Mount Sacred Heart students form ‘chain of love’ to children in New Guinea

Mount Sacred Heart students form ‘chain of love’ to children in New Guinea

Joann G. Hopkins
Today’s Catholic

MSH students celebrate with Sister Cynthia, holding guitar, principal Sylvia Herrera, teacher Myrna Rodriguez and Sister Mary Hope.
Mary Wisniewski | Special to Today’s Catholic

San Antonio • It is a long way to Papua New Guinea. Located in the Pacific southwest, the island is nearly 8,000 miles from San Antonio. But the children in the island’s Province of Simbu are no strangers to the students of Mount Sacred Heart (MSH) School. When the MSH students learned of the hardships these children face on a daily basis, they did what friends do. They helped. Their good works produced, as Mother Teresa of Calcutta reminded us, “links that form a chain of love.”
The long distance introduction of these children from opposite ends of the world was initiated by MSH religion coordinator Sister Mary Hope Doudard, SSCJ, whose religious order, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, had founded a mission in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea in 1986. Sister Mary Hope herself served five and a half years in Simbu, located there.

    She said, “During my stay in Papua New Guinea, I was so grateful for the efforts of the Holy Childhood Association (HCA) to raise money for the benefit of children in underdeveloped countries. While serving as diocesan religion coordinator in Simbu’s Diocese of Kundiawa, I learned to appreciate even more the gift of HCA and the Propagation of the Faith offices. Through these organizations, their funding covered expenses of Bibles and new religion books for the children in our Catholic schools.”

    When Sister Mary Hope came to Mount Sacred Heart, she was gratified to find that the students were well aware of HCA. In fact, it is a time honored tradition for MSH students to collect money for needy children designated by the HCA during Advent, Lent and other times throughout the year.

    MSH students “are accustomed to bring money for the collection at weekly Masses,” said Sister Mary Hope. “We announce what a collection is for and the children, especially the younger ones, are very generous and willingly give up their allowance, candy or soda to help poor children.” Sister Mary Hope added, “When the Texan sisters come for their home leave, the school invites them to give presentations on the people they serve and their needs.”

    This year Texan Sisters Mary Claude and Cynthia Koliba serving in Papua New Guinea visited us. In March, Sister Mary Claude showed the students a PowerPoint presentation on life at the mission and the students responded with a gift of $200. Sister Cynthia Koliba, a teacher at the Kondiu secondary school, shared that there is a scarcity of schools and a lack of educational materials for the children there. “For many, there is a lack of hygiene,” she added.

    Mary Wisniewski, director of the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s Mission Awareness Office, recalled, “The students moved Sister Cynthia to tears when, following her talk, they presented her with a check for $400. She plans to buy books for the Kondiu school of 500 students.” Wisniewski added, “Even though the children eat only one piece of bread for breakfast, one for lunch and a dinner of rice, greens and sardines every day, what they really long for is more books to learn, especially English dictionaries.”

    It is Sister Mary Hope’s wish to set up a special HCA committee at MSH to make sure the school’s students pursue that willingness to make a difference — for the sake of the people of Papua New Guinea and others. It may be the Spirit is already ahead of her on that wish. This year HCA has designated Papua New Guinea as one of its featured countries for the HCA Lent campaign.