One of Belize's most prestigious all-girls high schools celebrated the 140th anniversary of the Sisters of Mercy service to Belize. Over the past week, St Catherine's Academy has been hosting a number of activities that culminated today in a "Mercy and Me" panel discussion where past "Mercy Girls" talked about how SCA has impacted their lives. And after the discussion, the current young women of the academy paraded through the Belize City streets.
The principal, Salome Tillett, told us more.
Salome Tillett, Principal, SCA
"The first one we had this morning was the Mercy and Me panel, this is for, beyond SCA, because we've been having activities during the week with the students. We had the Mercy and Me panel and we had four women who gave an outstanding testimony of how mercy has affected their lives."
"The women that we had here on our panel today are just but a few of the women who are influencing or building Belize. We had Justice Arana and her words resonated with the students because she spoke to them down to earth on the struggles of women in Belize. We also had Marleni Cuellar and we had Honorable Tracy Panton as well as Sister Lisa Griffith who is the head of the Mercy Education System of the Americas. She is the director for 55 Mercy Schools through the Americas."
"Our parade is showcasing SCA. We are bound to support the critical concerns of the Sisters of Mercy so we teach our students to care for earth, we teach them to be concerned for immigrants, especially women, to work for non-violence and to fight racism. And we also have values that are common to all Mercy Schools. We are compelled by gospel values, principle leadership and so what you will see out there is the students, their ideas of how they can portray this as it relates to Belize."
Courtney Menzies:
"How important has SCA in Belize to prepare these young women to go out into the world and to make something of themselves?"
Salome Tillett, Principal, SCA
"Well, if you take a look around Belize in any profession, be it entrepreneurs, be it the medical field, be it the legal profession, be it environmental, there are Mercy women everywhere. Catherine McAuley said that the most important work was the careful education of women because no matter where they go, they will have influence, and so she asked the the sisters, be careful in how you teach these women, and that is something we continue to do today. We hold our students to high standard, not only academically but in their personal lives and in the values that they take with them."
