| Bronx
Teacher Returns with Lessons from India
Gail
Maliam Ryder spent 16 days far from the halls of St. Raymond
Academy for Girls to learn about schools in Calcutta, camps
that help children adjust from a life of labor to learning,
and programs that rescue children who have fallen victim to
South Asia’s bustling human-trafficking industry. There the
global studies and English teacher, who returned to the Bronx
recently, learned some of the heavy lessons of life in a developing
country. In part, that was a goal of the trip sponsored by
Catholic Relief Services (CRS): to show both the challenges
and solutions to problems like child trafficking, overcrowding
and even HIV/AIDS.
The
program, called Frontiers of Justice, takes Catholic secondary
educators from around the United States to a developing country
with the hope of giving them the kind of first-hand knowledge
that will bring to life their classroom lessons on such subjects
as justice and culture.
“By
being witnesses and by sharing the stories of the people they
meet, teachers like Gail Maliam Ryder can, in turn, broaden
young people’s concept of who is our brother, our sister, our
neighbor,” said Michele Gilfillan, CRS domestic programs manager
and coordinator of the trip. Frontiers of Justice is a joint
project of CRS and the National Catholic Educations Association.
Six teachers are chosen to participate in the program.
Catholic
Relief Services is marking its 60th year as the official international
humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. The agency
provides assistance to people in more than 90 countries and
territories on the basis of need, not race, creed or nationality.
For
more information contact Cecile Sorra at Catholic Relief
Services 410-951-7215
Education
Update, Inc., P.O. Box 1588, New York, NY 10159.
Tel: (212) 477-5600. Fax: (212) 477-5893. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2003.
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