Many, late in life, feeling a need for more education to do
their work well, decide to go on for added studies. The Peace Weekly
tells us of Monica, who worked with poor and alienated women, and who
decided, in her
50s, to go to Japan to get a doctorate in gerontology.
After 13 years, not knowing any Japanese when she started, she got her
degree. Her dissertation was an exhaustive study of the Korean history of work
with the elderly. She will translate it into Korean and plans to publish
it in the future. At her age, to go on for a doctorate in another
country, unfamiliar as she was with the language, is not something easy to image.
Next year, she will be teaching at the Catholic University, which will
make her life even busier.
She admitted to wanting to give up
many times, but she
overcame the difficulties and persevered with her studies, receiving
help from many during her time in Japan, and has many to thank, she
says. She now has the qualifications of a first-grade social worker,
care-giver. She saw a need to gain knowledge regarding
the needs of the elderly and made her decision to become a specialist
in the field.
She has been a leader in the Catholic Workers Movement and began
a home for women, becoming a Godmother to many. She received education
in many different areas of study, and earned a master's degree in
women's studies. She aspires to starting a group home
exclusively for the elderly with the necessary cultural accompaniments.
Following England's example, she would also like to see restaurants that
cater to the needs of the elderly, not only as places where they can
eat and drink tea, but where they can get
counseling and enjoy their leisure time.
Her goal will continue to be, she says, to use her knowledge to further the well-being of the elderly in Korea.
