My visit to Saint Saviour High School

By Sr. Limeteze Pierre-Gilles

Sr Limeteze Pierre-GillesWhen I said yes to visiting in-person at St. Saviour High School in Brooklyn, NY, to speak with the young women there about the work of Beyond Borders, I was both nervous and excited at the same time.

I was nervous because it was going to be my first time there, and didn’t know what to expect. On the other hand, I was excited because I knew it was a school that we School Sisters of Notre Dame had been at for many decades as administrators and teachers. I was very surprised at the number of  SSNDs who had attended St. Saviour before entering the community.

I knew the young women with whom I was going to interact were receiving an excellent education that was challenging them to achieve the fullest of their God-given potential and to become women of a global society with a global vision. 

The students are embodying what we, School Sisters of Notre Dame, are called to live, according to our Constitution, You Are Sent: we recognize our obligation and opportunities to develop a world vision and a sense of global responsibility. The students are learning “to discover unsuspected ways of sharing what we have, especially with the poor and marginalized” (YAS C26). Exposure to the reality of those who face challenging circumstances is one of the many ways they can broaden their minds and hearts. 

Before the beginning of the Lenten season, the School Administration and the board discussed how to engage the students in some activities that would broaden their vision.

They could have chosen to ask the students to continue to go deeper in their effort to be kinder, nicer, more understanding to other students, their friends, their siblings, their parents, and pay attention to their teachers.

They could have chosen to ask them to give up sweets or to do something in their local communities. Of course, they are practicing and continue to practice all of these, but they chose to go a little bit further. They chose to learn and reflect on the work of Beyond Borders. 

When I walked in that Tuesday morning, Ms. Timpone took me around the beautiful school to meet some of the staff and the students before I addressed the school assembly. They were warm, kind, hospitable, and joyful.

I was overjoyed to be with the students and to experience their vitality and enthusiasm. I knew from the moment I greeted them that I was in the presence of some young women who are going to change the world, just like so many women before us did, just like Blessed Theresa Gerhardinger, our Foundress did, and just like so many women are doing today.

I was in the presence of greatness, women who will make a difference in our world, and I told them just that. 

I began the presentation with the theme I had prepared: Lent: A Time To Go Beyond.

The students learned how Beyond Borders is working hand-in-hand with the Haitian people in Haiti to build movements that are transforming the lives of many women, children and men, especially those who live in extreme poverty.

They learned how Beyond Borders is supporting the schools on the island of Lagonav to provide quality primary education, supporting families living in extreme poverty with sustainable livelihoods, preventing violence & abuse, and ending the practice of domestic servitude called restavek.

Beyond Borders is changing lives in Haiti.

School Sisters of Notre Dame, with our partnership with Beyond Borders, are working to make a difference in the lives of many families on Lagonav Island. There is always an opportunity for each one of us to go beyond ourselves, not just during the season of Lent, but every day. This is what living the Gospel is about. 

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