by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer MMM                        USA                           01.12.2024

I will never forget the solemn introduction given by the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool. We were assembled on an outside terrace and the band played “God Save the Queen”. I felt my heart racing. How could they have stolen our song? Then it dawned on me that we Americans were the stealers and used the same melody for “My Country Tis of Thee”.

This was followed by a ‘happy hour’ in which we met the various professors and laboratory assistants. Sister Marin Jones had told me about a good friend of hers to whom she sent slides of malaria parasites. We met easily, and I gave him Sister’s greetings. He told me he remembered her with admiration. I cannot remember his name now, but I remember our conversation. He told me he was an atheist but his friendship with Sister Mairin was his insurance card just to have if, when he died, he found out there were a God. I kept his words to tell Sister Mairin but was shocked to find out that he died of a heart attack that very night. We both prayed for him.

It was hard to settle in without Sister Deirdre Twomey, but I was happy to find that a Holy Rosary Sister Doctor de Paul who had worked in Kenya for many years, was an excellent companion. We did not live in the same residence but ate lunch together. She had many stories to tell me but the words I valued most were about how to go through the fright of not believing in yourself, that you are a qualified doctor and are able to work as one. She assured me everyone has to go through the process. I am grateful to her for this encouragement.

There were many Asian doctors from India and Myanmar doing the course. Some were perplexed and asked me how could Nelson’s Pillar be blown up in Dublin, in a catholic country? I had no answers, but duly told them I had climbed inside the Pillar twice as a tourist. I was wondering how the traffic would manage as all buses in those days seemed to be headed for the Pillar. They also asked a lot of questions about “The Sound of Music” film which had just come out in the cinema. At that time, it was not so easy to go to the movies. I cannot count the times I have seen it since!

I loved traveling on the bus from the Little Sisters of the Poor residence to the School of Tropical Medicine. The bus drivers would often call their passengers “Love”. One day I heard one shouting “Love, you are standing ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE STREET.” Love. Even the priests in confession would say “How long has it been, love?”

There were many places of interest to travel in Liverpool. I had the opportunity of ascending into a lift to get a closer look at the beautifully stained-glass circular window high above the altar of Liverpool Cathedral. So many shades of blue light radiated down on the main altar. The construction of the Cathedral was almost completed.

It was a great privilege to visit Sr. Anne Merriman’s mother who lived in the vicinity and was most welcoming to all of Anne’s friends.
All the Tropical Medicine subjects were extremely interesting. And we went into them in great detail. I was so happy that remedies were found to cure these diseases as so many of the first missionaries to Africa died of malaria and were sickened by the Tsetse fly.
We had to identify all these insects and one day we had a practical test. The last specimen was a joke. The head of a bumble bee was put on the body of the tsetse fly We could not identify it. The answer given was HUM BUG. One of the doctors from Myanmar said “Humbug? We have not studied Humbug. It is not fair.” We all roared laughing and tried to tell him it was a joke, and the results did not count for our final result.

After twelve weeks we took our final examination and most of us passed. It was time to prepare for the boat ride home to Drogheda and happily go to Uganda on Easter Monday. That is another story.