Hundreds sick in Mexico religious school mystery
‘Hundreds of girls at a Mexican boarding school run by Catholic nuns have been struck by a mystery illness that authorities say is psychological, raising questions about conditions inside the academy.
Headmistress Margie Cheong, a nun from South Korea, said on Friday it was unclear what had caused the symptoms, which include difficulty walking and nausea.
“We really don’t know the cause, but the diagnosis by health authorities is of a psychological ailment,” Cheong said.
Some 600 of the 4,000 girls at the Villa de las Ninas school had been affected, she said, and 300 children had left the school, which offers a free secondary education to children from poor families. [..]
Some of the students have complained of overstrict disciplinary measures like being sent to sleep in an enclosure that houses sheep.’
