Lorraine Crawford, IBVM, works with a student learning English at Mary Ward Center (Catholic New World photo/Sandy Bertog)

By Sabitri Ghosh

?Congratulations!? reads the display on the Mary Ward Center?s wall. ?We are so proud of you!?

Lovingly mounted by the three Loreto Sisters who live and work at the center, the display bears photos of the students who come here each week to read, write, and speak better English. But it?s their smiles in the pictures that say it all.

?People feel so good about themselves, get so excited,? said center staff member Pat Pendleton, IBVM. ?It?s so wonderful.?

Since 1999, Pendleton and the other sisters at the center have helped hundreds of Hispanic immigrants on the South Side learn English, prepare for GED tests, master basic skills ? and feel better about themselves in the process.

In so doing, the sisters are honoring their own unique charism as members of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM).

?We try to better lives through education and self-confidence,? said Sister Mary Howard Moriarty, ?and help people, especially women, to see themselves as competent, respected and important.?

Empowering the powerless through education has long been central to the IBVM mission. Its members (often known as Loretto Sisters) first came to the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, in the late 19th century to set up schools for the children of Irish immigrants. When the community became predominantly African-American, the sisters welcomed them to their all-girls? high school in Woodlawn ? refusing to adopt racial quotas like the other school of the time.

Eventually, though, a decline in enrollment forced the sisters to lose their Loretto Academy. Some stayed on to teach at the nearly St. Bride?s parish school. By the mid-1990?s, all had retired.

Still, the IBVM remained determined to continue serving the South Side. As Sister Lorraine Crawford explained, ?We sisters have a direction statement, which we all agreed to at our last general assembly, that we would very seriously try to stand with and the serve the powerless and those on the fringes of society.?

Tipped off by Our Lady of Guadalupe?s pastor, the sisters soon discovered the emergence of a pressing new need.

?There were many in the area, newcomers, illegal immigrants who needed to learn the English language,? said Pendleton.

That lead to the idea of running an adult education ministry teaching English as a second language to those who couldn?t afford to take classes or didn?t feel comfortable in a formal classroom setting.

?We prayed and talked about,? recalled Pendleton, ?and everybody just seemed to say that this was where we wanted to go.?

Once the decision had been made, the sisters renovated a three-story house directly across from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, then advertised their one-on-one English tutoring services for the nominal fee of $15.

A small trickle of students started arriving at their door. By their second year, word of mouth had turned it into a steady stream. Four years and more than 300 students later, the Mary Ward Center is now an established part of the community.

?The biggest drawing card,? said Pendleton, ?is that we try to build up their self-image; we try to be very personal with them, we tutor them one-on-one and we get to know their families, their stories.?

?It?s amazing how many people will just come to the door and ask questions like how do they get a residency card,? added Moriarty. ?It seems like there?s a trust already built up; they know they can come here for help.

For their part the sisters have come to profoundly admire many of their students? values ? like ?their deep, deep gratitude,? says Moriarty, ?their appreciativeness for anything you can do for them, and how hard-working and determined they are to do the best they possibly can for their family. Nothing comes before their family.?

In many cases, they said, it?s that same devotion that drives them to come to the U.S. in the first place.

The students come to the U.S., they tell the sisters, out of financial necessity. ?There are no jobs in Mexico,?? Moriarty quoted them as saying. But because of their precarious legal status, desperation and lack of English language skills, they frequently encounter discrimination and exploitation once here.

?Your heart just goes out to them,? said Pendleton.

The sisters hope that the recent reunion of the IBVM?s North American and Irish branches into a single congregation will enable them to address the more pervasive roots of the injustices experience by their students. The new entity ? which spans six continents . . . is intent on speaking out as a global voice for the poor and powerless.

At the same time, as the sisters have found out, listening is just as necessary as speaking out. ?Teaching English,? said Moriarty, ?may not be the most important thing we do. They come, and they learn English, but they end up almost pouring their hearts out, just trusting you to listen to their stories and to be there for them.?

And that?s exactly where the sisters want to be.

Reprinted with permission from The Catholic New World, Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois, United States.