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.