RNDM Mission Solidarity News is published four times each year – March, June, September and December.

RNDM Mission Solidarity is the RNDM office that promotes mission solidarity in communications and in funding

For the missionary works of the 900 Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in 20 countries world wide.

ALL are invited to contribute to our RNDM mission solidarity funds.

In April this year Sisters of the Australian Province gathered at Margaret Hubery House, Shelley WA, for their inaugural RNDM Art and Craft Exhibition – a fundraiser for the Millennium Fund.

Every Sister had been invited to put something into the Exhibition, around the theme: The Life and Work of Euphrasie, our Foundress, a woman whose heart was fired for missions.

This invitation resulted in a fantastic display of exquisite works of art and craft which inspired the awe of the many guests of the Sisters. Family members, relatives, associates and friends of the Sisters responded to the highly organised sales representatives and contributed some A$3000 for the privilege of taking away some treasured piece.

Among all the states of India, Bihar is at the bottom – with regard to infrastructure, economy and social conditions. The ‘caste’ tradition there still disadvantages the backward ‘castes’ and the bonded labourers, and even deprives those groups of formal education. Bihar has the highest level of illiteracy in India.

Women in India have a low socio-economic status and are poorly represented in public life; they are often subjected to various forms of socio-economic and sexual violence. The situation for the women of the lower castes and bonded labourers is much worse; they become victims of discrimination, exploitation and other forms of violence.

      Photo: A women’s group out-reach session in Bihar

A girl child born into one of these families is considered a burden to the family; she is shamed by social discrinimation. She is deprived of education, nutrition and health care. She is kept at home to look after her siblings, working as a domestic slave, cutting grass and collecting firewood. Necessity makes girls between 7 and 12 become proficient at selling – it is surprising to see them calculating the sales money so proficiently on their fingers in spite of their lack of education. Once she reaches puberty every girl has to be married as soon as possible and become pregnant within the first year of marriage. She should give birth to only boy children. Often she is also a victim of the dowry system – cheated out of her little ‘dowry’ in her husband’s house.

When anything tragic happens in the community, such as an unexpected death or an outbreak of disease, women are often blamed – sometimes because of the witchcraft traditions.

The main focus of our Sisters’ work in Bihar is to empower these poor women. This is not an easy task because there are so many different castes and social groups in this State. The Sisters have formed a women’s group in each village; as well as some literacy and numeracy skills, the young women learn life skills for taking loans and for standing against any form of injustice against women. At present the Sisters have 17 non-formal education centres, mainly for women and girls and children who do not attend school. Ths Sisters write "It is encouraging to see women come to study with their babies, in spite of the difficulties in their lives. Their smiles and laughter are our reward. A WOMAN EMPOWERED IS A NATION EMPOWERED – this is our dream for a Bihar where women enjoy dignity, freedom and respect – where there is no violence and no discrimination."

Both in Bolivia and Peru the Sisters find that children without access to formal education spend a lot of time on the streets. With help from the RNDM Mission Solidarity Fund the Sisters purchased essential materials and started to gather the children for a programme of both religious and social education. As well as religious instruction the children enjoyed games, music and art. Other initiatives were to provide a more formal catechectical training for local catechists, to offer a literacy programme, and to buy books and educational materials for the children and young adults.