Sister Emmanuelle- Her Life Essays - Emmanuelle, Free Essays

Sister Emmanuelle- Her Life Essays - Emmanuelle, Free Essays Sister Emmanuelle- Her Life Sister Emmanuelle- Her Life of Accomplishments A: Summary of Sister Emmanuelles Life Sister Emmanuelle was Christened Madeleine Cinquin and was born in Brussels on the 16th of November 1908. She was one of three children to Berthe Lenssens and Jules Cinquin. Madelienes father tragically drowned when she was six during a beach side holiday. She grew up in Belgium, yet during the First World War, her mother moved them to Paris for a year, and then returned to Belgium one year later. She was taught English by a British Governess and excelled in her schoolwork. By the age of twelve, Madeleine wanted to be a nun. She was inspired by Father Damien, a Catholic Priest who helped Leprosy sufferers in Hawaii. After reading about acts of charity, Madeleine Cinquin decided to use all her efforts to helping those who were not as fortunate as she was. She joined the Order of Our Lady of Sion and changed her name to Sister Emmanuelle when she took her vows in 1923. Emmanuelle means God is with us. She taught in convent schools for well off children, but Sister Emmanuelle felt that she should use her teaching skills to educate those less fortunate children, so she discontinued teaching in Turkey and Tunisia and seeked in helping those in Egypt. A Popes representative heard of Sister Emmanuelle wishes and suggested she helped the thousands of refuse collectors known as the zabaleen in Egypt. The zabaleen, which means filth or rubbish, lived on the outskirts of Egypt at a rubbish dump called Ezbet El Nakhl. Ezbet El Nakhl was a dirty place inhabited by refuse collectors who collected the rubbish of Egypt for very little pay and lived in a poor, dirty and unhygienic place where the rubbish of Egypt was stored and sorted. The children were uneducated and had no way of entertaining themselves so they got into trouble. Sister Emmanuelle moved into Ezbet El Nakhl in 1971 and lived in a small one roomed hut with very few possessions. She was 60 years old at the time. She decided to give up her luxuries and live like the many zabaleen friends that she had made. She traveled into the city everyday at 5 oclock in the morning for mass at the city convent. Sister Emmanuelle lived with very little food and had to put up with the many problems that the zabaleen lived with, like white worms in food supplies and housing, fleas and disease. Sister Emmanuelle had not been at Ezbet El Nakhl long when she decided to open a school in her spare room. She accepted any child of any religion who was willing to learn. Sister Emmanuelle took her small class on many field trips to Egypt and for many, it was their first time into Egypt apart from collecting rubbish. She opened a school for men and many showed up to learn the Arabic alphabet. Sister Emmanuelle was desperate for a youth club and center to help the Zabaleen. She set about collecting 15 000 from the local charities and help funds around Europe. She finally achieved this two years later. A kitchen, club, pool, football field and lounge was set up for the youth of the Ezbet El Nakhl. She called it the 'Salam Center,' which is Arabic for peace. It was opened on the 29th of March in 1979 and the center also provides social, medical, cultural and educational help. When Sister Emmanuelle was satisfied with her work at Ezbet El Nakhl, she moved on to Mokkatam; a refuse collectors dump which was in worse condition than Ezbet El Nakhl. Sister Emmanuelle started the work of collecting money from charities to build a factory for composting material, which she finally achieved. Sister Emmanuelles work in the rubbish slums contributed greatly to the progress and living conditions in the refuse collectors lives. Even at 77 years of age, she was still collecting money for the refuse collectors. B. Sister Emmanuelles Christian Motivation In Sister Emanuelle's early life, she was heavily influenced by Christian faith and many Christians were her motivation. Through influential beings, Sister Emmanuelle became a person who was willing to help others and devote her skills for the needs of others. When Sister Emmanuelle was eleven,