Teresian Sister Dolores Aviles was visiting family a few streets away from Robb Elementary School in her hometown of Uvalde, Texas, on that May day when a cacophony of sirens alerted her that something was wrong.
Another human trafficking raid, an unfortunate regular occurrence in the small city 50 miles from the Mexico border, she thought. Helicopters circled the neighborhood overhead, and a niece called: There is a shooter at the school, where three family children attended fourth grade.
“We started to cry, because we knew people in that school; we had three students in the school,” Sister Dolores, 66, told Our Sunday Visitor. Her nieces, Amarie Jo Garzo, Tess Marta and Eliahana Torres, were shot dead by the gunman.
Funerals followed for 19 children and two teachers, and in the pain and grief, Sister Dolores heard a familiar voice — the same one that asked, “Who should I send?” that she answered when she was called to religious life.
“The Lord is asking me to do something for the Robb children,” she told Our Sunday Visitor. “He said, ‘Let the children come to me.’ And then we recreated a summer camp we hold every summer.”
‘They are embraced’
She enlisted 12 nuns from Los Angeles, San Antonio and Kalamazoo, Michigan, along with a half-dozen laypeople. Catholic Extension, a century-old charitable group in Chicago, funded the entire summer project and millions of dollars in school improvements.
The camp ran daily in the afternoon, and the children from Robb participated in faith activities, arts and crafts, a gameroom and fitness activities. “They did some sweating,” Sister Dolores joked.
“We sang songs, talked and prayed, and we ended each day with a meal, and parents joined us for the meal,” she said. “Parents were welcomed to stay for the camp.”
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To learn more about Catholic Extension and the work the organization is doing in Uvalde, Texas and elsewhere — and to donate — visit catholicextension.org. |
“Sacred Heart School and parish in Uvalde immediately sensed the demand that people would want to send their kids to a Catholic school that they can’t afford,” Joseph Boland, vice president of missions for Catholic Extension, told Our Sunday Visitor. The organization provided scholarships to the Robb Elementary families who wished to send their children to Sacred Heart.
Sister Esther Guerrero was among the 12 nuns who worked with Sister Dolores this summer in Uvalde and loved the “innocent children” she worked with. “They have tender faces, and they are so resilient.”
The horror of May 24 remains with the surviving students, Sister Esther told Our Sunday Visitor.
“They gradually talk about it, thank God,” she said. “They are in a safer environment, and they are embraced,” she added.
“There was a second-grade boy whose brother died, and he would only come in every other day, because that is all he could handle. A little girl was pretty nervous and had stomach aches every day. But she would feel better when the therapy dog, Miracle, would come by. The children would all gather around that dog and pet her and smile. The children are so loveable, vulnerable. One little girl came up to me every day and hugged me.”
Sister Esther was in transition from one assignment in San Antonio to another in May and awaited reassignment after years of management duty.
“I really thank God for the opportunity to be present,” she said. “I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know how or what. I went to a meeting, and they were searching for volunteers for Uvalde.”
‘Our hearts were shattered’
Boland was at Sacred Heart in Uvalde on Aug. 15 for the first day of school. He smelled the fresh paint and saw the fresh faces of the newly entering students who were welcomed by returning pupils and teachers.
On May 24, Boland was in the office of Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension, “when there was a news flash on the television,” Boland told Our Sunday Visitor.
“Father Jack groaned and said ‘Not again.’ I looked at the screen and saw what was happening in Uvalde,” Boland said. “We recognized Uvalde — a name unknown to many at the time, but we know it; we know it well.
“That city shares part of our history. We have built or repaired 12,700 churches since our founding in 1905. The fact that Uvalde was among our first to get us off the ground. … We built their Sacred Heart Church in 1906 and built their school six years later. Our hearts were shattered for their children and families.”
Catholic Extension deployed a team to Uvalde to see “what needed to be done and what could be done,” Boland said. Today, an 18-month effort is underway.
Sacred Heart School has doubled its enrollment by providing scholarships from Catholic Extension to 55 students from the now-shuttered Robb Elementary School, which is scheduled for demolition.
The Catholic school was renovated: new fencing installed, upgraded security cameras in place, ballistic windows installed and classrooms updated over the summer by a professional security company that donated equipment and installation. The combination cafeteria and gym was upgraded.
The enrollment capacity is up to 170 students, with more than 100 students now attending the school, including the dozens of children from Robb, and room for more.
‘It is amazing how he works’
The physical plant of the old school was ready on opening day, and emotional, psychological services have been provided to the Robb children and their families since last spring.
“All of the (school) seems to be enjoying the first … weeks of school,” Joseph Olan, Sacred Heart’s principal, told Our Sunday Visitor. “Lots of school activities are planned throughout the year. School culture is amazing right now, and that reflects the student’s enthusiasm for being at Sacred Heart.”
Olan added: “The atmosphere keeps getting better and better. Lots of laughter, project-based learning and love in classes.”
“God is in our school and all around. Many gracious donors, supporters and community members are truly being utilized by God to help the ministry of education at SHCS. My teachers and staff as well are truly tremendous in carrying the word of God to our students and religion classes.”
Sister Dolores knows why she answers the voice she hears.
“He is so powerful, it is amazing how he works in our own lives, gives us energy,” she said.
Sister Dolores, in particular, needed all the help she could get in May. “I was just coming out of COVID and then pneumonia in May. The Holy Spirit was the energy in me.”
Boland told Our Sunday Visitor, “One thing the Catholic community has taught me when we interact with people who feel hopeless and helpless is to meet them where they are in their trauma and in their great sadness.”
“I met the victims’ parents, and these children are the loves of their lives, they are proud of their children,” he said.
“I saw kids trying to reassure their parents, saying they would be OK in their new school … to see them joke around a little bit, a little smile. I hope those are the first smiles of many more to come.”
Joseph R. LaPlante writes from Rhode Island.
