On hearing the heart-rending news of Sr Pilar’s passing away on the 23rd of October last week, I reflexively reached out for my office folder containing the thank-you note that she wrote me years ago. The acknowledging message had remained carefully and affectionately filed in my personal binder since that crisp September day.
My work with neurodivergent children and those with learning challenges took me back to my alma mater, Lahore’s Convent of Jesus and Mary (CJM), soon after Thevenet Centre became a part of the legendary school and opened its doors to learning-challenged children under its foundress, Sr Pilar.
Thevenet Centre, a special needs department operating at the Lahore Convent since the year 2000, provides education and support to differently-abled children. Named after Saint Claudine Thevenet, the French Catholic religious saint and the foundress of the Congregation of Religious of Jesus and Mary, the institute has since provided a salubrious learning and nurturing environment to hundreds of children from within and outside of Lahore.
Sr Pilar referred to her special needs students as the 'blessed' ones – it was almost as if she transmitted a part of her brimming energy to those who needed it the most
Around the same time as the Thevenet Centre’s inception, Sr Pilar took charge as the principal at CJM Lahore, serving the legendary institution till she passed away last week, which made her the longest-serving principal at the school.
A Passion for Inclusive Education
While running a brain gym for children in Lahore, primarily meant for the learning-challenged, I approached Sr Pilar, requesting a visit to the Thevenet Centre. It was one of the most comprehensive facilities of its kind under one roof, and it was very close to her heart. The late Sister’s passion, penchant, and professionalism for what was her brainchild were overtly reflected not only in every nook and corner of the specialised institute, but could also be sensed in the fostering milieu that defined Thevenet Centre.
Sprightly and spirited, Sr Pilar referred to her special needs students as the “blessed” ones. It was almost as if she transmitted a part of her brimming energy to those who needed it the most, further enriching their blissful existence; her always cheerful and positive disposition relentlessly empowering learning-challenged children while patiently guiding their anxious parents. Sr Pilar’s warrior-woman energy was, perhaps, just the type of inspiration and support that the children needed, as she equipped the latter with skills, confidence, and, most of all, hope.
A Disciplined and Perceptive Mentor
My very first memories of Sr Pilar are of an abider, marshalling parents queuing up in the corridors of the Convent at the crack of dawn to collect admission forms for their daughters during admission week. Queue-jumping comes naturally to most of us Pakistanis—only while in Pakistan, though—and streamlining and managing long, meandering queues of parents yearning to get their daughters enrolled at the coveted convent was no mean feat.
“If you cut the line, we wouldn’t want to take your daughter,” she quipped at a parent skipping ahead, implying that the school administration did not want rule-breakers to send their daughters to an institution known for its compliance to ethics and stern adherence to the character building of its students; a school whose very motto read, ‘education is not information, but formation.’
Soon, an opportunity to conduct a workshop—on identifying learning-challenged children in the mainstream school system—for teachers of Thevenet Centre and the junior school in September 2008 turned out to be a much-cherished experience for me. Later, my sitting with Sr Pilar following the workshop proved to be like a flash of insight, an epiphany that became my guiding light through the later years of my work with neurodivergent children, leaving a discernible impact on what I did.
Pearls of Wisdom
During what was the longest I had conversed with Sr Pilar, as I sat in her office sharing with her my own experience dealing with the inherent vicissitudes of my work managing brain training of children with cognitive delays, I couldn’t escape the calming effect of her unflustered, unflappable responses to the dilemmas and challenges that I confided to her.
As she spoke, I was catapulted back to my years of studenthood at the Convent, and though never having been Sr Pilar’s student, I felt like that same unsure, peevish pupil whose only rescue comes from the insightful pearls of wisdom cast her way by a perceptive mentor.
“You are also a journalist who writes against the wrongs and promotes the right. Caring for the learning-challenged is putting into practice what you preach.” The crux of her words, that might have been slightly different from what I remember, has stayed with me since.
I walked out of her office that day with key takeaways that helped shape the rest of my work trajectory with neurodivergent children and gave me the reassurance and the vigour to carry on.
A Lifetime of Philanthropy
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Sr Pilar called Pakistan her home. She personified a lifetime of philanthropy, touching innumerable lives here, her acumen and positivity springing from something much deeper and complex than her proactive persona or her lively, principled, and buoyant spirit. She was a strong advocate of social inclusion, a much-needed societal practice in Pakistan where we witness rampant classism all around us. She created a compassionate space for children while championing inclusive education and equal opportunity for all children, regardless of their backgrounds or deficiencies, a rarity in our heavily stratified education system.
Sr Pilar’s life was a testimony to her unfaltering commitment to the formation of young minds and souls. She was a change-maker at heart, her leadership, combined with her unremitting drive, guiding countless lives within the CJM community.
As I sit here in Geneva thousands of miles away, gazing at the thank-you card that she gave me after I conducted the teacher training workshop, it is I who should be thanking her again for instilling in me the courage to tread a formidable, unfrequented path. Rest in power, Sr Pilar; the same power that you passed on to each one of us who was fortunate enough to cross paths with you.