Pope Francis has urged to serve at the “outskirts”. The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth serve on the outskirts in a School for Disabled in Nepal, Katmandu.
There are over 90 children who are bused daily (some are on the bus for up to 2 hrs just to get to the school). Those parents who can, pay a small tuition, those who can’t, well, Sister Suma finds a way. The staff are really dedicated in their work with these kids. Most are profoundly handicapped or autistic and the thing they want, need and get the most is love and a supportive environment. Sister Suma is the head administrator, but it”s clear her greatest joy is when each child finds a way to visit her during the day.
This delightful girl visited while we were there, she was VERY happy to be in school that day. Sister Suma spends as much effort educating the parents on how to understand and care for their child, particularly the autistic ones. There was virtually no support in Nepal for this segment of the population prior to he SCNs opening this school in ’78.
Sister Suma greets each of the kids as they get off the bus. From there, they go to a group assembly for some easy exercises before going to their respective classrooms.
Big hugs from each kid are a requisite start to the day. They seemed exuberant but she said they were much lower key that day due to strangers being around (that would be John & myself).
This group is working on spelling out the alphabet. The teacher said it can take 6 months to learn a couple letters. The teachers make about $150 a month for all their hard work
The school has it’s very own hero! A few of the kids & staff had just gone to Seoul, South Korea, early in 2013 for the Special Winter Olympics and Asis, decided to try snow-shoeing as a sport (he had never even tried it prior to getting to Seoul) and ended up winning the Gold Medal. Sister Suma made sure the local papers wrote up the story, so t
Photos from their website
Tags: Health, Nazareth, SCN, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Sisters of Chartiy
