January 2005 - Sister Leah Sellers
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How many prisoners inside those walls could never enjoy even the simplest pleasure of a walk outside - let alone a lofty flight to vistas unknown that the birds enjoyed? What were the obstacles facing these prisoners that led them to this bleak place, and how could they be overcome?
Taking to heart the words of Matthew 25:36, in which Jesus said, "I was in prison, and you visited me..." Sister Leah decided to take action. After discovering that 70 percent of prisoners were without a high school diploma, and that 41 percent of the area's residents 25 years and older were reading at or below the fifth-grade level, she knew what her mission - and indeed, her life work - would be.
She began visiting the jail, and soon began teaching thirty grateful souls in a small, boxy room a few times a week. She came back without fail every week for two years and became a welcome sight among the incarcerated men who knew the value of what was being offered to them - men who were unused to anybody giving them much of anything other than a hard time.
After two years, Sister Leah officially became the Director of the Adult Literacy Program at the correctional facility, and now, nearly a decade later, she's still hard at it, and the number of her students has grown. She works five days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., teaching three GED classes and literacy study sessions in the jail's sparse library that mainly contains legal tomes that would be a challenging read for anyone.
Sister Leah has even trained some of the prisoners as tutors, to help provide more individualized attention to other in her packed classroom, and has witnessed the self-esteem of her tutors soar when they realize that they can actually offer help to other people seeking knowledge.
"In some ways, I minister as much to the tutors as the students," Sister says. "They're a little older and little more educated, for the most part, and when they know that they can be helpful to other people, it just changes something inside them."
It's not just the three "R's" that Sister offers her students. It's also "T" as in "Technology." She has started using programs on the five computers housed in wooden, lockable desks in the corner of the classroom. So her students not only work on exercises in vocabulary and grammar, but also on high-tech spreadsheets and math-related programs that are sure to enhance their employability when released from prison.
When a student gets out of jail and enrolls in community college, it's a wonderful moment for Sister Leah, who struggles to purchase books and additional computer equipment.
"I hang onto those moments when I can reach just one person," Sister Leah says in her thick, Cajun Bayou drawl. "My whole thrust of being here is because we all make mistakes. God doesn't give up on us. I am here to help show people that. God still loves you. Jesus wants to give you another chance."
What Rev. Martin Luther King knew well was that education and faith were the golden keys that would unlock the manacles of ignorance and poverty that keep people anchored to misery. Through Sister Leah's lesson plans, those keys are freely offered. "Faith and education are the two things that are going to help rehabilitate people," she says. "What I do in here is show religion in action."
And once they learn, she watches her fledgling students take flight.
It is through the generous support of Catholic Extension donors that Sister Leah can continue her work. To learn more about helping a sacrificing missionary like her and more than 425 priests and religious working in poor and isolated communities throughout the United States, please click here Mission Partner