From 1968 – 1972, I ministered in La Paz, Bolivia as principal of a school in a very poor rural area.
In 1979, I was asked to open a new mission with Sister Martin de Porres Kimpel at Via El Salvador in south Lima, Peru. At the beginning of my ministry, I taught family catechises. Four years later, I was asked by the only sister in Peru who was ministering to persons with HIV AIDs, if I could take her place while she was away. My desire was always to be in health care or social welfare, so I eagerly accepted the offer.
For the next nine years, I visited people with AIDS in the hospitals in Lima. I also visited their families in their homes. To help build a support system for these families, I started self-help groups. Posting notices in the hospitals targeted those in need. When we gathered, people told of their personal struggles. The occasional party provided the same opportunity to strengthen the bonds between one another. Word spread quickly about these gatherings. A few sisters and a Maryknoll priest, Father Joe Fedora, then began offering monthly retreats in a private school free of charge.
A major problem in treating people with AIDS was the limited amount of medicine available for these patients. It was the medicine they really needed. Because I was a foreigner, the thought was I would be able to provide this necessary medical assistance. Unfortunately, when I contacted church leaders and medical personnel on behalf of the patients at that time, no help was forthcoming.
In 2001, although I was still deeply engaged with the AIDS community, I felt, because of my own health needs, it was time for me to leave this ministry. Many of my HIV friends assured me that they would continue to carry on the work.
Upon returning to Canada, I was not able to continue my ministry with AIDS patients. However, I continue to correspond with my friends in Peru. A 28-year-old mother diagnosed with AIDS wrote to our provincial leader pleading for another sister to continue my ministry. She wrote, “We so need a voice to inspire us to carry on, to visit homes of the sick and HIV hospitals and principally, to accompany parents of children in Children’s Hospital.”
I hold these memories dear and pray each day for the HIV-AIDS patients.
