With the hope that teachers from our Notre Dame schools would benefit from being able to meet and listen to each other, our SNDdeN Sponsorship Office began a series of Zoom Meetings in late January that gathered the campus ministries of our twelve U.S. high schools with the chaplains of our U.K. schools and the Sisters overseeing our schools in Africa. The group included ten Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and thirteen lay teachers from seven countries speaking two languages with translation.
Each participant spoke of the effect of Covid on their schools. It was especially enlightening for those in the Global North to listen to the effect of the pandemic on the Global South where the ability to reach students outside school is very limited since most families do not have internet access. Everyone felt the energy of connecting across continents with the awakening realization that they are all part of the international mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. The U.S. teachers were in awe of the scope of our global outreach in the schools. The Zoom Sharings will continue with projects already being planned across cultures.
by Sister Maria Delaney, SNDdeN
First published on SNDdeN U.S. eNewsletter, March 2021