Holds our Monthly Feature and Monthly Feature data
by Sr. Cordelia Nwaokike, MMM, Benin City, Nigeria
Ikechukwu Onyenuma, 29 years old, is a naturally talented and vibrant young man. He comes from the eastern part of our country, Nigeria. You can sense, from the first conversation with him, that he is somebody who loves life and the people around him. He has a lot of energy for many kinds of physical work. We met him the day we went for a burial in the eastern part of Nigeria. He came to the burial ground begging for alms from people. We were with a Sister of another congregation when we saw him. He looked emaciated, anaemic and a bit sad.
We stopped to greet him. Further conversation revealed that he had had a motorcycle accident and had suffered bruises and wounds. The bruises dried up, but the wound on the leg escalated to a huge leg ulcer. He had been three and a half years in this condition. He went to several hospitals for treatment, but all in vain. He said his father died long ago, and his mother has been struggling to help him but she ran out of money to continue. Many people promised to help, but all disappeared at the sight of the wound. It frightened them. I asked his permission to photograph him and to use his name and he agreed. When we returned to our community, we told the Sisters about the young man and, after some investigations, the community decided to help.
With a grant from our donors, he has been in the hospital for the last two months. Some investigations were carried out, but the doctors were not able to save his leg and an amputation was done. He is
receiving treatment and daily dressings are being carried out, waiting for the wound to heal. Presently he is using crutches for mobility, and he is happy with himself, and the help given to him. MMMs have indeed given him hope to live again.
When the wound is healed, we are hoping to find him an artificial limb.
Now Ikechukwu is so happy that his problem is almost fully solved, and this has given him the opportunity to see and think clearly. He is thinking of his future which has been compromised by his former condition. He is working towards independence and living life to the full. This was only possible through the support of the charitable people of God. His mother will be helped to establish a small business to enable her to put food on the table.
We are grateful to our donors, to the Medical Missionaries of Mary Congregation and to all who have contributed to ending the long and painful suffering of our young man, Ikechukwu. May God bless all our donors and reward you all, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
This is the exclamation of many overseas visitors to MMM communities in Africa and Latin America. Often MMMs can be found “at the end of the road”. Why? MMMs tend to go where no one else is willing to go. We go to remote rural areas, like Turkana or Maasailand, and inner-city slums like Sao Paulo, Lagos or Nairobi. In these places there are no proper roads, often no water or electricity, and generally poor infrastructure.
These are the areas where the poor and neglected are. MMM has a special gift for working with mothers and children. That was the need Mother Mary saw in Nigeria just over a hundred years ago. We pay attention especially to areas where women’s lives and health are under-valued.
But we do not stay forever! We hand over and leave when services are established, when local people have more opportunities. We live by the maxim:
“Go where you are needed but not wanted. Stay until you are wanted but not needed”
What is malaria and how do you get it?
Malaria is a life-threatening disease, usually spread to humans by some types of mosquitoes. It is mostly found in tropical countries. It is preventable and curable. The infection is caused by a parasite and does not spread from person to person. Symptoms can be mild or life-threatening. Mild symptoms are fever, chills and headache. Severe symptoms include fatigue, confusion, seizures, and difficulty breathing. Infants, children under 5 years of age, pregnant women, travellers and people with HIV/AIDS are at higher risk of severe infection.
Malaria can be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites and with medicines. Treatments can stop mild cases from getting worse.
The 2023 World Malaria Report, published by WHO, examined the link between climate change and malaria. Changes in temperature, humidity and rainfall can influence the behaviour and survival of the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito. Extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and flooding, can also directly impact transmission and disease burden. Catastrophic flooding in Pakistan in 2022, for example, led to a five-fold increase in malaria cases in the country.
The disease burden is felt highest in Africa. In 2022, Africa was home to about 94% of all malaria cases and 95% of deaths. Children under 5 years of age accounted for about 78% of all malaria deaths in African countries. The number of infections worldwide was slightly higher in 2023 than 2022.
Why are things not getting better?
Progress in malaria control is threatened by emerging resistance to insecticides among Anopheles mosquitoes. These insecticides are used on mosquito nets and for indoor spraying. Other threats include insufficient access to treated nets due to the stresses of day-to-day life outpacing replacement, and changing behaviour of mosquitoes, which appear to be biting early before people go to bed and resting outdoors, thereby evading exposure to insecticides.
Signs of hope
Two new anti-malaria vaccines are being tried out for young children. Preliminary results show great promise, but a good public health system needs to be in place to make any change long-lasting. Often this is difficult in conflict torn areas such as Niger, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Our third Annual Craft Fair will be held in the MMM Auditorium on Saturday, November 23rd.
It will be the last one in this venue as the MMM Auditorium will be part of the new Drogheda Hospice which is being built around this site. It will not be the end of the Craft Fair – we will just change venue!!
So, those of you who are “crafty” are encouraged to participate in the ways you feel best. Those less talented can come along and enjoy other people’s work. Hopefully we will have visiting choirs with Christmas music, and of course “the wee cup of tea”. It is also a chance for anyone who wants to learn something of our MMM heritage to visit the Mother Mary Room.
All are welcome!
This summer, Sr Rita Kelly, MMM gave a presentation at a significant conference at Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at the University of Oxford. The Las Casas Institute brings together a growing academic family or community of scholars, mainly lay women and men, who draw on the rich tradition of Catholic social thought, teaching, and practice.
Sr Rita presented her paper at the conference called “Forgotten Voices in Literature and Religious Conference, Blackfriars Hall. It was organised by the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice, a Dominican foundation.
Her presentation, “Wounded Healers, Narrating Our Personal Experiences,” was based on her vast experience working with returned missionaries in the Irish Missionary Union (IMU). She initiated the IMU-REAP team in a response to their needs and as an acknowledgement that many missionaries experience stress and trauma in the field. Her presentation was well received and created much interest.
In addition to delivering her paper, Sr. Rita met the members of the Las Casa Institute through the MMM Communications Department when they were doing research on “Recovering the voices of Sisters who have conducted challenging ministries in conflict zones.”
Sr. Rita is the former MMM European Area Leader. She is currently gathering oral histories of local people who knew Mother Mary Martin, MMM Founder. She is also co-authoring a children’s book on Mother Mary’s life. The book will be completed by the end of the year.
SafeBirth4All is promoted by a coalition of organisations including the Medical Missionaries of Mary (MMMs), the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI) and Geneva for Human Rights. The newly launched campaign seeks to raise awareness of the wider issues of human rights and human dignity as it encompasses the realities of the experiences of women and girls who live with, or are at as risk of, obstetric fistula. It focuses on the reality that obstetric fistula is a preventable injury.
The launch began with a powerful video highlighting the stories of two women in Uganda who have lived with obstetric fistula, one for some 50 years. The video was directed and produced by Dearbhla Glynn and Patrick Daly for Yoke Productions. Speakers at the launch included Mr. Ken Gibson, CEO of the Mission to End Leprosy who outlined some of the complexities and opportunities of developing and sustaining an eradication campaign. Sr. Ursula Sharpe, Congregational leader of the MMMs talked of the pioneering work in the field of gynaecology, obstetrics and surgery of the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Nigeria and Uganda through examples of the work of Sr. Drs. Anne Ward and Maura Lynch. Toni Pyke, PhD with AMRI, talked of the need for a SafeBirth4All campaign and Edward Flynn CSSp outlined how the “Safebirth4All campaign has at its heart, human rights, prevention and a holistic approach to reintegration and rehabilitation of women”. He outlined 5 key areas where the issue of obstetric fistula needs to be mainstreamed: education, diplomatic circles, advocacy opportunities, healthcare domains, communications and media. MC for the event was Nadia Ramoutar, PhD, Communications Coordinator with the MMMs.
The event was live-streamed on Facebook Live.
By Sr. Pauline Amulen, MMM, Lilongwe, Malawi
We visit our patients twice every week. It is always an exciting moment for the homebased care team to go and deliver their services to those in most need who are unable to reach the health centre. In every visit we often plan to visit 5 to 6 clients in a day. I began the story last month with the first visit to Sarah and her grandmother.
The second visit was to “Agogo” which is grandmother. When we arrived in the compound, it was all quiet with the door closed, “Agogo” was inside alone, lying on a raggy mat in a dusty room in the dark. The family members had all gone to their daily work. A neighbor having seen us stranded came to open the door for us to go in to see her. She was very delighted to hear our voices. With limited energy in her body due to hunger, she struggles to talk, and she says, “The food you gave me the last time you came helped me to gain some energy, that is why I am able to sit up, but it is now finished, and I am very hungry.” For sure, there was no sign of any food in any corner of the house when we rolled our eyes around. Her daughter later came and found we were still around, so we encouraged her to come and pick some food items for her Mam in the clinic.
Thirdly we visited Anajere another “Agogo”. Agogo Anajere is in her 80s but she is getting weaker every day. When we arrived the caretaker helped her to sit up so that we could chat with her. She really can’t sit for a long time, but this day because she was enjoying our company she didn’t want to lie down again. We were rubbing her dry back and she seemed to enjoy this so much. She has always promised us that one day she will sing for us. On this particular day she said she would love to sing but she could not remember the song. The carer started a familiar hymn and we all joined in a chorus singing and clapping hands. She was so delighted to sing and never wanted to stop singing. Agogo and her carers are always happy to see us around and are very thankful for our support to her and to them and the entire family.
Next, we visited Paul who is in his late 70s. He is battling a stroke. He was excited to see us arrive in the shade outside his house where he always sits. We had a chat with him, and he was happy to speak the little Kiswahili he remembers. We offered him massage on his arms, and we encouraged him to stand and move a little. He was so collaborative to do every exercise we asked him to do, and he promised us he would continue doing exercises daily. We also discovered that he stopped taking his blood pressure drugs a year ago because at that time he felt he was fine. Without his medication his blood pressure has gone very high again. We encouraged the family to take him back to the hospital to be re assessed after which he should take the medication that he will be given daily without fail whether feeling better or not. We educated him on the implications of not taking his medication properly.
Finally, before we closed our day’s work, it was afternoon in the scorching sun, yet we had one more patient to visit in the nearby village. This village could not be accessed by car. We put our feet down and walked to that village, a 20-minute walk. Unfortunately, on arrival at the house the neighbours told us that the condition of the patient was critical and he is admitted to a local clinic. Mr. Isaac suffers from both hypertension and is a diabetic. He had a stroke and also went blind. We hope we find him home and feeling better in our next visit to him next week.
By Sr. Goretti Nalumaga, MMM
Margarida (not her real name) is 29 years old, married to ‘Joseph’. Together they have four children, all boys and one adopted girl who is Margarida’s niece. She grew up thinking that Margarida was her real mother. She is, in fact, a daughter of her younger sister who died in childbirth. The girl was told recently that Margarida was her aunt, and she was devastated.
Margarida’s last born has severe cerebral palsy and he depends on her for everything. He gets sick often and is given more attention than the other children. He is accepted by his siblings. Her husband was very supportive regardless of his little income before he left the family. He was doing casual jobs which could not sustain his family. The small business he had was not promising. He then decided to go abroad for greener pasture. He was unlucky because while there, he suffered a motor accident, and he sustained a fracture. His friends who were working with him, agreed to treat, feed, and accommodate him on condition that he would pay them back when he got better.
He gradually got better after some years. He started riding a “boda boda” motorcycle as before, so as to earn an income, and pay back the debt. He also tried to support his family back home, but he tried this in vain. He is now jobless and stranded. When things became worse for the husband and she could not cater for all the five children in the city, she decided to take the three sons to their paternal grandparents who had nothing and the girl to her paternal relatives who also had nothing. All the children were no longer going to school and feeling unhappy that the mother sent them away from her. They are still young and could not understand the difficult situation the mother is going through.
To make things worse, the grandparents of the children always depended on their son for nearly everything, but he was no longer supporting them. Eventually, the mother went to visit the children and the condition did not please her, so she brought all the four children back since they were no longer studying and some were sick.
The sick child had stayed with her mother because no one would accept to stay with him. When the children came back, she used the money she was saving to take them to a school but could not pay all the school fees for the three terms. So, they missed half of the second term and only one is in school now as she is struggling with rent and many other domestic needs. Through advocacy, a Sister spoke to one of our friends who managed to pay school fees for the first born who is very intelligent. He is 10 years old, in primary three and loves school. He keeps on asking the mother why they cannot go back to school while their friends near them go. When the mother prepares food, the young ones ask for more because they are not satisfied; she gives them her food and she drinks water; she sleeps on an empty stomach. When she came to visit us first to share her problems, we noticed that she had lost a lot of weight. We gave her something to eat and to take home. She looked better when she came back for the second time. The sick boy gets sick often and he has gone to the hospital three times. He has severe cerebral palsy, and no one will stay with him. She was advised by some people to leave the child somewhere or do something but would not follow their evil advice. She now feels abandoned by the family for not doing what they wanted her to do and some who could afford to support her, refused. They feel that it was her fault. When we saw how she was suffering, we decided to enrol her in the programme. Her son must be on daily medication which she cannot afford without support. We have provided nutrition and medical support. Income generating activity was going on as well, but she used some of the profit for domestic needs since the children came back to live with her. Unfortunately, the three children are no longer schooling apart from the one who was supported. The project which was providing medical support finished.
We remain grateful to our donor agencies who help us run the programme. Margarida has benefited from treatment and nutrition supplements for her child. We thank MMM leadership and all our generous friends. We are hopeful that through advocacy, we would get more help so that the remaining three children can go back to school, and the sick child continue to be treated monthly. May God bless and provide for all our needs always.
By Sisters Nilza dos Santos & Margaret Nakafu, MMM
In Brazil, according to the National Youth Council created in 2005, young persons are those between 15-29 years. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics 2021 Report states that the Brazilian population is 214 million and the youth correspond to 23%, an equivalent to 47 million. The youth represent 1/3 of the economically active population. However, despite their high productivity, 27.1 million are unemployed. The alarming data reveals that a quarter of the youth neither study nor work. This leaves young people vulnerable and with increasing cases of anxiety and depression. They are also vulnerable to being recruited by gangs and using drugs.
It is in this context that the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Salvador initiated a project to accompany and empower young people. It helps them discover their potential and foster their wholistic growth. The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Carlos Santana II College, a public college. The project team consists of two MMMs and a psychologist. They use a friendly methodology with the youth, listen and empower them. The aim of the project is to foster an integral development that awakens young people to rediscover their inner strength, have a sense of purpose in life and work towards their socio-economic, spiritual and emotional wellbeing.
The project team members meet the youth, on a weekly basis, with different themes during the sessions. The sessions are a forum to express and share their challenges, fear and hopes. Here we share the story of ‘Iris’. Iris is aged 16 and lives with her mother and stepfather in the congested neighbourhood of Nordeste de Amaralina. At the first meeting, Iris showed some resistance to the project´s approach and activities. She entered the room apathetic, sad and her face was down. She did not want to participate in the group activities. In a simple guessing game that consisted of telling one truth and two lies about oneself, Iris revealed that her truth was “I want to die”. Iris’s statement raised a lot of concern from her classmates and the project team. “What would lead such a young person to think that the truth about herself is wishing to die”?
The psychologist said that “the desire for healing is the first step to be healed”. And that’s what Iris’s story is all about. The project team, in network with the school headmaster, engaged Iris in a series of individual conversations to help her to access her perception and cognitive tools, bringing about a sense of purpose. It is very important to emphasize that the management of suicidal behaviours is addressed by both professional and systematic interventions. Therefore, she was referred to another psychologist who will have the tools and the time Iris needs. Having this support, she can go through a process of healing.
In the beginning, Iris resisted going to a psychologist, with the idea that she did not need a personalised accompaniment. “The group sessions alone will help me”, she said. After much discernment, both with her and with her mother, Iris accepted to take this first step on the journey to her healing.
For some people with suicidal behaviour or thoughts, their primary desire is not death, but a different life. They seek any way to not feel the pain that consumes them. It was based on this that the case of the young Iris was handled. The project team uses a friendly approach that welcomes, listens, and accepts the young person as they are, using gentleness and compassion to offer them a space of trust in order for them to feel loved and supported and embrace the journey as they heal.
“Wherever you are, whatever you do, let there be in your heart a space for others to be, so that unafraid, they may experience themselves as loved and so be healed” (MMM Constitutions 7.3).
Once Iris felt that she was heard, accepted and loved in gentleness and compassion, she started seeing other possibilities of dealing with her pain and suffering. We hope that Iris will persevere on this journey and discover herself as loved and unique in this world, someone capable of healing others, because she has been healed.
We visit our patients twice every week. It is always an exciting moment for the home-based care team to go and deliver their services to those in most need who are unable to reach the health centre. In every visit we often plan to visit five or six clients in a day. Below is a glimpse of what a day is like for us.
We start off our journey following bad roads, full of potholes, to one of the villages. We started by visiting our client who is suffering from cancer of the esophagus. She was lying on her bed, helplessly waiting for her granddaughter, Sarah, who is 12 years old and in primary school, close to our clinic.
Mrs. Chimwemwe totally depends on the help of her little grandchild, Sarah. Sarah is young, but intelligent and hardworking. She wakes up daily at 4:30 am to clean and arrange their house, prepare some food for her grandmother and then her day depends on the school timetable. Sometimes, if she is going for morning classes, she leaves for school very early for an 8am start, then when she returns home, she prepares lunch for her grandmother. After seeing her grandmother has eaten, she moves around selling groundnut powder to get some money to buy food for herself and her grandmother. On this day we met Sarah running back home from doing ” Ganyu”, short time paid labour and then leaving home again in time for her classes which were starting 15 minutes later. Sarah walks from house to house, asking people if there is anything she can do so that they pay her some money to care for her grandmother. This is her routine. She is always paid 800 Malawi kwacha after the heavy work she does, with the current economic situation, this money (about €0.50), cannot even afford one good meal for them.
It is always so much joy for Mrs. Chimwemwe to see us enter her room. Slowly as we are seated and chatting, her sad face starts relaxing and smiling by the time we depart. Whenever we are taking our leave, she says, “bye but we meet next week”. She keeps longing for the time we return to her house and the week we don’t go she feels so disappointed, and she sends her granddaughter to the clinic to send us her greetings. These greetings act as a bell to remind us to visit her! Occasionally, her health condition is so bad, and she is unable to share food with her little granddaughter. In the beginning Sarah’s grandmother’s health really affected Sarah’s academic journey. Sarah often slipped out of the classroom whenever she thought of her grandmother but now, she is picking up. She only returns home when her classes have ended.
Secondly, we visited “agogo” which is ‘grandmother’. But, you know, I think I will leave this story for another day. There is so much to tell about a day of outreach. We will continue this story next time….
