Zooming Through 2020

3 Zooming Through 2020

6 When Girls Rise, We

All Rise

12 Life of Determination and Transformation

14 Using One’s Hands to Create and Meditate

18 Dedicated to God and Compassionate Care

20 Hope for Louisville

Families

22 All Creatures Big and

Small

25 Highlights

26 Journeying On

28 Super Raffle

On the Cover

Martha Walsh, SCN, of Massachusetts, where she teaches English as a Second Language.

Zooming Through 2020

(with help from friends) Like everyone else in 2020, Martha Walsh, SCN, has learned to adjust.

For 14 years, Sister Martha taught English to Chinese students. For all of these years except for this pandemic year, these classes have been in person, meeting weekly at the Chinese Lutheran Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. But like everything else in 2020, the pandemic altered her ministry in the ways she can reach her students. In the past, grants through the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth supplied textbooks and workbooks.

A bit intimidated at first by the technology; she is now using Zoom. She started as a complete novice, beginning to use computers only 12 years ago. She doesn’t own a smartphone. With research, practice, and a few friendly helpers, she is becoming more proficient.

The Journey is produced by the Office of Mission Advancement for the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Contributors include Diane Curtis, Dana Hinton, Spalding Hurst, Dianne Smith, Janice White, Leslie Wilson, and SCN Associate Patsy O’Toole; SCNs Sangeeta Ayithamattam, Adeline Fehribach, Jackulin Jesu, Mary Margaret Nirmala and Ankita Thomas.

“First thing I got was ‘Zoom for Dummies, ’” Sister Martha explains, holding up the book.

Much of her teaching is following her tried and true patterns. She starts with the Chinese/English calendar so her students can learn the month, day, and year. Martha explains that the Chinese write their dates and names in the opposite order of the English. Using Zoom, she holds up the handwritten calendar of dates to help with the lesson. or laptops will call into the meeting.

Flashcards are used as an effective teaching method. The students use their notebooks to copy the words. Most of her students speak Cantonese. With such differences between the languages, it can be a real challenge. The Chinese languages use characters and don’t spell specific words. Much is learned from the context of the sentence. There is also no use of male/female pronouns. She once received

“With Zoom, everything is visual and creative. I find in my own class, Zoom makes them more comfortable reading and speaking than in real life.”

She says she has to be very organized to keep the weekly classes going without a hitch. All of her class is made up of senior citizens. Some students without camera phones a card addressing her as “Brother” Martha.

Sister Martha’s background in music has helped her to intonate to understand the Cantonese language. She said the five tones to every word involve music. One word she learned pretty fast is “ping” meaning “listen” which she’ll use to maintain their focus during the 45-minute class.

Keeping her students engaged isn’t very difficult. They are committed to learning. Recently, one man got up in the middle of class and left. No one knew what happened to him until several minutes later when he rejoined the Zoom meeting from a bus on his way to his dentist appointment! The class is that important to her students.

Sister Martha recently used the holiday season to teach about the customs of Christianity at Christmastime. COVID-19 had closed the local library, but for a few days, the library had a sidewalk event, and Sister Martha was lucky enough to pick up several children’s books about Christmas. The large illustrations in the books helped with the lesson. She taught them about St. Nick putting gifts in stockings and the tradition of sending Christmas cards. She even taught them about the unlucky folks who receive coal at Christmas. “Coal is not in their vocabulary at all. I found a large block outside the library that I was able to present to them as a lump of coal!”

Sister Martha has immersed herself in the culture of her Chinese friends. She moved to a new senior apartment

complex in Quincy in order to live closer to the church and continue her ministry. She has learned that even before the pandemic, it is common for her Chinese friends to wear masks. No matter the weather, rain or shine, many of her friends will always use an umbrella. Small bicycles are a common means of transportation. Sister Martha knows where to find all the Chinese restaurants and markets. She enjoys celebrating the Chinese New Year in February and the August Moon Festival, among other events. It is for her love and dedication to many in the Chinese community that Sister Martha received an award last year, just prior to the beginning of the pandemic. She was recognized for her ministry, especially for having taught classes in English as a second language for well over a decade. Serving as a nurse for most of her ministry life, a switch to education has been different but rewarding for Sister Martha. Not just education but social work is also clearly mixed into her ministry. She helps students get what they need for everyday tasks. For example, with a printed copy from the post office, she taught students how to fill out paperwork for mailing gifts via customs.

Each year her students receive awards when finished with their workbooks. “Sometimes it takes more than a year, depending on the student.” She’s gratified to see her students “graduate” from her classes as they advance in their lives and sometimes obtain citizenship or work. She said some of her students continue their ESL studies at Harvard, taking advantage of the university’s offerings for senior citizens. Zoom has allowed her former students to reconnect. One former student was able to join in with Sister Martha’s virtual class from her home in Tennessee.

In the first years serving in this ministry, Sister Martha worked with young mothers eager to learn English. The mothers brought their young children with them to class. Recently Sister Martha ran into a former student whose daughter was so little her feet wouldn’t even reach the end of the chair. Sister Martha remembers the child was very well-behaved, she would sit quietly with her mom all throughout class. Mother and daughter would walk for miles at night to attend her class until Sister Martha realized this and offered them a ride. Now, that little girl is finishing high school. It was a lovely, unplanned reunion. “She called me by name,” Martha shares, even after all these years.