the core.' I consider that the best compliment I've ever received!"
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