by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer MMM                        USA                                  26.07.2025

The Sisters had told me about a very frightening earthquake in their part of Tanzania that had occurred three months previously and damaged the operating theatre adjoining the outpatient’s block, rendering it unfit for surgery. Thank God the Pharmacy part of the building was safe to use and Sr. Mairead Caroll did a fantastic job of keeping us the medicines supplied. This meant regularly travelling hundreds of miles over bad roads.

The female and children’s ward storage rooms were being renovated for a new theatre. Two weeks later, just when the theatre lamp had been installed, there was need to do a Caesarean Section because a patient with a prolapsed cord appeared at 3am. At first, I was hoping that the generator would not go on, but Sr. Nuala Horgan had everything in place so quickly and helped me so much that we were able to have a safe Caesarean delivery. Thank God all went well and of course the mother was delighted, too. I thanked God too for His help as I was extremely nervous.

The day before St. Patrick’s Day, we were having an informal chat about the celebrations we would enjoy with the Pallotine Fathers. Sister Christina Hanley was the sister in charge of the house and how she managed to train the cook and get food to eat in this desert area was always a sort of miracle to me. At that, Sr. Salus stormed in and said, “How can you be discussing food and parties when the male ward latrine has just caved in?” We all laughed. Nonetheless, Father Basil stepped in and said, “Do not worry about the latrine. Together with the Viwawa, young people of the parish, we will build a new latrine for the male ward patients.” He saved the day, and all the celebrations were good despite the fact he still had mud on his boots from finishing the latrine just before the party. Sr. Christina Hanley outdid herself in producing a delicious feast.