Opening SND-Sponsored Schools Worldwide During the Pandemic

Opening SND-Sponsored Schools Worldwide During Pandemic

The challenges of opening schools across the U.S. pale in comparison to the realities of SND schools in other areas of the world.

Many countries were in lockdown with their borders closed. In Mpala, Uganda, schools and colleges have been closed with limited online classes. Students residing in SND boarding schools use their free time to work in community gardens to help feed the hungry. Sister Esther, SND, director of the Aloysia Home in Tanzania, Africa, writes, “As the coronavirus has affected programs and activities all over the world, we, too, are staying home with the children who board at our school. We keep busy with different

“COVID 19, with its sudden upheavals, has changed our routines and lifestyles.”

- Sigit Setyawen, Operational Director of Notre Dame Schools, Jakarta, Indonesia

Sister Prisca teaches a primary class in India during the pandemic.

Opening SND-Sponsored Schools Worldwide During Pandemic

activities like farm work, harvesting the maize we planted, and planting trees around our compound. The girls have also been busy with their studies each day, taking exams on the internet, participating in group discussions, competing in debate, creating and telling stories, and making cards and different decorations.”

Likewise, challenges abound in Jakarta, Indonesia that has a total of 1,330 students enrolled in Notre Dame classes. Sigit Setyawen, Operational Director of Notre Dame Schools, Jakarta, describes, “Teachers and students were not well prepared for the online teaching and learning that suddenly occurred. Our biggest challenge is teachers’ readiness. We are all finding it extremely hard to master the technology challenges.”

Setyawen continues, “We opened 73 classrooms in Zoom. Some students and teachers have devices (laptop or smartphone) to learn or teach online; others do not have wi-fi at home. School will probably reopen in July 2021 for juniorsenior high (blended/hybrid learning) and elementary school two months after juniorsenior schools. Our students are longing to return to the classrooms.” In Bangalore, India, schools remain closed while the Sisters of Notre Dame provide food for the families in need. India currently has the largest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Asia, and the secondhighest number of confirmed cases in the world after the United States. Sister Sudha Varghese, SND, in Patna, India painfully describes, “Our people are starving, and they have no work which means no money. I try to get dry rations packed and distributed among our people, particularly the elderly, widows, pregnant women, mentally/ physically challenged persons, orphans and whoever is in need of food. We started this last April, and it still continues.”

Sister Beena, SND (in the Patna province) concurs, “COVID 19, with its sudden upheavals, has changed our routines and lifestyles. Work, worship, home, healthcare, education and social life have all been altered. We are forced to adapt to quarantine, lockdowns, and physical distancing. Lockdowns have jeopardized the academic atmosphere everywhere, especially in India. There is an overwhelming sense of emotional damage, anxiety and uncertainty among teachers, students and their parents about classes, examinations and academic progression.”