아시아 10/08/01 Korean nuns throw lifeline to slum girls - By Sumon Nongmin, Mymensingh

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Korean nuns throw lifeline to slum girls

Published Date: August 6, 2010

By Sumon Nongmin, Mymensingh

St. Vincent de Paul nuns (extreme right) pose for a photo with slum children in front of the newly built home for orphan girls

South Korean nuns, supported by the Taize Brothers Community, have started a home for some of Bangladesh’s poorest and most vulnerable people.

The St. Vincent de Paul home for slum girls opened on Aug. 1 in Kanchijhuli, in the suburbs of Mymensingh.

It aims to initially provide six Muslim girls, all orphans, with shelter, an education and vocational training.

“This is an experimental program for slum girls. If the initiative is backed by the locals we’ll expand it,” said Sister Scholastica, country superior of the St. Vincent de Paul nuns.

There are hundreds of thousands of slum dwellers all over Bangladesh living in difficult conditions. Most are socially ostracized.

Young girls in particular are vulnerable to falling into a life of prostitution or sexual exploitation, while many boys resort to crime.

The Taize Brothers say they will help provide education for the girls under the care of the nuns.

“We’re proud to be involved in this benevolent initiative,” said Brother Guillaume de Woolf, superior of the Taize community in Mymensingh. “We’ll try to help these girls grow through religious classes, drawing, music, dance and sports.”

The girls say they are overjoyed at the care they are receiving.

“Most people think we’re horrible because we live in dirty places. They never understand how hard we struggle to survive,” said one 11-year-old.

She added that she is “happy and thankful” to the nuns for their help.

“Most people hate us, call us ‘bad’ and ‘untouchables.’ But we are human beings too,” said a 14-year-old slum girl.

“These nuns love us. When I’m with them, I forget the pain of being poor and an outcast. When I finish my studies I will also work with poor people in the slums,” she said.