Visit to Liberia

10 – 14 March 2016

   

The Superior General Brother Jesús Etayo,accompanied by Brothers Pascal Ahodegnon and Moisés Martín, has just been toMonrovia (Liberia) to visit, accompany and pay homage to the Hospitaller Familyof St Joseph’s Catholic hospital, for all the suffering they had to endure in theEbola emergency and crisis, and to reaffirm that the spirit of the Institution isto remain close by the side of vulnerable and suffering people, because this is“our way of being Church, by staying close to the sick”.

 

On Saturday 11 March, Mass was celebrated inthe Hospital, in honour of the Patron of the Hospitaller Order, Saint John ofGod, and the Patron of the Hospital, Saint Joseph, under whose protection wecontinue accompanying our guests in the service of mercy on behalf of theLiberian people.

 

He also wished to perpetuate the memory ofour Brothers, Sister and Co-workers who died during the Ebola outbreak, by erectinga monument that was inaugurated and blessed at the end of the Eucharisticcelebration.

 

On the visit to the consulting rooms inthe New Kru Town Hospital we were told of another area affected by the lack ofprimary health care services, and the work being done through this  community service to move forward improvingand developing it.

 

The Superior General and his companions wentto meet the Hospital Director, the Provincial Superior, and Juan Ciudad ONGD, toshare all the International Cooperation work being performed by the Hospital andthe scope of its mission, and to thank them and encourage to pursue this workand their coordination.

 

A meeting was also held with the Hospital ManagementTeam after visiting all the facilities at the Centre. Prior to the meeting, andafter Mass, the visitors went with all the members of the Community to thecemetery where the remains of Sister Chantal and Brother George rest, and whereanother monument stands in remembrance of Brothers Miguel and Patrick and our Co-workerswho died during the Ebola epidemic.

 

The delegation made a number of visitsoutside the Catholic Hospital facilities. One was a mission set up in 2003 to providea home for 50 orphans being cared for by a group of lay Franciscans who alsohave a school for 400 children. The Brothers often meet them and sharedonations which are given to them in containers, and to the Apostolic Nuncio whowas living close by, and in contact with the General Curia and the Centre throughoutthe whole of the Ebola emergency. 



 

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