Op-Ed: Maryknoll Sisters Educate Impoverished Youth in Bangladesh

The writer, Chelsea Lopez, is the Maryknoll Sisters Communication Manager.

In Bangladesh poverty is a serious problem! The Maryknoll Sisters have long believed that education is one of the greatest tools to improve people’s lives. Immediate support is important, but much greater and longer lasting benefits result from helping people get the tools they need to improve their own lives and the lives of their families and neighbors.

BACHA—Bangladesh Alternative Course for Human Advancement—is the name of an extraordinary school in Dhaka, Bangladesh, founded by Maryknoll Sisters Miriam Francis Perlewitz and Joan Westhues. BACHA now has about 900 students from Nursery to Grade 12 levels, teaching students to think and discover for themselves, using their intelligence and creativity in a values-driven setting.

The school grew out of a values program the Sisters had created called “Education for Life.” This program aimed to prevent drug use among high school students—especially girls, since there were no drug rehab facilities for women in the region. The program was enthusiastically received by the Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities of Bangladesh, and prompted the Sisters to open BACHA to help finance the program.

Unlike the system of rote learning that is prevalent in most Bangladeshi schools, BACHA teaches students to think and discover for themselves, using their intelligence and creativity in a values-driven setting. In Bengali the word bacha also means “to rise up” or “to live again,” which makes the English acronym especially appropriate for the school which offers an innovative curriculum emphasizing human values.

The idea of the “ripple effect” is central to the Maryknoll Sisters’ practice of maximizing the effects of the work they do with the funds they have. Education is one of the best ways to accomplish this, since not only can educated people improve their own living conditions and those of their families, but they can also pass on their knowledge to others.
The ability to help these children in need is only made possible by our donors. Their support helps Sister Miriam Perlewitz and other Maryknoll Sisters protect the dignity of human life and of this Earth we all share.

Maryknoll Sisters are a group of inspirational Catholic woman who devote their lives to making God’s love visible around the world. Their mission began in 1912, when they became the first group of Catholic Sisters in the United Stated founded for overseas mission. These courageous and selfless women risk their lives to provide services for ailing people in need within countries where poverty and oppression run rampant. Today there are approximately 300 Sisters serving in 18 places around the world. As nurses, doctors, teachers, theologians, social workers, environmentalists and more, the Sisters have banded together to fight for social justice and peace.

The Sisters believe that we are all part of "One Earth Community"… that all of us — regardless of race, nationality, gender, background or personal identity — are all connected as a human family, with each other and with all creation.