Finding work in remote areas of Vietnam is still a problem for young people, especially since they come from large families and lack access to advanced formal education. For the past 12 years, sisters in the Ba Ria Vung Tau Province have been training young ethnic women about the dangers of accepting job offers that disguise human trafficking and other exploitation, instead giving them vocational skills they can use to find legitimate work as trained housemaids, for example. One graduate, Pham Thi Tham, said, "I am proud of my job that helps change my life."

"With God's love, we will continue to live out the charism and mission of our founders and foundresses. We will continue to reach out to those in need, living out the Gospel message and bringing the light and love of Christ to the dark, pain-filled areas of our world today. It is a world that still needs us."

Notes from the Field – I participated in four encounters held by the Union of Religious of the Holy Land. We analyzed a Vatican letter on the relationship between the church's hierarchial and charismatic gifts. Women and men religious from throughout the region shared their experience with the hierarchy, and discussed diversity and inclusion.

Walking the "Notre Dame Trail" from Vincennes Indiana to South Bend Indiana in celebration of the University of Notre Dame's 175 years was not what it was for Congregation of the Holy Cross Fr. Julian Sorin de la Gaulterie and his six Brothers of the Holy Cross companions in 1843. But we did it.

"Charism is always ripe but always in bloom again, always finished for one age and people but starting over again in another — charism is like every living thing."

GSR Today - As I marvel at the remastered "Sgt. Peppers," I realize how it is only when I allow God to start from the beginning, to rebuild me from the ground up using the original parts made in his image, that others can experience me as God intended.

Sr. Boitumelo Albertina Matlhabe has spent most of her life at St. Joseph's College High School in Gaborone, Botswana. The Sister of Calvary graduated from St. Joseph's in 1979, and she's been teaching there since 1985. In 2005, she became the school's managing director. She spoke with GSR about the realities of running a school that is partially funded by the government.