School Sisters of Notre Dame help all women
with learning
New York Daily News
By Nicholas Hershon
Tuesday, May 20 2008
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Five days a week, Fazimoon Khan walks into a Queens convent whose walls are adorned with likenesses of Jesus Christ. A Catholic nun welcomes Khan into a room that has stained-glass windows and a palm-sized crucifix on the wall. Amid all the Christian imagery, Khan - a devout Muslim - has thrived at the South Jamaica center run by the School Sisters of Notre |
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| Sister Janice Algie (left) helps Fazimoon Khan study for her GED at School Sisters of Notre Dame [Educational Center in Jamaica, N.Y.]. |
Dame, who are prepping the 37-year-old mom to take her GED exam next month. “It's not uncomfortable for me,” insisted Khan, who prays to Allah when the nuns lead spiritual reflections.
“They never told me to switch my religion. They never said, ‘You have to dress like that’ or ‘become Catholic.’ “
Actually, Khan’s success with the nuns is linked as much to a mutual agreement not to preach as to a shared commitment to the GED goal by Khan and the sisters.
For 4½ years, the School Sisters have taught English, math and social studies to all-female classes at 120th Ave. and 141st St. As a rule, they never lecture on theology.
“I don't really have the time to get into that with her. I have all this math to get into,” said Sister Janice Algie, 68, before a recent lesson on how to multiply percentages.
By keeping religion off the curriculum, the nuns hope to stay true to their mission statement - empowering women of all faiths “to reach the fullness of their potential.”
Since 2004, the program has welcomed 200 women, including Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. It’s tricky to track student progress after they leave the center, but at least 23 have earned GEDs, the sisters said.
If things go as planned, Khan will be next to have her photo on the nuns’ “wall of fame.”
Growing up in Guyana, Khan stopped her studies at age 16 when she couldn't afford to commute to the nearest high school. She came to the U.S. in 2001, and later realized she needed a GED - a high-school equivalency diploma - to pursue a career as a nurse.
In January, Khan started studying with the School Sisters, packing 4½ hours of classes between morning and afternoon shifts as a school bus matron.
She doesn’t mind that the convent walls include pictures of Jesus; the Catholic Messiah is also an Islamic prophet.
When she spots other Christian images, she just turns away.
“I try not to look at them,” Khan said. “I've set my mind to do one thing - to get my GED. I won't let a picture distract me.”
That works for the School Sisters. During the nuns’ spiritual reflections a month ago, they even encouraged Khan to read aloud from the opening chapter of the Koran.
She was reluctant at first, fearing other students would “make fun” of her. But she decided to recite a creed that begins, “We believe in Allah. There is no other God besides Him.”
It went well, Khan recalled. “Nobody stopped me, nobody rejected me - and at the end, they all said the words together,” she said.
Even the nuns repeated “Allah” in the Muslim prayer.
“There's only one God, so whatever I call God, it’s still God,” said Sister Catherine Feeney, 65, the program's executive director. “We want to respect each person's way of reaching her God.”