Empowerment through Education

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EDUCATION Rose Plathottathil, SCN, has been living and working in Rajgir, India since 2000 and through God’s blessing and her deep faith has touched the lives of many.

Her ministry has ranged from educating and caring for children affected by a polio epidemic to empowering women and girls in the local Musahar community. In 2000, she established a ministry for children affected by polio. Though polio has been eradicated in much of the world, a polio epidemic occurred in the villages

surrounding Rajgir. Sister Rose ran a school and hostel for children, where the SCNs provided housing, proper nutrition, medical care, rehabilitation, and education to children affected by polio. Many of these children struggled with mobility, their limbs affected so severely they could only move around by using both their hands and feet. Through corrective surgeries and physical therapy, nearly 60 girls now stand upright. Sister Rose recalls when one of the girls, Sabita Kumari, was able to walk for the first time. She describes the moment as heartrending, “These are my moments of satisfaction in being with the most vulnerable and being grateful to God.”

As a part of this ministry, Sister Rose educated 150 girls. Approximately 130 girls completed the equivalent of high school. Following their academic training, the students attended residential schools or completed vocational training. Because of access to education as well as surgeries and physical therapy, most are selfsufficient, married, and raising families of their own.

Since polio is now eradicated from Rajgir, Sister Rose has turned her efforts to helping girls from the Musahar community. Musahars belong to the lowest strata of the caste system in India, locally referred to as rat-eaters. This community found in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh often does not own land or livestock and are sometimes cut off from other villages and schools due to poor roads and frequent flooding. Often families cannot afford to buy food and so children scrounge for small fish, snails, and rodents.

The conditions that the Musahars live under are some of the worst in India. Sister Rose has a dream to improve conditions and educate 500 girls from the Musahar community. Already 215 girls, firsttime learners from their homes, are enrolled in Chirag Vidyalaya, a registered primary school.

The hope Sister Rose has for these children comes in part because of the success of some of her nowgrown students. Priya, a Musahar, is one of the brightest girls who came to Chetanalaya, Rajgir, says

Sister Rose. Priya also studied at Nazareth Vidya Niketan in Chatra. After passing her matriculation, she went on to complete twoyear vocational training. She worked in the office and kept the books of accounts for five years at Chetanalaya before getting married. She helped four of her siblings complete their education, and went on to complete further undergraduate studies. She also built a concrete house for her parents.

Priya continued to work in accounting until her baby girl turned one. Now she is a teacher in Khudaganj in Jehanabad District in her in-law’s village. Priya is not only a gifted teacher but, taking after Sister Rose’s example, she is also a catalyst in breaking down barriers. She is much loved for bringing together different castes and showing them that they can grow and learn together. Normally the children of the upper caste would not study or eat at school with the lower caste children. However, after seeing how well the children Priya taught were doing, upper-caste parents began sending their children to the center as well. Presently one-fourth of the children attending the village school are from the upper caste.

Sister Rose has had a substantial impact in each of her ministries. And there are many young women, like Priya, who overcome the odds and are successful and selfsufficient because of Sister Rose and the SCNs.

Many of her former students, like Ranju from Salarukhaira village in Nalanda district, have

Left: Young women with polio received the surgeries, equipment, and physical therapy they needed to walk. Left, bottom: Rose Plathottathil, SCN, is pictured in years past, ministering to children who have polio. Right: Neelam, received an education at Rajgir in India, and now is a community mobilizer in her village.

paid it forward. She has worked as the office staff in Chetanalaya for the last five years. There’s also Neelam, who moves around using both her hands and feet, a much respected “community mobilizer” in her village, Kharant in Nawada district Bihar. Neelam has formed 10 women’s groups of 12 members each and two more groups are coming together. She helps women secure loans, keep books, discern a livelihood, and pay back the loans. She works with Jeevika, a world bank-supported rural livelihood program working towards building a better community by empowering impoverished rural women and raising their incomes through self-help groups. Neelam has also completed undergraduate studies. SCNs say she is a bright, beautiful and happy woman making a huge difference in her village. Two of the teachers at Chirag Vidyalaya, Teresa and Lakshmi, are also former students of Chetanalaya. Lakshmi is a pre-primary trained teacher from Hazaribagh. Teresa has a twoyear Trained Teachers Certificate from St. Teresa’s Primary Teachers Education College.

All of these women are working to change the lives of others as their lives have been changed by SCNs like Sister Rose. In promoting the dignity of all people, especially women and young girls, Sister Rose fervently prays for those navigating either physical or economic hurdles, that they experience fulfilling lives and the power of faith.