Padma remembers the years when she changed her street life into one of learning and purpose. It was all because of Mooney, a Loreto nun, who happened to be Principal of one of the five schools the Loreto nuns run in Kolkata in West Bengal. Mooney stepped out of her privileged role to rescue this five-year old and saw her through her final education in the school. Cyril Mooney used the Rainbow night-shelter provisions to support Padma. Now in her late twenties Padma speaks of the kindness and support she got in the Sealdah branch of the Loreto schools in Kolkata where she spent close to 19 years.
Padma Mukherjee who later worked in Nil Ratan Sirkar in Kolkata, one of the oldest medical institutions in the city, is deeply grateful to Mooney who helped transform her life. Padma described Mooney as a loving and caring person who understood that girls like her had nowhere to go and so she took good care of them. She launched Rainbow because of her dissatisfaction with a system that did not allow poor girls and those living on the streets to have access to quality education that Christian schools and colleges offered. Mukherjee considers Cyril Mooney as her second mother, the one who gave her identity and a place in society. “If not for the vision of Cyril Mooney, hundreds of girls like me would be still living on the streets of Kolkata, forced to face hostile surroundings, human trafficking and flesh trade,” Mukherjee told Global Sisters Report (GSR).
Mooney told GSR that her disillusionment with the system began during her first assignment as a teacher in Lucknow, capital of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, after completing her doctoral studies in zoology. “The same feelings continued to taunt me when I was assigned as the assistant principal at Loreto School, Entally, in Kolkata,” she recalls. It was after she took charge of Loreto Day School in Sealdah that Mooney began to put into practice her vision of integral, inclusive education. By taking the girls to villages to educate the rural children, she instilled patriotism in them. The Rainbow project gave the girls a sense of service, and the teaching and extra-curricular activities prepared them for a fruitful career, Mooney says. Most parents welcomed Mooney’s initiatives because they could see a change in these urban, middle-class girls. The project offered the girls opportunities to take part in outreach programs and time to reflect on their experiences with the poor. Mukherjee says Mooney was strict with girls like her and it helped them make use of the facilities to build their future.
The Rainbow children are integrated into the system, and it is often hard to say who is a Rainbow child and who is not. Following the principle of inclusive education that Mooney insisted on, the Sealdah School has admitted several differently abled girls, and the teachers take care of their needs so that they may become part of the whole system. This is one place where there is great happiness, seeing all the people, especially the poor, feeling at home, which shot to fame under Mooney’s innovative approach.
Soon after taking charge as the principal of Sealdah Loreto School in 1979, Mooney began admitting half of the school’s students from the slums, providing for all their needs but insisting their parents pay what they could afford toward their children’s education. The Rainbow program has changed lives. Many girls have completed their studies and are now back in Loreto schools as teachers. Others are married and settled in life. Mukherjee’s sister is married to Mooney’s nephew in Ireland.
Mooney recalls that in 1983 the girls who lived on the streets would wait outside the Sealdah Loreto School for the regular classes to get over, so that they could enter the premises to study. Soon Mooney arranged to keep the girls in the school terrace building during school time, while the other school girls were trained how to teach them. Gradually, the new girls were ready to join the mainstream school.
The existing schoolgirls did not lose any of their study time, but they used their work education time to coach the new girls. “Receive to give” was one of the slogans that Mooney repeated to the students. She told them that the poor children were as precious to her as they were to their parents. She invited her girls to sacrifice their leisure time. Those who did not wish to join the effort were given alternatives to build similar values.
She also initiated ways to extend her tutorial methods to teachers in the villages. Mooney bemoans that teachers in village schools are not properly trained. Her training method encouraged teachers to return to their villages to raise the quality of education in their schools. Over the years she has trained thousands of village teachers. She says her educational approach was in tune with the charism of her congregation founded by Mary Ward. Ward too wanted to let poor girls have access to quality education, along with rich and middle-class students. Loreto founded in Ireland continues to spread Education values worldwide in all the institutions and countries they work in. Mooney also considers her role as initiating values of the spirit through education, pointing out an alternative method to enrich and ennoble education. Bringing the new values of justice and honesty, she believes, can enrich the nation.
Recognizing Mooney’s contribution to education, the Indian government honoured her in 2007 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the country. The church in India also applauded her work but was not as generous of her contribution to the field of education. This has not shaken Mooney in her resolve. Today five Loreto Schools in Kolkata admit girls who live on the streets to their campuses, as part of the Rainbow project. A strong message from Mooney is that the power of education surpasses the power of money. Theresa Mendes, who supervises social work at Sealdah Loreto Day School and is a close associate of Mooney’s for over 25 years has warm praise for the nun and her projects. She says that the Rainbow children are taught to face any situation in life and are trained to improve their self worth. The nun treats everyone, the teacher and the janitor, on equal terms and interacts with them with equal respect and regard. This instils self-respect and confidence in the support staff.
–T.D’Souza – [thanks for info from GSR, Matters India & Julian Das 2015]
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