Sinsinawa
Spectrum
A Congregation News Magazine
A World Apart but Connected in Heart
by Joyce Wodka, Edgewood Campus School Business Manger
Teachers and students from St. Therese School, Tanzania, welcome (from left) Sr. Kathleen Malone and Joyce Wodka at the airport in Dar es Salaam.
For the past 19 years, the Edgewood Campus School community and the Sinsinawa Dominicans have had a special connection to the Sisters of St. Therese of Liseaux of Tanzania, Africa. In 1990, Sister Hellen Bandiho arrived in Madison, WI, to study at Edgewood College and live at Blessed Sacrament Convent. The Sisters welcomed Sister Hellen with open arms, and lifelong friendships were formed. The principal of Edgewood Campus School at the time was Kathleen Malone, OP. The two became close, and, as the friendship developed, it was obvious that the work began in Tanzania by the Sisters of St. Therese was worthy of help by the Edgewood Campus School community of students, staff, families, and friends.
Edgewood Campus School has conducted an annual fundraiser to support the Sisters of St. Therese. The money was used to help other Sisters who were brought to the United States for education. It paid for their books and school supplies. Some of the Sisters went back to Tanzania and opened a primary school in Dar es Salaam. To date, the Edgewood Campus School community has contributed over $45,000 to St. Therese School. The school has grown from one kindergarten class to educating more than 450 students in kindergarten through 7th grade today.
Sister Hellen’s dream when she arrived in Madison to begin her education was to find scholarship money to bring 10 Sisters to the United States for college degrees. She has brought more than 20 to date, and all of them have gone back to Tanzania to do amazing work as their job titles indicate: principal, headmistress, physician, pharmacist, dean, general council member, teacher, administrative staff member, and nurse. Madison’s Blessed Sacrament School and St. Dennis School and many Sinsinawa Dominicans helped make this possible.
Kathleen and Joyce Wodka welcomed these Sisters to the United States, making sure they had school supplies, Christmas gifts, warm clothes, and a place to call home. Sister Hellen is well known and much loved by the students at Edgewood Campus School, and her visits are greeted with excitement and many questions about life in Tanzania.
This summer Kathleen and Joyce made the trip to Tanzania that the Sisters of St. Therese have been praying for these last 10 years. They visited the school and other ministry locations. The students welcomed them with a huge celebration and feast, and each class prepared a special presentation for them. They are so grateful for the relationship with Edgewood Campus School that the words, “Edgewood Campus School” are planted in flowers in their front yard. Kathleen and Joyce were treated with celebrations of gratitude throughout Tanzania. They were special guests of the bishop of Dar es Salaam, Bishop Methodius Kilaini.
To see the people of Tanzania, many of whom lack basic necessities such as clean water, sanitation, and plumbing, be so happy and welcoming to strangers was awe inspiring. The extreme level of poverty was in direct contrast to the degree of generosity, lightness of heart, and loving kindness of the people. In Africa, many children do not have the opportunity to go to school, and many never leave the village in which they were born. That is why the work of the Sisters of St. Therese is so amazing and worthy of support. As long as Kathleen and Joyce are ministering at Edgewood Campus School, this mission will continue. To have the opportunity to see in person what has been accomplished with the money contributed by our community has strengthened our resolve to make this a yearly mission project.