Maryknoll Sisters

There is nothing more exotic than walking from a beautiful Brazilian beach into waist high, warm ocean waves toward the sunrise just appearing on the horizon. It is a profound moment of praise and wonder in the silence of early morning that quickly becomes a time for exuberant shouts of joy as we begin our morning exercise routine. All the while the sun rises bright and warm on bare skin marking perhaps the most memorable moment of my trip to Brazil. But who am I to make comparisons of most or least in a country of abundance; or of profound and profane in a country of vibrant passion for life; or of joy and sorrow; or of wealth and poverty in a country replete with human paradox. Brazil seems to be a country on the move speeding ahead into all things modern yet not sure of how to bring its racially, culturally and economically diverse population along on the journey nor of how to steward nature’s gifts not only for the good of Brazil but for the whole world.

The people I met in Brazil are warm, generous, and gracious to strangers and open to new experiences. There are seven Maryknoll Lay Missioners and one Maryknoll Priest who minister in Sao Paulo and there are two Maryknoll Sisters in Joao Pessoa and two in Sao Paulo. The Maryknoll Community in Brazil has drunk deeply from the font of Brazil’s passion for life. Their compassion shows in their efforts to heal, to reconcile, to feed hungry children, to accompany the vulnerable and to help the socially and culturally marginalized learn the skills they need to function in this complex country.

Joao Pessoa was the first stop in my trip to visit the Maryknoll Sisters’ presence in Brazil.

Srs. Theresia Ndesoma and Euphrasia (Efu) Nyaki live together and have two very meaningful yet different ministries. Efu works long hours in her healing ministry at the AFYA Center she founded to offer natural medicine, massage and a variety of individual somatic and group therapy sessions to help people heal from illness or trauma, and to discover new ways to reconcile difficult inter-personal relationships. The staff and clients refer to AFYA as a community and attribute that sense of community to Efu’s presence and ministry style. Theresia sponsors daily sessions in a Children’s Activity Program in one of the poorest neighborhoods of the Mangabeira area of Joao Pessoa. The program offers a two (2) hour educational session for children (5-11 yrs) each weekday morning with volunteer teachers. A hearty snack of fruit and bread is included in the session. The Children’s Program includes a natural nutritional supplement for infants and children up to five (5) years. The children are brought by their mothers on Saturdays to be weighed and the mothers participate in the follow-up health talks given as part of the program. Theresia visits the mothers in their homes and also reaches out to the elderly and ill who are most vulnerable in the neighborhoods in which she works.

Sao Paulo is a big and busy modern city of over ten million people. Sr. Carolyn Moritz lives and works in poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city. She is part of the Regional Counsel for Pastoral Programs of Brazilandi with Bishop Milton Kennon. As Coordinator of the Pastoral Programs in her local parish of Sao Marie Louis de Montfort, Carolyn is active in the adult formation and catechism programs and offers her help in Music, Ministry of the Word and the Ecology Committee.

Carolyn and Sr. Mercy Mtaita both visit the Guarani Community in Jaragua just outside of Sao Paulo. In coordination with the Archdiocesan Indigenous Pastoral Commission, the local health center personnel and with the community paige (religious leader), Mercy works with the women and children in this community offering a nutritional supplement program and an alphabetization program. She gets to know the needs of the community by visiting the homes of those who are involved in the programs she sponsors. Mercy lives in the downtown area of Sao Paulo and is also involved with the Fraternity of African Religious in Brazil which she organized a few years ago. The group has grown to over 40 members in the Sao Paulo area who meet regularly for spiritual input and mutual support.

Our Sisters in Brazil are vibrant with life and generous with their energies in service to the people of Brazil as they communicate God’s loving promise of life in abundance for all. Similar to my experience of God’s presence in the sun-soaked waves at the beach, my Sisters’ care and open warmth washed over me in profound blessing. Throughout my visit, I was welcomed by their gracious hospitality and nourished by their spirit – so indicative of the Maryknoll Sisters’ spirit around the world. I am deeply grateful.

– Sister Ann Hayden, MM

Bonjour! How are you? I thought I would write a little about my experiences thus far in Haiti.

When I first got here on February 3, there were four cholera patients. Today, three days later, we have 36 patients. A family of six was found to have it and will be coming today for care. There is a big tent from UNICEF on the grounds for the patients. The room they were being treated in is now too small. Everyone will need to be moved soon. This morning I rolled up all the flaps on the windows of the tent to air the space. The village the new patients come from has no clean water and so we were expecting more patients. We did get up to 30 patients at one point this past week but are now down to six patients as of yesterday.

No one has died here since my arrival. We have 24/7 nursing and cleaning staff. Some we pay; some are paid through other groups. With the rainy season fast approaching, the number of cholera patients will rise as so many people and villages have no clean water.

We are involved in a clean-water project (Kolorasil program) for the people and people line up for the supplies. It is still a challenge to get the people to understand that when supplies run out they need to come to the clinic to get more.

The clinic expats consist of two Medical Missionaries Fellows who are ending their time here. I am the administrator of the St. Joseph Clinic and I work with the medical director to keep the clinic functioning, supplied, staffed, expanding and caring of the Haitian people. I am using my years of skills as the past administrator of health programs in Nepal. Sister Claris Zwareva is the other Maryknoll Sister serving here. She will do the community health work.

The poverty is very hard to see. It is even worse than in Nepal’s outer villages. Haiti is noted as the poorest country in the western hemisphere and it is easy to see why. There is a large lack of industry in the villages and the land is lacking nutrients to grow anything well. Haiti is still fighting back from the earthquake from over a year ago and a hurricane as well.

Unsafe drinking water exists and is the cause of cholera spreading. Lack of adequate health care outside of the capital is evident for the majority of people despite the attempts of the many worldwide groups doing their best. A lack of good roads is one major problem in the villages around Thomassique.

The people are friendly and at Church (packed) this morning. The music is joyful and abundant. I made a little friend. He is a little boy who sat in front of me and kept staring at me throughout the entire Mass. I got him to smile and laugh when I wiggled my ears and made funny faces. After Mass I asked him his name in Creole. He smiled and whispered his name to me.

There is a difference in the mountains from the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti. The DR has trees on them and Haiti has cut all theirs down for fuel but never replaced them with new trees. Currently not much is growing here in Thomassique or in the surrounding area. We are finishing the dry season. The land is so dry and lacks any nutrients. The rainy season is about two months away. However, last night it poured rain! Everyone was outside enjoying the relief from the heat.

There are kids around but I do not get to see them much. They are told not to come to the clinic if they are not sick because of the cholera.

I got into town a few days ago. The town consists of a place to buy a local phone, a Catholic Church, A badly cared-for cemetery (which consists of a few open graves), and a place for the homeless called the ‘Poor House,” which is made up of a few rooms where an entire family must live. There is also a very small “store” which has very little to sell.

There are no paved roads. Rather, there are very dusty dirt roads with holes and huge bumps. The main means of transportation is walking or by motorcycle.

Finding a place where I can sit at times to be quiet is hard as every space is used and people always need help of some kind 24/7.

Blessings,

— Sister Elizabeth Knoerl, MM