Networking Education at the Margins

Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins (JC:HEM), is one of the most innovative initiatives at the global stage of the Jesuit Mission. Bringing together educational and social institutions, this venture successfully serves people through education on one of the frontiers of our mission. We’ve invited Mary McFarland to write briefly about their project as an example of a current jesuit networking initiative based on international collaboration, which definitely widens the scope of the Jesuit mission. Enjoy your reading.
[pullquote align=”right”]We are an initiative of the Society of Jesus. We believe to transform thinking is to transform the world. [/pullquote] JC:HEM, an initiative of the Society of Jesus, brings higher education to those at the margins of our society. We are a global organization, building on the rich tradition of Ignatian pedagogy, and  achieving its reach through key partnerships such as JRS, UNHCR, Universities world-wide, and through faculty who volunteer to teach. We believe to transform thinking is to transform the world (www.jc-hem.org).
What does transform thinking and transform the world look like? At this early stage (JC:HEM is 4 years old) it looks like our students, men and women from 19 to approximately 57 years old, from over 14 countries, who describe how hope returned when they could access higher education. One student put it this way ‘… before I had no hope of continuing my studies, then JC:HEM came… you see before I was nowhere, and I’m not yet where I am going, but now I am somewhere.’  Transformation looks like the family ostracized for sending their daughter to school and then encouraging her to complete the JC:HEM Diploma in Liberal Studies offered on-line, and awarded through Regis University. In return she is now the Lead Teacher in a primary school in a large refugee camp where enrollment of girls had doubled – she is a role model.

JC:HEM academic programs include the Diploma in Liberal Studies offered on-line with faculty from around the world along with on-site academic support, and certificate level Community Service Learning Tracks (CSLTs) such as English as a Foreign Language, Teacher Training, and Child Protection.  Over 750 refugees and host community members in Malawi, Kenya, Syria, Jordan, Thailand, and Afghanistan have engaged in higher education through JC:HEM. More info at www.jc-hem.org
This post has been written by Mary McFarland, PhD, International Director of Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins and Professor, Gonzaga University. [PHOTO]: JC:HEM Lab at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. [VIDEO]: TEDxGeorgetown available at TEDx Talks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8xS3P0XAWA