Pakistan school now home to a sister from Scotia

Sister Anne Schwartz, OP, whose home parish is St. Joseph's in Scotia, believes that the Holy Spirit has called her to Pakistan.

Although she had been there briefly on a visit, she didn't want to stay. In February, though, she decided to return -- for two years.

She's been sharing her Pakistan experiences with parishioners of St. Joseph's through a series of emails that have kept readers informed of the day-to-day life of Pakistani Christians, a minority among the Muslim population.

Link to Pakistan

In an exchange of emails with The Evangelist, Sister Schwartz, a teacher, told of her life in Bahawalpur in the eastern part of the country. There, the teacher helps out at the Dominican Convent School, where there are 900 students in kindergarten through the secondary level.

Her association with Pakistan goes back to 1982, when she first entered the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary in Sparkill, N.Y.

"It began the night before I entered, when one of the sisters then ministering in Pakistan told me of a woman named Anna, who had just entered our congregation there," she said.

Pen pals meet

The two began to correspond, and a friendship grew. Six years later, they met when the Pakistani sister visited the U.S.

"She was the principal of the school, and she invited me to consider coming to Pakistan to help out there," Sister Schwartz explained.

In 1991, she made the long journey to Bahawalpur for a brief visit with her friend.

Duties

Since she arrived this year, Sister Schwartz has been very busy at the school, which is open to both Muslim and Christian students.

"My first major undertaking was to assist in interviewing students for next year's kindergarten class," she recalled. "We interviewed almost 700 children, and we have room for only 70! Daily, I visit each of the classrooms, and try to get to know the students and teachers and their needs."

Additionally, she is teaching English to both teachers and students.

Facilities

The compound where the sisters live includes:

* the Dominican Study Center for Christian Girls, for students who "were experiencing discrimination in the public schools but who could not afford to come to the convent school";

* a "hostel for girls that live too far away to make the daily trip to school;

* "a dispensary that provides medical attention;

* "a hostel for boys;" and

* a school run by the Dominican Fathers.

Discrimination

At their facilities, the Dominicans battle to overcome the discrimination faced by Christians.

"Because they had been uneducated and a religious minority, Christians could not get good jobs and lived in poverty," Sister Schwartz said. "Slowly, as they become more educated, some of the Christians have been able to raise their standard of living. It remains a challenge.

"Discrimination and unjust treatment is a real problem. In the eyes of the law, a woman's evidence is counted as one-half that of a man. A Christian man's evidence is counted as one-half that of a Muslim man.

"The police are not generally responsive to the Christian community and often abusive. They will usually side with a Muslim against a Christian because the Christian is usually poorer than the Muslim and the police often work for bribes."

She added that "justice for any minority is hard to come by here, and women are particularly vulnerable. Last year, 31,000 crimes against women were reported in Pakistan. Abuse, rape and 'honor killings,' where a family who feels that a female member has somehow disgraced them simply kills the woman to erase the disgrace, are common."

Dangers

Asked about terrorism and the risk of living in a predominantly Muslim nation, Sister Schwartz wrote: "When I first arrived here there were some disturbances due to the publication of the blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Here, that amounted to only a series of strikes, where transportation, shops and businesses were closed down for the day. Nothing destructive or violent happened here.

"Do things sometimes go wrong? Yes, of course, as they do almost anywhere. Most people I know thought that I was taking a big risk when I lived in the Bronx.

"I believe that the victory of terrorism is in creating so much fear in people that those who would do good cease to do so. Whether you name it terrorism, evil or sin, we give it its power when we allow it to control us, rather than trying our best to do what we can to change the world."

("Our sisters not only educate girls in the hopes of giving them an opportunity for a better future but we also try to empower women," said Sister Schwartz. "We have no doubt that this will be a long process, and this generation may not see a significant change; but we are planting seeds, as other women did for us in America." To read more about her work, go to St. Joseph's website, http://pages.prodigy.net/stjoseph and click on the link.)

(5/18/06) [[In-content Ad]]