by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer, MMM USA 05.09.2026
Am I going to get leprosy? Will I die like Damien the Leper? These thoughts passed through my mind as I entered through the gate of ALERT Leprosy training program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in September 1989. I had asked to do a course in Leprosy before going to Nigeria. I would be in charge of Leprosy in our hospital in Ogoja and I felt I did not know enough about it. The pretesting exam showed that was true. I received a score of 22 out of 100, but with God’s help and hard work I received an A in the final exam. I loved learning about this very mysterious disease which was not caused by contact but by inhaling the germs spread by coughing and sneezing. It was similar to tuberculosis but much less infectious. Most people who were exposed could contain it with their immunity. Others could not. The mystery remains. It was an intense nine-week course.
I looked forward to home leave with my mother and family from Dec to March 1st, 1990, the day chosen to go to Nigeria. I had entered that day 34 years ago and this was a new beginning. Little did I know that it would be a frigid winter in Connecticut -10 F – and that I would soon face more than 100-degree change in the weather.
Upon landing in Lagos, I thought I was in an oven. The sequence from Pentecost came to mind. “Thou in toil are comfort sweet, refreshment in the noon day heat, solace in the midst of woe.” Every time I said that verse a cool breeze would come out of nowhere and refreshed me. Sr. Cecily Bourdillon met me at the plane. I was in trouble because I had only a one-way ticket. My ticket was bought in Tanzania to travel to Ethiopia, Ireland, New York, and Nigeria. Sr. Cecily’s charming smile saved the day, and I was allowed to enter. It was around midnight and we got lost going to Mafoluku. At that time, we stayed in the present-day Dominican Priests’ house until a new house was built for us. We ran the clinic for the Dominican Fathers.
I remember the kindness of Srs. Dervilla O’Donnell and Rita Higgins who were spending a few days there from Irele. One gave me stamps to write home and the other turned on the air conditioner in the bedroom. Sr. Giovanni McCormack had traveled from Ogoja to take me there. She had taken time out from the busy physical therapy department in Ogoja. I appreciated all the newness and adventure but still had the feeling of being in an oven for the next 2 weeks. My previous experience of living in Africa had found me at elevations of four thousand feet. Being at sea level was another story -which I shall continue.
by Sr. Liana de Jesus, MMM Brazil/ USA 02.09.2026
Sometimes the most meaningful lessons rise from the simplest discoveries.
I wasn’t searching for anything special when I wandered along the beach, enjoying the warm sand beneath my feet. Then I noticed an old, hollow log resting in the sand. Weathered by years of sun and salt, it seemed empty and forgotten.
But beside it sat a small orange brick, and behind it stood a young pine tree, green and alive. To most people, it was just driftwood. To my inner child, it was a doorway.
What if that hollow log wasn’t empty? What if it was the home of a rabbit, the front step marked by that brick, the pine tree in a forest guarding everything inside? Maybe a pirate treasure was buried beneath, or a secret grotto shaped by the sea.
Adults stop seeing possibilities. We see a log, not the stories it could hold.
That day, I closed my eyes and let my imagination pull me into the woods. I heard branches snap under my feet as I ran from a bear. And then, in the middle of the trees, I found safety in a hollow log—the very same one. It became a place of refuge and hope.
It reminded me that even when we feel hollow or disconnected from our roots, we can still provide shelter for someone else.
I wanted to bring that log home, but I left it there, hoping the next child or weary soul might see it differently.
As adults, we often lose the wonders we once had. That day reminded me to look beyond appearances, to rediscover my imagination, and ask the important question:
hat is the hollow place in my life, and how can I transform it into something filled with hope?
by Nadia Ramoutar, MMM Communications Coordinator Ireland 29.08.2026
It was always an exciting time for me as a child. The summer would start to wind down, August would arrive and with it new pencils, and other school supplies. I was that kind of geeky child (and adult) who loved new writing tools and notebooks to head back to learn something new. But as adults our attitude to learning something new is often less notable.
The reality is though that there are huge benefits to us all committing to be lifelong learners. In recent times, we have learned that our brain is capable of neuroplasticity which refers to the brain’s ability to change and adapt through life by modifying its structure, functions or neural pathways according to the Harvard Review.
As adults spending our time learning a new skill, solving a puzzle or getting new information can be a huge benefit to us in several meaningful ways. Using our brain keeps it sharp and helps support memory as we learn. It boosts our health too in encouraging us to be more adaptable and resilient. Along with cognitive development benefits there are social and person ones too. Being a lifelong learner gives us more pride and confidence in ourselves too.
Being a lifelong learner also prevents us from becoming dull. Now who doesn’t want that? If there is something we wanted to learn to do we should not limit ourselves from learning because of age. It makes sense that as we feel better about ourselves and we have more interest in our life then other people also have more interest in us too. It’s partly our job to stay interesting as we age.
There is just so much to learn in our world. The beauty of technology too is that learning anything is just a few clicks away. Courses, videos, podcasts are all just there and you can find anything at all that you might be interested in knowing. One of my go to favourites though is still books. I love to delve into a book and explore something new. Going to a new place is a wonderful exploration too. A library, a gallery, a museum or a park or even forest can be a teaching moment too.
Many years ago, I pledged to learn something new every day. I hope to continue to do so for the rest of my life. Is there something more you could do to invest in your cognitive wellbeing? The science backs up that the effort is most definitely worth the effort. And you my friend, are also worth it. So sharpen your pencil and let’s go back to school! The school of life is the greatest teacher of all.
by Sr. Sheila Campbell, MMM Ireland 26.08.2026
On Wednesday, August 12th, we had a partial eclipse of the sun here in Ireland. I heard that in some parts of Spain, Greenland and Iceland it was a total eclipse. Why was this so exciting? I suppose it is because it is so rare. Also, it goes against our ingrained sense of time – darkness is night and light is the day!
When I first became aware of the pending eclipse, my instinct was to give thanks that I would be around to see this. After all, the next one will be in 2090, when I can safely bet that I will be enjoying it in God’s presence! An Anglican bishop I heard talking on the radio also reminded me. Yes, we are all caught up in the science of it all. But science is the “how” question. As thinking people, we should also be addressing the “why” question. Why do the sun, moon and stars exist anyway? Who started off this whole thing. I think it was Saint Thomas Aquinas who called God ‘the First Mover.’
God’s plans for the universe are beyond our small, limited understanding. The more we probe the “how”, the more we realize there is ever more to learn. To ask the “why” question, for me asks a different response. I need to slow down, and open myself to awe, wonder, and yes, gratitude that there is a great Planner looking after everything.
Yes, I enjoyed the eclipse on the 12th, but spent the whole period just saying “thank you” to a God who set the whole thing in motion. One other thing – our seagulls that we were promised would quieten down, squawked loudly through the whole thing!
by Sr. Noeleen Mooney, MMM Ireland 22.08.2026
Living as we do in the port town of Drogheda, seagulls have always been a part of our world. They used to liv by the sea at Mornington, Bettystown and other resorts along the east coast.
Over recent years, changes have crept in. We live in a site that has high buildings, beside the parish church which has a large high roof. For the past number of years, the seagulls have adopted these heights to provide themselves with new breeding grounds. They have built their nests high uo – some using the same safe location each year. The eggs were laid, the parents took turn to incubate, the chicks hatched, and the parents kept close guard over them until they fledged. Then they took themselves off to new pastures, or should I say hopefully back to the coast.
That was until this year, which has been different. Even though the seagull chicks have all hatched and fledged, there is a great reluctance to move. Loud seagull screams are heard during the night, at various times. Maybe they are just having high-pitched discussions about their future.
A worrying development is that some of the newly fledged seagulls are being attacked by one of the parents. Some have been killed. Others wounded.
Why? Is it frustration at a lack of food to provide for their families? Is it a realisation that this kind of environment is not at all suitable for seagulls?
I have never seen so many seagull feathers scattered around the grounds and I wonder why. Maybe the present long dry spell is a big factor in their restlessness. Maybe it is a sober reminder to us that our world is changing in unexpected ways – and the seagulls are sharing this prophetic message with us. I hope we can listen and learn from them.
By Nadia Ramoutar Ireland 19.08.2026
Before becoming the Communications Coordinator for the MMM, I worked in The Mission to End Leprosy (TMTEL) and learned so much about infectious diseases and it was an education for me to learn the role that injustice and poverty play in these challenges. There is a cure for Leprosy that was found in the 1980s in Trinity College in Ireland. It’s a simple fix that requires inexpensive and minor care. But the tiny pockets where it still exists are amongst the poorest of the poor in our world.
A cure for polio and a vaccine for preventing polio also exists. It was thought, ten years ago, that polio was going to be eradicating soon. But that didn’t happen even though the medical innovation and funding existed at the time to see it happen. In 2016, Nigeria eradicated the wild polio virus leaving the WHO efforts to think that the end of the virus was just years away. But humans have a way of creating obstacles to progress in medical issues. Tragically, two areas of our world exist where children are still needlessly infected with polio: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Recently, a comprehensive article on this appeared in “Nature”, a portfolio of stories about advancements in Science explaining how eradication targets had “come and gone: 2019, 2023 and 2025.” Experts in health economics explain that while eradication on paper is possible, in practice it is not.
In the last 40 years, incredible progress has been made in polio vaccine and treatment and the numbers of people have plummeted but why do the cases remain active in Pakistan and Afghanistan? There are several factors at play here, but the cases keep reemerging in the poorest of poor areas where vaccine workers are facing tremendous obstacles. Areas are impacted by violent outbreaks which is making things very challenging. There have been violent attacks on workers and there is a huge threat to their lives. Police who are accompanying health care workers have been killed.
Also, there are issues with major health funding cuts as politics in the USA has led to vast and unexpected shortages in areas that were well funded before. The politics of the areas infected also mean that getting access to educate women about the benefits of immunization are limited. There are practical issues that force the health care workers to have to innovate and find ways to work against the limitations and blockages. What a tragedy that they are prevented from bringing this historic infectious disease to an end!
We know that good people work very hard to bring about change for the poorest of the poor and yet their efforts are not enough. We know that policies are made that are hard to implement because there are challenges in negotiating in politically unstable areas of the world.
When we think about the cost of violence and instability it seems like a tremendous burden that children should suffer because of it.
by Sr. Liana de Jesus Brazil/ USA 15.08.2026
I found a tree trunk by the sea. It taught me about the empty space where God might live.
I was walking by the sea only appreciating the beauty that God created. At this moment I saw it, an old tree trunk cathedral, bleached by salt and sun. It seemed useless, an empty trunk, a cathedral washed up by the sea. But when I looked closer at it and looked.
The inside of the empty trunk cathedral was very dark. I understood that the emptiness inside of me sometimes was what God desired for me.
Most of the time God desires human beings to be empty like this tree trunk to be His house for a time.
Because only in the deep silence that is emptiness can you find the space for God in your life. When you think that you are alone, God cares for you and you can find the treasure that is hidden inside of your heart. Sometimes you spend years looking in the wrong place for this treasure.
How many times have you felt like this trunk – empty? It is a challenge for you to find space in your life to grow this room inside of your heart. It is not the end; it is a sign that you need to move on.
But if you pay attention to what is at the back of this trunk, you will see trees. Full of life. These living trees are calling to you, “Don’t give up.” Be grateful for this moment in your life. If you have hope you will believe that the Divinity of God is at this moment working in your life. If you allow God to work in this empty space, you will understand more about your life.
When Jesus was crucified, He felt empty and alone like this tree trunk. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Although he felt forsaken, he said: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Like Jesus, I invite you to give to God what we can’t change. Make the empty place the house of God in your life.
By Ingrid Dalton USA 12.08.2026
Editor’s Note: After an unexpected delay in Turkey due to travel restrictions in the Middle East, Ingrid continues her story about Turkey.
On this visit to Turkey there were two distinct occurrences that came as a surprise to me, and they were of spiritual matter. The first surprise was at dinner at an authentic Turkish restaurant near the Bazar. The energy I picked up as we walked in was positive and gave a sense of societal togetherness. Mostly local guests and a very small number of tourists. The food and service were exquisite and the traditional music with its middle eastern tones was soothing. One musician played a zither and the other an oriental type of guitar. As we watched, people engaging in conversation and socializing while enjoying a water pipe (hookah). Suddenly a whirling dervish appeared. I was overcome with joy since I am a great admirer of the mystic Sufis and their founder, the great poet and mystic Rumi. I was taken in by the dance of this monk. The habit he wore, his movements and whirling were so reverend, his footwork so precise and accomplished alongside the music that turned more into sacred sounds, so divine. The Divine allowed me another glimpse of a way towards spiritual ecstasy.
The other surprise came in Ephesus. Once it was decided to stay in Istanbul, I suggested a journey to Ephesus. Suddenly, I was drawn to this ancient place. From church history it was also known as the place where Jesus’ mother lived in her final years. For orthodox and catholic Christians Mary is known as the Blessed Mother, or the Virgin Mary, and the Muslims honour her as the Virgin Mary, the mother of the Prophet Jesua. Ephesus, now in ruins with several monuments like the 2300 years old reminiscence of a library, the ancient city that the Goddess Artemis protected, where the Greeks and Romans reigned, becomes vivid in one’s mind and maybe memories of a past life. It certainly is worth seeing if one loves ancient history.
Then came the unexpected. Our driver took us to the house of Mary – Meryem Ana. Upon arriving, one walks up a path towards the shrine. I was immediately drawn in by its simple yet powerful serenity, surrounded by trees, singing birds, like walking in a magical garden or woods. Walking up the path, I would only whisper when engaging in conversation. I felt as if I was not in this world, everything around seemed disconnected, surreal. It was a place of its own floating universe. It became to me a “woo woo” moment, a word we use in metaphysics when something supernatural occurs. The crescendo of my journey. Walking in that sacred space, I immediately felt this extraordinary energy of calm and peace.
This entire trip was meant to experience fellow humans during Ramadan, the Sufi and to meet Mother Mary in her former worldly home. What if – the original trip wasn’t cancelled? I would not have had this experience so necessary for my soul, an experience out of the ordinary, an experience to know that love and hope are essential to our worldly existence. Life interceptions always happen for a reason. The fact that we were so calm upon arrival in Istanbul was a sign that we were at the right place at the right time.
Ingrid Dalton is a widow and retired. She lives with her two cats in Georgia, USA, and enjoys writing, traveling and spending time with friends and family.
by Nadia Ramoutar MMM Communications Coordinator Ireland 08.08.2026
I am at the hospital with my elderly mother in A & E, some parts of the world call it the Emergency room. It is hectic, loud and there are not enough beds for all the patients or professional staff to deal with them in this busy city. My mother is having trouble breathing and she has arrived by ambulance. We have been here overnight – and she still does not have a room.
My older sister is coming to relieve me soon, She has to take her oldest son to the airport. On the phone, her voice is strained and she feels guilty that she is not where I am. I am ringing to check on my own son. I am acting calm and reassuring my mother she is in the best place.
I check my emails. Why? I don’t know it’s really not helpful. I should eat something but I am trying to watch my weight. I have an annual check-up with my GP in a few days and I know I have probably gained weight on my holidays recently. I am annoyed with myself. Someone is yelling down the corridor. And instead of feeling upset by it, I try to have compassion for them that they are distressed.
The truth is I also feel like yelling or crying or something, but I can’t. I stay calm and be kind to my mother who is watching me closely because she does not trust the medical staff. I am the canary in her coal mine. If I am calm then she is calmer. If I lose it she will go sky high. So I won’t.
Recently, I listened to a podcast and heard the term “Window of tolerance” . It is a metaphor, introduced by Dan Siegel, a psychologist in 1999. Sometimes we are in a space where we can no longer cope. This is useful in realising that feeling overwhelmed is part of life but a many headed monster that can cause a variety of responses in people. We all have different responses to overwhelm depending on many factors.
Some of the symptoms of feeling overwhelmed:
- Irritability and Anxiety.
- Feelings of Hopelessness.
- Difficulty Concentrating.
- Sudden Mood Swings.
- Withdrawal From Social Activities.
The challenge is that some of us can’t see out the “window of tolerance” to acknowledge that we are not in a good space – sadly this can lead to choices which actually make life harder for us. In acknowledging my overwhelm I am able to cope better. I can use the techniques or ways to make myself feel less overwhelmed. I take a short walk and go and get a coffee. I find a quiet place and I take deep breaths. I cry a little if it helps. I call a kind friend.
Overwhelm can be crippling but it is rarely permanent. Knowing our window can help us to grow it and make us more compassionate to ourselves and other people.
by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer, MMM USA 05.08. 2026
Around this time Dareda Hospital was handed back to the Bishop of Mbulu. Sister Sheila Berthiaume stayed on for a few years more. Sr. Inez Mc Grath offered to stay with her. Sisters Margaret Garnett, Mary Friel, Catherine Fallon, and Vincent Pallotti opened a Health Clinic in Nangwa.
Sr. Mary Swaby came to Makiungu to relieve Sr. Dolores Kelly in the pharmacy. Sr. Dolores was not well and had fractured one of her vertebrae while traveling to Tabora to buy medicines. She healed with bed rest and analgesics and became well enough to go on Home leave. Investigations showed that she had weakness of her spinal column due to treatment for tuberculosis as a young sister. Sister Dolores always said she had done her retirement first and preferred to stay on the Missions. Upon her return, our Community and herself agreed on a few mutual conditions to make this possible. We would offer her the best treatment available to us. We had no facilities to do a hip replacement. Sister Dolores agreed to use a cane when walking. She even picked out her grave site which was on the Mission Church Compound. Sister Benedicta and Sr. Dolores were inseparable companions for one another and enjoyed long walks together. Every one of us was delighted that Sr. Benedicta could bring so much joy to her life.
One day, I received a letter from the Congregation, asking me to consider going to Nigeria. Sr. Cecily Bourdillon had volunteered to go to Sudan. I was asked to pray about this to see if this were God’s will for me. I was happy where I was. A little voice inside said ‘Go’. Our constitutions say, “Go where you are sent.” I had a year and a half to think and pray about it. God gave me the grace to say yes. It was not easy to leave because around this time Sr. Maureen Mc Dermott suffered a relapse of cancer. She went home for treatment and returned before I left in August 1989. Sr. Marian Scena came from Kabanga Hospital to relieve me. The hospital was left in very capable hands and thank God it has continued to flourish and help many people. As of now it is in the hands of a priest administrator under the auspices of the Bishop of Singida.
