March 10, 2023
Enduring memories are the mark of each thought-provoking Mission Awareness Process (MAP) trip. Just ask the travelers from the Academy of the Holy Angels (AHA) in Demarest, New Jersey, who spent a week at the Arizona-Mexico border in March 2023. Angels visited both sides of the international border on their quest to learn more about the immigration issue. The MAP...Read more
September 19, 2022
During National Migration Week, there is an opportunity to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking. The history of the School Sisters of Notre Dame is inextricably connected to the immigrant experience. SSND initially came to the U.S. as immigrants to respond to the educational needs of German immigrants. For...Read more
June 16, 2022
Eight students from Academy of the Holy Angels (AHA), a SSND sponsored school located in Demarest, New Jersey, recently participated in a Mission Awareness Process (MAP) experience near the Texas-Mexico border. The group split time between San Antonio and McAllen, Texas, from June 13-18. Under the guidance of Sister Regina Palacios, the students volunteered at several migrant facilities and heard...Read more
June 2, 2021
We have been extremely busy responding to at least 150 migrants who are expelled daily into our sister city, Agua Prieta in Sonora, Mexico. I arrive at our migrant center in Agua Prieta at 2 a.m. to welcome and offer warm food, coffee, clothing, simple medical care and an open heart to these women and men. We have volunteers around...Read more
March 24, 2020
For the past five years, students from the Academy of the Holy Angels (AHA) in Demarest, New Jersey (an SSND sponsored school), have been invited to participate in a MAP experience during their winter break. This year, AHA Religious Studies Department Chair Carol Fay, Spanish language teacher Carmen Quiñones, and students Laura Carbo, Valeria Gonzalez, and Julia Swearer made the...Read more
May 23, 2019
I am in Douglas, Arizona, with the SSNDs who live and work here: Judy Bourg, Lucy Nigh, Pat Ferrick and Helen Jones. It has been such a wonderful and a challenging experience for me; moments that I also recommend to other Sisters who have never had an experience with immigrants at the border. Different situations have touched me deeply. Here...Read more