missionaries
A music lesson in progress at Gandhi Ashram School, a place where music and educating the whole person help create positive opportunities for disadvantaged students.
My mission: To be an instrument in God’s hands Father Paul D’Souza, S.J. and Siobhán O’Neill
Fa t h e r Pa u l D’Souza, S. J. is director of Gandhi Ashram School and a member of the Society of Jesus, Darjeeling Province of India. Siobhán O’Neill is a freelance writer and VISION contributo r b a s e d i n Chicago and a former Catholic high school educator and campus minister.
Jesuit Father Paul D’Souza, S.J. recounts lessons learned as the director of Gandhi Ashram School in Kalimpong, India, where music is used to break down barriers.
I
GREW UP in a family of nine children in a remote, rural, poverty-stricken area. At home we were not encouraged to think for ourselves nor have a positive outlook and self-image. Because my parents were preoccupied with making ends meet, they had very little time for providing better opportunities for their children. In India economic poverty takes the form of lack of basic needs of shelter, food, clothing, education, and health care. The living standard being very low, life can be very cheap.
Plagued by self-doubt Eventually I found my way to the Jesuits, and in 1986 I joined the Society of Jesus. The two years of the novitiate, an intense period of silence, solitude, and
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