Lessons From A New Ministry

by Sr Eunice Okobia MMM

“I still remember the first elderly woman we visited. She was sitting on the floor of her small room. Beside her was a broom, a cooking stove and a few cooking pots—everything arranged so she would not have to stand because she couldn’t. As I watched her sweep the floor without leaving the spot where she sat, I wondered what this ministry was going to do with me.” 

I was reassigned to Eleta community from Torugbene in Delta State in 2024. When I first arrived in Eleta, Ibadan in 2024, I expected to continue working with mothers and children. After settling into the clinic, I was asked to join the elderly outreach programme. To be honest, I wondered what I would be doing there. My experience had always been with younger people, although I had completed a few online courses in palliative care. I still could not see how caring for the elderly would become part of my ministry. 

As we began visiting elderly people in their homes, I discovered that many of them had no one to care for them. Some had children living far away. Others had simply been abandoned. Many struggled with chronic illnesses, but what struck me most was not their medical condition. It was their loneliness. 

I remember saying to myself, we care for mothers and children, but these elderly people have become like children again. They too need someone to care for them. 

One woman- Anna stays with me. She had suffered a stroke and could no longer walk. Everything in her small room was arranged within reach. Sitting in one place, she swept her floor, cooked her meals and tried to care for herself as best she could. Her blood pressure was dangerously high, her roof leaked whenever it rained, and despite having children, no one came. 

We started visiting her regularly. We checked her blood pressure, searched for her family, shared food whenever we could and helped her access medication. Many of our phone calls went unanswered, but we refused to give up. 

Then, slowly, something beautiful happened. A grandson visited. The roof was repaired, her room was re-painted. A new mattress appeared. The changes were simple, but they reminded me that sometimes people only need someone to speak on behalf of those who have been forgotten. 

Today we care for seventeen elderly people in similar situations. The greatest challenge is finding enough food and medicine, especially for those living with hypertension and diabetes. Yet every visit reminds me why this ministry matters. 

I once wondered what I could offer the elderly. Now I know that healing is not always about curing illness. Sometimes it begins with sitting beside someone, listening to their story and helping them believe that they have not been forgotten. 

By Sr. Modesta Okha MMM

Fear has a way of asking endless questions. What if I fail? What if things do not go as planned? What if I am not strong enough? We have all heard those questions at different moments in our lives. They often come when we are about to begin something new, standing on the edge of the unknown. 

I met those questions on the banks of a river in Torugbene, a riverine community in Delta State. It was my first journey by boat, and I was terrified. As I waited to board, my imagination was already painting frightening pictures. What if I fell into the water? What if the boat broke down in the middle of the river? I cannot swim. What if strong waves overturned the boat? 

For a moment, fear almost won. 

Then, beneath the noise of my anxious thoughts, I sensed a gentle reminder: Be courageous. God has not given you a spirit of fear. Those words did not make the river disappear or guarantee a perfectly smooth journey. They simply gave me enough courage to take the next step. 

I climbed into the boat. 

As the engine started and we glided across the water, my heart gradually became still. The cool breeze brushed against my face, the river stretched peacefully before me, and the quiet beauty of creation unfolded all around. I watched women casting their fishing nets with confidence born of familiarity, while children and families went about their daily lives along the riverbanks. What had seemed frightening only moments before became a place of wonder. I found myself thanking God for the beauty that fear had almost prevented me from seeing. 

That journey taught me something I continue to carry with me. Fear often exaggerates the dangers ahead and blinds us to the possibilities waiting on the other side. If I had allowed my fears to keep me on the shore, I would have missed not only the experience of travelling across the river but also the deeper lesson God wanted to teach me about trust. 

Life presents each of us with moments like that. Our “boats” may look different. They may be a new ministry, a change of career, a difficult conversation, an unexpected diagnosis, or a call to serve in an unfamiliar place. Standing on the shore, the unknown can seem overwhelming. Yet growth rarely happens where everything feels comfortable. It begins when we choose to trust God enough to take the first step. 

Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the quiet decision to move forward despite it, believing that God is already present in the journey. The river may still be wide, and the destination may not always be visible, but we never travel alone. 

Perhaps today you are standing on the edge of your own river, wondering whether to step into the boat. If so, remember that fear does not have to make the decision for you. Sometimes the most beautiful discoveries, the deepest peace, and the greatest encounters with God are found only after we have found the courage to leave the shore. 

Sr. Flora Phwandaphwanda, MMM

During our Lenten visit to the leprosy centre in Agok, together with the priests and religious of the Catholic Diocese of Wau, South Sudan, I met “Samuel,” whose story has stayed with me. 

In his words, he had been a soldier in Ethiopia before he became sick, and everything changed. The disease did not only affect his body, it stripped him of belonging. No one wanted to come near him. Even his own family rejected him. In that loneliness, he chose to return to South Sudan his home country, setting out on a journey that seemed almost impossible. But he persevered. At one point, he threw away his gun. It had become useless. In that moment, it was as though he was laying down not just a weapon, but an old life — choosing survival, choosing hope. 

He walked through the bush with no food. Hunger pressed upon him. Then he came across an animal and managed to kill it, yet he had no fire to cook it. So, he ate only what he could, the liver, just enough to keep going. 

Throughout the journey, he survived on the kindness of strangers: food, water, milk, offered by people who owed him nothing. Each act of help became a sign that God had not abandoned him. Finally, he reached Agok. What he found there was more than a place, it was a family. Though cast out, he was now welcomed. 

Visits like this one to Agok remind us that so much of our vocation as Medical Missionaries of Mary is not about the places we run, but the people we choose to walk alongside, even, and especially, in places that are not our own. We go to be present: to sit with those the world has cast out, and to remind them, as Samuel discovered, that welcome is still possible.  

Stories like Samuel’s also remind us that this mission is never carried out alone. It is made possible through the generosity of those who support our work and walk alongside us. Your partnership enables us to be present in places of suffering, to witness stories of hope and to continue sharing Christ’s healing love across borders. 

Sr. Mary O’Malley and George Matheka, her co-worker in the work against human trafficking in East Africa, told “The Healing Touch” the following true story.

Earlier this year, in the densely populated informal settlement of Mukuru, Nairobi, Kenya, a quiet family routine turned into a nightmare that no parent should ever endure.

Six-year-old Fafa (not her real name), a cheerful and innocent child, lived with her parents—Matthew and Fatima—and her two siblings, aged 8 and 3 years. Like many families in this community, they struggled to make ends meet but remained deeply bonded in love and care for one another.

One day, Fatima, the mother, briefly stepped out, leaving the children safely locked inside the house. It was a decision made from necessity, trusting that her children would remain safe for the short duration of her absence. However, in that vulnerable moment, betrayal crept in from a place they least expected.

A woman known to the family, a supposed friend, fondly known as Maggie, arrived at the house. Familiar and trusted, she called out to the children and persuaded them to hand over the keys under the pretense of wanting to enter. Innocently complying, the children opened the door.

Moments later, Maggie lured young Fafa away with a simple but deceptive promise—to buy her chips and return shortly to share them with her siblings.

That promise was never fulfilled. When Fatima returned home, she found her daughter missing. 

During the search in the surrounding area, a neighbour revealed a chilling detail: she had seen Maggie walking away with Fafa just an hour or two after Fatima had left the house in the morning. The realisation struck hard; their trusted acquaintance had taken their child.

The family immediately informed the police, and the case is being investigated. But so far, there is no word of the child’s whereabouts. There is evidence that she might have been trafficked across the Kenyan border into Uganda, possibly for ritual child sacrifice or for organ transplant.

We continue to pray for Fafa and all the other children who are abducted.

No child should disappear in the hands of someone they trust.

In the quiet riverine community of Torugbene, life flows with the tides of the Niger Delta. Cut off from the mainland and shaped by the rhythms of water and fishing, the people have built a culture that is both resilient and, at times, vulnerable. It is here that the Medical Missionaries of Mary (MMM) continue their commitment to healing—not only through primary healthcare, but through grassroots reorientation and human development.

Isolation has its cost. Poverty remains a daily reality for many families, and with it comes difficult choices. One long-standing practice is sending young girls to live with relatives in more “well-to-do” towns, in the hope of securing a better future. Yet too often, this path leads not to opportunity, but to exploitation. It is one of the pathways feeding internal human trafficking within the country.

Ruth (not her real name) knows this reality all too well. Sent to live with a relative, she quickly found herself trapped in a life far removed from the promise she had been given. Rather than education or care, she became an unpaid domestic worker—labouring daily under harsh conditions. Basic necessities were not provided; survival became her personal burden. Caught between the threat of forced labour and the pressure to turn to prostitution just to meet her needs, Ruth made the difficult decision to return home.

Through their primary health program in Torugbene, the Sisters offer more than medical care. Recognising the deep link between poverty and vulnerability, they have introduced a skills acquisition initiative aimed especially at young women. It was here that Ruth found a new beginning. She enrolled in the program, learning practical skills that could sustain her and restore her sense of dignity.

Today, Ruth speaks with quiet strength and gratitude. In her own words, “I and my future generation have been saved from abject poverty because of this skill I have been given”. What was once a story marked by exploitation has become one of empowerment.

Ruth is not alone. She is one of many women whose lives have been transformed through the MMM’s commitment to holistic care – care that recognises that true healing must reach beyond the body to the structures that shape people’s lives.

As the waters continue to surround Torugbene, so too does hope continue to grow within it. Each woman empowered, each life restored, becomes a ripple of change—challenging cycles of poverty and exploitation.

In this way, the mission continues: not only to heal, but to restore dignity, protect the vulnerable, and build a future where young girls are no longer sent away in search of hope—but can find it, fully, at home.

By Marian Scena, MMM – Faraja Centre, Singida

In Singida, Tanzania, we first met Asha in February 2017 when our palliative care volunteer found her and asked us to see her. Asha had been diagnosed with cancer of the cervix in April 2016 and was advised to go to a specialist hospital, an Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar es Salaam. She had no money and didn’t go. In January 2016, her husband, who was a night security guard, had been killed by robbers while he was at work. They had received no compensation for his death. Asha was struggling to keep the family together and put her four older children through school. The youngest boy was only three years old. She said that, before her husband’s death, they had managed to pay school fees and daily expenses but since his death she had tried making mandazi “local donuts” and selling them. Once she became ill, she had no energy to work, and she was very anxious about how her children were going to stay in school and be fed! Her own family lived in a country village and didn’t realize Asha was ill.

Asha was examined and found to be very anemic from blood loss. Even being examined she got very dizzy and fell over. Ordinarily, we do not recommend giving blood to patients with terminal conditions because it prolongs dying and the quality of life can be worse. But, on further questioning we learned that no one in her family even knew that she was ill! So, Asha was referred to the local Regional Hospital and had two units of blood. During that time, her mother, sister and two brothers came to visit her. They were carefully informed about Asha’s condition, the poor outlook, and the plight of her children who would soon be orphaned! They rallied and her mother stayed with her and cared for Asha at home until her death. It was decided to inform the two older children, who were in secondary school, of the diagnosis because their help was needed as there were going to be changes occurring in their lives. 

Asha started on oral morphine solution (OMS) and her severe pain was controlled after a day. She was discharged home where her mother cared for her and prepared meals for the children with the help of the older girls. Palliative care involves the medical, psychological, spiritual and social aspects of a patient’s life.

Our PC Team visited Asha 42 times before she died. These visits involved bringing her morphine and other medications that she needed, providing food at one stage as there was NO FOOD in the house, encouraging her and listening to her anxieties and trying to make preparations with her family about who would care for the children. She didn’t want the family to be split up and we searched for a way to carry this out.

“Compassion”, an NGO that helps children, was contacted about providing food. Faraja’s Social Worker was able to promise that school fees and uniforms would be covered. Her PC Volunteer agreed to take the 7-year-old child to her home and raise her. Asha’s younger brother said he would keep an eye on the three older children in a rented room. Asha’s mother decided she would need to take the small boy to her home.

FHPCP cared for Asha for four months providing medications, trying to prepare the family for her imminent departure, and supporting her mother and the children and counselling them.

Asha died on 3 July 2017. Her burial was at her mother’s home in the country, and we saw off the funeral procession which, in the last-minute preparations, they almost forgot to take two of the children from Singida until we prevailed upon them! Since then, the two older girls have stayed in a room with a local family but lack of supervision of them is worrying. We fear that there is a risk of them being trafficked as money is always short. Their uncle is paying the rent and brings them food. The small boy has gone to live with the grandmother who is poor but has a small subsistence farm. The oldest boy is 19 and is living with an aunt in another village and continues his last year in secondary school. 

This story illustrates the complexity of human lives and that hospice and palliative care are not just about giving medications and visiting. This family still faces many challenges that our PC Team and Faraja Social Worker are trying to meet!

By Keresifon Ekanem, MMM

Mary Martin Hospital is a Medical Missionaries of Mary (MMM) Facility located in Uselu, Benin City, Edo State in Nigeria. I arrived there in September 2023. It was a new community and ministry in its evolving stage then, few sisters and few staff. When I arrived, I understood that it was going to be a multifaceted mission. I was handed over the office of the Hospital coordinator and the mission commenced almost immediately. I had barely arrived when we had an emergency in the Hospital. We were two Sisters only in the community that day, the other sister was not medically inclined but was helpful as she had ideas on basic things she could help out with and we pulled through. 

Being a Nurse/Midwife and Sonographer, I also worked in all the other units of the Facility as the need arose; being involved in all these activities widened my knowledge and I am grateful for the additional skills – administrative, pharmacy, cashier, consultation and laboratory. I had a deep sense of satisfaction being with patients; some of them shared their stories with so much openness and trust and at the end, it would be evident that not all sicknesses required medications. Some of them just needed someone to talk to and to be listened to patiently and with understanding, which gave them so much relief after they shared their concerns. 

Meanwhile, medications and presence alone did not suffice in all cases and therefore, incorporating Capacitar (a self-healing technique) into our services was a good initiative. Among others, I had a young person who suffered from severe sleeplessness due to anxiety and fear which did not improve with a series of treatment but ameliorated with Capacitar. When he walked into the consulting room, his fear and anxiety was so obvious. However, when I noticed his state, I engaged him in some conversations and he shared his concerns. I taught him a simple finger-hold technique for fear and anxiety. He went home and continued with it and over a short period of time, he came back and acknowledged that he felt more peaceful and was able to sleep and concentrate on his business; he was happy with the result. 

It was a Mission of establishing relationships with other healthcare workers in the neighbourhood for collaboration, positive presence to and holistic care for those who availed of our services as well as in our Chaplaincy, capacity building for staff by teaching them liquid soap and jik making skills and Capacitar. I feel fulfilled by my contribution in the Mission and I am thankful to God for what He accomplished through me!

MMM, Nairobi, Kenya

In MMM Mukuru Health Program, every day begins with uncertainty — who will walk through our doors, what needs will arise, what challenges we will face. Yet, in the middle of the unpredictability, we continue to discover God’s gentle presence in small but powerful ways. Starting the day praying together helps to keep us in tune with our mission of healing.

A patient may come in distressed, tired, or in pain. Often, it is not just the sickness that weighs them down, but also the weight of life’s struggles. As soon as a nurse takes their hand to record a pulse or a temperature, you can almost see a shift — a reminder that they are not alone, that someone cares enough to listen. In that simple gesture, God is present. In the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clinic, I watch mothers cradle newborns with a mix of relief and joy. These babies represent more than life — they symbolize hope. Each safe birth is a story of resilience and grace, made possible by the dedication of our staff, the trust of the community, and the generosity of our supporters. Beyond the clinic walls, our community health Promoters continue to inspire me. Walking through the narrow alleys of Mukuru, they carry not just medicines and messages of prevention, but also compassion. They remind families that they are seen and valued. The increase in the number of community members seeking treatment in the facility speaks of their effort. A Community Health Promoter with a TB Client who was discovered in the community and is being welcomed in the facility for her treatment. These encounters are a reminder that the MMM mission is not only about medicine and health services — it is about being signs of God’s love in difficult places.

In Mukuru, though challenges remain, every smile, every recovery, every word of gratitude reminds us that God is truly present among us — and that with the continued kindness of our donors and friends worldwide, hope will keep growing in Mukuru.”

MMM Brazil

The 16th of September 2025 was a memorable day for the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Brazil. MMM was remembered as those who selflessly served and joined resources with the local people to work towards socio-economic, political and spiritual growth.

Capim Grosso town is one of the municipalities located 265km away from the capital city of Bahia State, Salvador and has approximately 34.000 people. The town is located in central west region of Bahia state with a semi-arid climate. The people of Capim Grosso are resilient, welcoming and joyful.

MMM lived and worked in Capim Grosso for 27 years. Throughout these years, more than 15 MMM sisters from different nationalities worked with people. The sisters engaged in different pastoral and social activities. In the first years of the insertion process, the parish had no priest and the Sisters with the laity carried out the pastoral activities.

After a few years the Jesuit priests arrived in the parish and continued strengthening the parish administration and joined MMM and laity to work towards socio-economic, political and spiritual development. The group that most benefited from the initiatives and projects were the women, children, youth and elderly.

Sr. Jean Clare Eason joined the MMM community in Capim Grosso in 2000, her missionary zeal was expressed in her joyful presence and closeness to the people. Her main passion was the empowerment of women. She joined the Movimento de Mulheres Trablhadoras Rurais. This movement promoted human rights, creating awareness of the dignity of women. Portuguese not being Jean’s first language was not an obstacle in her engagement with the people she interacted with. For example: in the nursery school she interacted with the children with a playful and childlike inner freedom.

In 2015, after a short illness which she faced with courage and faith, Sr. Jean died peacefully. In 2025, the Jesuits and people of Capim Grosso wished to honour the MMM legacy. They reopened and named a pastoral Centre as Centro de Terapias Integrativas Ir. Jane Eason, MMM.

The Centre inauguration day was a memorable celebration for people of Capim Grosso whom she loved and served dearly. The centre offers complementary therapies, thus continuing the healing mission of MMM. The people honoured the legacy and initiatives of MMM sharing about the Sisters’ giftedness.

They brought up memories saying: “The presence of MMM in Capim Grosso was very important in my life. I learnt so much with the sisters on how to help people in their need. Sr Jean’s company brought about peace and joy. Indeed, it was wonderful to serve people with each Sister”
(Sueli Cardoso).

Every year, the MMM Communications Department hosts a Christmas Crafts Fair. This is an opportunity for local small craft businesses to meet with the community and share their creativity. It is also an event through which we raise funds for the neediest missions.

The money raised this year is going to our primary health care project in Fuka, Northern Nigeria. Please pray for them all there, it is close to where the 200 children were kidnapped recently. The Sisters work in a very unsafe environment, presently, but are grateful to their local community who protect the Health Centre, even when the Sisters are away.

A few days before the 22nd of November, the weather had been very cold and frosty. But on the day of the fair, we woke up to a bright, clear morning. Of course, it was still cold, but not as biting as the previous days.

It was a fun day, filled with festive cheer. The atmosphere was alive with Christmas spirit, and the hall was filled with beautiful handmade crafts — ornaments, toys, cards, and more. People came from near and far to support the fair, enjoying the creativity and warmth of the community.

One of the stall owners, attending for the first time, expressed how much they appreciated the atmosphere, saying the vibe was “on point.”

Throughout the day, Sisters, AMMMs and volunteers helped with hospitality, guiding visitors, and keeping the space vibrant and organised.

The MMM Christmas Craft Fair in Drogheda was a great success!! This was due to the many volunteers who, knitted, crocheted, made handmade cards, made candles and glassware, and who turned up on the day to support us. A big thank you from MMM to everyone. We are already looking forward to next year’s fair in the spring.