Sunday: January 11
Now that Joni and I have launched a discussion about pottery making and the ideas and art of Brother Thomas, Sister has arranged for us to meet with the Head Girls at MGS to enlist their support in sharing with their cohorts the news that a pottery studio will be part of the Maker Space. She chose to include the Head Girls from S-4, S-5, and S-6.
Head girls have a significant leadership role among the students. Every student considers who they think will be exemplary girls to provide leadership for their class. Names are recommended to Sister Laetitia and the faculty. Sister considers each recommendation and through a careful process selects two girls to represent each grade level. Sister meets with them regularly and relies on them to provide leadership and role modeling for their peers. Sister wanted the current Head Girls to be the first to know about the pottery studio. She wanted them to begin to share the information among their cohorts and “take the pulse” of the students; ask what having pottery making here might mean.
The S-4 girls included the 2 girls who are in our Saturday class.
Joni and I wanted to begin the conversation on a bright Sunday morning by asking what they knew about the history of MGS. Two of the students gave an impressive overview of the partnership between Boston and Rwandan women who met at Harvard University at a Kennedy School conference about Education in Conflict Zones. They both knew the roles that were played by the late Sister Ann Fox and Senator Aloisea Nyumba.
Joni and I explained that Sue Pucker was also among those first supporters from Boston to support the building of MGS. She and her husband, Bernie, also befriended Brother Thomas and featured his work in their Pucker Gallery in Boston.
I am always impressed with the ways in which the students at Maranyundo process information and make connections. They were truly moved to think that a family who was part of the original Maranyundo supporters continues to look for ways to create new opportunities and insights for the current student body. They commented on how successful the addition of the Maker Space by Tufts University CEEO in 2019 had been. The Maker Space has brought opportunities for state-of-the-art “tinkering” and problem solving to the campus. They believe that dedicating a space for pottery in the Maker Space will enrich the possibilities for connecting the arts and science.And spirituality.
A pottery place is another example of how the partnership which began at the outset of the 21st century continues to evolve and nourish the education of the students at Maranyundo in 2026. One might say that offering new practices and insights into what education means is a tradition of the Maranyundo Initiative.
“Tradition after all is a thing of the spirit, not a recycling of the past.” Brother Thomas
Linda V Beardsley
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