USA
Nuns Build Dominicans among those returning to help in New Orleans
A recent article in the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, featured the sixth annual Nuns Build, coordinated by the nonprofit St. Bernard Project. Since 2009, 69 houses have been rebuilt. From the story: “We want to come and help people so they can come back to their home,” said Dominican Sister of Peace Barbara Lavin of Boston, who was on her second Nuns Build. “It’s been nine years since Katrina. We are very interested in the issue of justice, and this certainly is a justice issue of people returning to their homes.” Read more
Dominican Sisters of Peace Associate Bob Hessman’s daughter, Mel, was murdered in 1989, leaving behind a husband and three small children. Mel’s sister Jude Hessman, an associate candidate, says it took her eight years to forgive Gregg Braun, the man who was convicted of the murder and eventually executed. Gregg was a former elementary student at St. Dominic’s School in Garden City, Kansas. In this reflection, Sister Jolene Geier, OP (Peace) and Bob write about the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation, as well as the need for prison reform in the United States. 
