As I enjoy some rest time at St Vincent’s recovering from being ill, I thought I would use the sources I have to write a little about the Daughters of Charity of whom I am a guest of in Tigray:
The Daughters of Charity (DOC) is a non-profit making, religious congregation who work within the Catholic Church. They were originally founded in France in the 17th century by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac as a Society of Apostolic Life. There purpose has always been to serve Jesus Christ in the person of the poor and most disadvantaged; as their missionary zeal states: “The Daughters of Charity are servants of Jesus Christ for every corporal and spiritual service of the poor.” It is important to note that the work of the Daughters is not confined to the Catholic population (in fact there are less than 300 of those in Mekele) but embraces the needs of all people, regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, religion and race. The founding principle of the congregation is to promote integral human development with a special focus on the poor of society.
To fulfil its purpose, the congregation provide many types of pastoral and social development services. These are primarily guided and inspired by gospel values and Catholic social teaching. Underpinning all of the Daughters work are the key values of respect for human dignity, justice, love, solidarity and communal benefit of the poor.
After more than 300 years work, the Daughters of Charity have expanded their roots to 94 counties in five continents. Their work in Ethiopia began in 1927 and they presently have 14 houses across the country building upon their original socio-pastoral work.
In Tigray, the sisters work under the Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat (Adigrat Diocese) and currently have 4 houses in the region; St. Vincent and St. Louise houses in Mekelle, St. Justin de Jacobis in Alitena and Immaculate Conception house in Maychew. The first of these two houses (in Mekele ad Alitena) were opened in 1973 with the intention of working closely with the famine-stricken people in the region.
Aside from the pastoral programmes, the congregation run various social development programmes which address the needs of local communities. There are currently 17 projects running in Tigray: four clinics, two women’s promotion centres, three kindergartens, one housing project for the most disadvantaged and poorest women, one street children’s project (supporting orphaned and vulnerable children), one youth programme, two hostels for girls, as well as work supporting elderly and disabled people, prison ministry and supporting medical treatment of women suffering from fistula. Through their hard work the congregation have attained a significant credibility and acceptance by the community and recognition by relevant government sectors. This is particularly impressive given the small minority that is the Catholic population.
Each project has its own administrator, Sr Fisseha co-ordinates the street children for example, but there is a central coordinating office to make all the social and development projects in Tigray more effective. Sr Medhin currently runs this and she is responsible for developing proposals and plans, making project agreements with donors, ensure implementation of projects, to oversee human resources and financial management of the projects and communicate with relevant government authorities.
More recently the Daughters of Charity have been involved with helping those who have suffered badly in the Ethiopian-Eritrea conflict. A direct effect of the war, only in very recent times, was the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians who were forced to flee and leave their possessions and lives behind. Most of the internally displaced civilians (mostly children, women, the elderly and persons with disability) were left to exist in very difficult living conditions; some in makeshift camps, the others in small caves in the hillside. The Daughters of Charity have contributed as much as they can to these people including the provision of emergency food ad medicine to those suffering the most.
The conflict has also had a knock-on effect to the other DOC projects in the border areas, particularly in Alitena (around 25km from the still disputed border). The situation is still unresolved and the future uncertain. The threat of war is ever present and there is still heavy military presence throughout these areas. The Daughters must prepare to work with two different scenarios: with or without a war.
The main beneficiaries of the Daughters work are the street children, poor and powerless women, unemployed youth, HIV/AIDS affected and infected families, patients, its staff, students and parents, the homeless, displaced, refugees, and other marginalized individuals and communities. Their needs are numerous and include food, clothing, education, financial support, land, job opportunity, acceptance, love and respect by other community members, secured home, preventive and curative health service, counseling, social, spiritual and psychological support, skill and vocational training, credit.
It is a real pleasure to spend just a short space of time with these wonderful sisters. They are never short of surprises and to see all the above actually acted upon and lived out by these women is nothing short of amazing. It requires total dedication, patience, hard work, compassion, love and faith on their part – and not one sister is even slightly lacking in any one of these qualities. They are an example to all, yet far too humble to take any kind of praise when Tommy and I try to offer it to them!
The Daughters of Charity (DOC) is a non-profit making, religious congregation who work within the Catholic Church. They were originally founded in France in the 17th century by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac as a Society of Apostolic Life. There purpose has always been to serve Jesus Christ in the person of the poor and most disadvantaged; as their missionary zeal states: “The Daughters of Charity are servants of Jesus Christ for every corporal and spiritual service of the poor.” It is important to note that the work of the Daughters is not confined to the Catholic population (in fact there are less than 300 of those in Mekele) but embraces the needs of all people, regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, religion and race. The founding principle of the congregation is to promote integral human development with a special focus on the poor of society.
To fulfil its purpose, the congregation provide many types of pastoral and social development services. These are primarily guided and inspired by gospel values and Catholic social teaching. Underpinning all of the Daughters work are the key values of respect for human dignity, justice, love, solidarity and communal benefit of the poor.
After more than 300 years work, the Daughters of Charity have expanded their roots to 94 counties in five continents. Their work in Ethiopia began in 1927 and they presently have 14 houses across the country building upon their original socio-pastoral work.
In Tigray, the sisters work under the Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat (Adigrat Diocese) and currently have 4 houses in the region; St. Vincent and St. Louise houses in Mekelle, St. Justin de Jacobis in Alitena and Immaculate Conception house in Maychew. The first of these two houses (in Mekele ad Alitena) were opened in 1973 with the intention of working closely with the famine-stricken people in the region.
Aside from the pastoral programmes, the congregation run various social development programmes which address the needs of local communities. There are currently 17 projects running in Tigray: four clinics, two women’s promotion centres, three kindergartens, one housing project for the most disadvantaged and poorest women, one street children’s project (supporting orphaned and vulnerable children), one youth programme, two hostels for girls, as well as work supporting elderly and disabled people, prison ministry and supporting medical treatment of women suffering from fistula. Through their hard work the congregation have attained a significant credibility and acceptance by the community and recognition by relevant government sectors. This is particularly impressive given the small minority that is the Catholic population.
Each project has its own administrator, Sr Fisseha co-ordinates the street children for example, but there is a central coordinating office to make all the social and development projects in Tigray more effective. Sr Medhin currently runs this and she is responsible for developing proposals and plans, making project agreements with donors, ensure implementation of projects, to oversee human resources and financial management of the projects and communicate with relevant government authorities.
More recently the Daughters of Charity have been involved with helping those who have suffered badly in the Ethiopian-Eritrea conflict. A direct effect of the war, only in very recent times, was the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians who were forced to flee and leave their possessions and lives behind. Most of the internally displaced civilians (mostly children, women, the elderly and persons with disability) were left to exist in very difficult living conditions; some in makeshift camps, the others in small caves in the hillside. The Daughters of Charity have contributed as much as they can to these people including the provision of emergency food ad medicine to those suffering the most.
The conflict has also had a knock-on effect to the other DOC projects in the border areas, particularly in Alitena (around 25km from the still disputed border). The situation is still unresolved and the future uncertain. The threat of war is ever present and there is still heavy military presence throughout these areas. The Daughters must prepare to work with two different scenarios: with or without a war.
The main beneficiaries of the Daughters work are the street children, poor and powerless women, unemployed youth, HIV/AIDS affected and infected families, patients, its staff, students and parents, the homeless, displaced, refugees, and other marginalized individuals and communities. Their needs are numerous and include food, clothing, education, financial support, land, job opportunity, acceptance, love and respect by other community members, secured home, preventive and curative health service, counseling, social, spiritual and psychological support, skill and vocational training, credit.It is a real pleasure to spend just a short space of time with these wonderful sisters. They are never short of surprises and to see all the above actually acted upon and lived out by these women is nothing short of amazing. It requires total dedication, patience, hard work, compassion, love and faith on their part – and not one sister is even slightly lacking in any one of these qualities. They are an example to all, yet far too humble to take any kind of praise when Tommy and I try to offer it to them!
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