From the article:
"Summer is a long vacation for all students in Vietnam, but it affords precious time for ethnic students in the nation's Central Highlands to work hard and prepare for the coming academic year.
Sr. Catherine Dang Thi Kim Thu, head of a five-person community that asked not to be identified, said the nuns teach math, English and Vietnamese to the students, who are from Sedang and Jarai ethnic groups. They also offer free accommodations and food without charge at the convent, where courses are held."
"...Thu said most ethnic students perform badly at school because they are not good at the national language of Vietnamese, speak only their ethnic tongues and have little contact with outsiders. Many students have to repeat the year two or three times.
"She said the nuns have to tutor students in some main subjects in advance so that they can catch up with other students in the academic year, which starts in September.
"She said many students, who live in remote villages and cannot regularly attend church, need to take catechism courses provided by the nuns in the summer to receive first Communion and confirmation later in the year.
Thu said the nuns are assigned to serve ethnic villagers in remote areas. "We visit and offer them food, teach them catechism and Vietnamese at their villages, and give them pastoral care," she said. Most villages have no resident priests and nuns.
Local authorities in the communist country limit religious activities by preventing nuns from working with ethnic minority groups. Sisters are discouraged from giving students accommodation and faith education, erecting hostels or visiting villagers. The government refuses to allow nuns to reside in the area and build lodging.
Besides education, the sisters' work reduces the impact of a significant cultural problem in the area.
Sr. Mary Tran Thi Kim Cuc, a member of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Phan Thiet, said summer courses are a helpful way to protect ethnic female students from getting pregnant by their relatives.
"Extended family members traditionally sleep together on the same floor, and men take to drink after work, contributing to incidents of incest. Village children get married when they are 14 or 15 years of age. "
"A teenage girl, who will be in 12th grade next year and did not give her full name, said she was recently on vacation for two weeks at her home village.
"The Jarai student, who has four siblings, said she dared not stay too long there because it is dangerous when young villagers drink and sleep together during village festivals. Many also take heroin, she said."
"The girl said Lovers of the Holy Cross of Phan Thiet nuns tutor her in math because she has not performed well on the subject at school. She also learned how to behave more openly to those outside her ethnic group, maintain personal hygiene, deal with her problems and cook — lessons not taught in her village."
I was struck by this sentence: "The Kontum Diocese has 23 congregations for women with 555 members, many of whom minister to 3,000 ethnic students over the summer." I don't know how many Catholics there are in this diocese, but 555 sisters in 23 orders seems like an impressive number.
The article is confusing in that it says that the authorities prevent the nuns from working with the minority ethnic groups. Yet they seem to be able to conduct these summer schools without interference. It isn't clear if the authorities object to the religious aspect of the nun's work, or if they are trying to force assimilation or exclusion of these minority ethnic groups. Supposedly Vietnam has religious freedom, but it is still communist, and it seems likely that religious freedom means whatever the authorities want it to mean.
Communism as a political ideology seems to be only an excuse to control and dominate. Perhaps that's eventually true of all political ideologies. The more talk here of freedom and liberty, the less we have, except for the freedom to drink 64 ounce sodas at McDonald's. Interesting how the enlightenment of Commie-ism came to Viet Nam but it still looks like old biases against ethnic outliers are still at work.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the new communism still looks pretty much like the old communism. And ethnic minorities are still harassed and persecuted.
DeleteI found this rather horrifying; one of the sisters "...said summer courses are a helpful way to protect ethnic female students from getting pregnant by their relatives." A reminder that the rights of women still aren't respected in many parts of the world.
ReplyDeleteit was amazing to me that this diocese had 555 women religious. Our archdiocese covers a much bigger area, and has a higher percentage of Catholics. But I'm pretty sure we don't have anywhere near that number of sisters. Over there that life is still perceived as a way for women to make a difference (and maybe not be forced into the early marriage mold).
It still stands as quite a witness and in the worst places. It bothers me when people dress up like sisters on Halloween like they're a joke. Yeah, there's humor in everything, but sometimes they die witnessing.
DeleteWithout a doubt their witness puts them in harm's way there.
DeleteThe number of sisters -- and the number of congregations of them -- surprised me, too. You'd think that consolidating the 23 orders would be more efficient. But maybe it would also make it easier for the government to watch them.
DeleteThat sisters would be out where the wolves are is not surprising. I remember, when the Civil Rights Movement was in full flame, the discovery that the Josephite and Glenmary Sisters we'd never heard of were well established on the front lines and wondering when we'd come.