THERE are a multitude of reasons why our missionaries are such cherished brothers and sisters in faith, but I would posit that two of the most impressive are their desire to spread the Good News in the most trying of circumstances and their ability to build strong and lasting connections with people, both on a national and international level.
One such sister who epitomises these dual talents is Sr Hedwig Vinyo (above), a Tertiary Sister of St Francis in the Diocese of Kumbo in Cameroon. Sr Hedwig was delivered by the Franciscan Sisters in the hospital that they run and, after a period working with them in one of their orphanages as a teenager, she decided to become a sister too.
“Vocation to me means answering the call and cooperating with what God has planned for you,” Sr Hedwig said. “And the sisters were a major catalyst in helping me discern that call. They are just so caring,” their example of going out and serving the people made me want to join them, because that is something that I love to do. Four of our sisters died during the Covid-19 pandemic just because we were and are wedded to that call to serve the people. And in our work, we don’t ask someone which Church they go to. We’re concerned more about the soul of each individual person and making them realise that they are loved.”
While serving with the sisters in Cameroon, Sr Hedwig came into contact with Fr Bernard Fox, a Mill Hill Missionary Father now based in Scotland, but who spent many years in the African country. That strong connection played a major part in Missio Scotland deciding to focus on projects in Cameroon this year—some of which are being overseen by Sr Hedwig herself.
Conflict and chaos
As previously mentioned, missionaries are no strangers to working in difficult circumstances and the violent conflict in Cameroon—also referred to as the Anglophone Crisis—between the Government (pro-Francophone, French-speaking) and paramilitaries known as the Ambas (pro-Anglophone, English speaking) that has been raging since 2016, is the situation that Sr Hedwig and the Franciscan Sisters find themselves in. Unfortunately, children and young people are often affected by war most acutely. Many have had to flee their burning homes, while others have witnessed their mothers and fathers being killed, kidnappings occur on an almost daily basis and schooling can be a distant memory with a number of schools having been destroyed.
One particularly harrowing situation, Sr Hedwig recalled, concerned a young boy who had been taken into a police cell along with his older brother. After his older brother was beaten by an iron bar and killed, he was made to clean up the blood before being released. The killing not only traumatised the young boy, but also severely affected his mother’s mental health.
“He came to us,” Sr Hedwig explained. “We made sure he could avail of the appropriate counselling and eventually his trauma subsided and we were able to help him get his life back on track. However, his mother was still deeply troubled. She would come to us, see me, fall down and start crying for her son who had been killed. We helped focus her mind with some farm work and we visit her often, so she is doing better but she cannot forget the killing of her son. To this day, whenever she sees me, she is joyful, but she still cries because she knows that I’m aware of everything that has happened to her as a result of the conflict. It was quite a distressing situation for everyone involved, but I couldn’t allow myself to wallow in sadness. I had to be strong to try and help that family.”
Sr Hedwig is no stranger to distressing situations like this, even those in which her vocation was severely tested, such as her work to improve prison conditions at the Bamenda Central Prison.
“When I went in for the first time, I vomited because of the unsanitary conditions and the general disorder in the place,” she said. “I wasn’t sure I could work there, but then I prayed and told myself that I had to play my part in changing the situation for the prisoners. I ended up working there for 15 years”
During her time there, Sr Hedwig coordinated renovation of the Bamenda Central Prison, giving the best general sanitation system in Cameroon. She systematically decongested the prison by negotiating the release of more than 2000 inmates, who had been forgotten as they awaited trial for minor offences. As a result, the procedure to grant bail while awaiting trial was relaxed in the Bamenda Central Prison.
So, in the midst of the chaos, Sr Hedwig and her fellow sisters—whose charism is to provide and option for the poor and marginalised—have been offering a spiritual and physical refuge to those affected. In fact, the hospital run by the sisters has ceased to function as just an ordinary hospital and is now expected to no longer heal individuals, but the ills of a war-torn country, which is far from ideal, but something that Sr Hedwig embraces.
As a result of the war, many children have become orphans and the sisters play a crucial role in looking after these children themselves or finding relatives with whom they can live with. One tragic instance, in particular, stood out to Sr Hedwig, where she and her fellow sisters had to explain the brutal reality of the situation to a young group of siblings in their care.
“These children still thought their Mama and Papa were out there somewhere, so unfortunately, we were tasked with explaining the reality of what happened to their parents,” she said. “We had to tell them that their father was an Amba Boy [one of the rebel fighters] and that they had both been killed. The eldest girl understood, but the younger children didn’t and we had to take them to see the graves so that they would understand too. They cried but we brought them back, counselled them and looked after them until we could find relatives to take care of them. We also found help to pay their school fees and we stay in touch with the family to this day.”
“I’ve a soft heart for people who are suffering,” she continued. “And I find myself drawn to them. However, this is not just something that has moved within me during the crisis, my fellow sisters and I have always sought to bring the Word of God to the people not by preaching, but by doing. We need to let people know that they are loved and cared for.”
One such place in which people are being loved and cared for is the St Francis Home for Formation and Skills Training in Njavnyuy. The centre primarily operated to provide those who have finished primary school, from the ages of 15 and upwards, with skills such as: agriculture, welding, carpentry, sewing and embroidery—as well as English, French and Arithmetic lessons. However, since 2016, the sisters have been taking in a number of children too, providing them with a safe haven after having been displaced from where they can attend the community primary school—a school which has so far survived the conflict.
“I’m not directly involved with the centre anymore, even though I helped to found it, but regardless I am so proud of the many success stories that have emanated from there. It is not always easy work, but when you see the difference that it has made, and is continuing to make to people’s lives, it is really rewarding. And in any case, challenging work actually helps me to grow, which in turn helps others to grow.”
Missio Scotland is providing financial assistance to Sr Hedwig and the Franciscan Sisters so that they can support these children but also the young people availing of the workshops at the centre, who will be provided with food, materials and medication.
Restoring dignity Another vulnerable group among children and young people affected by the conflict are those who have a disability as it can often be challenging to supply them with the required medicines, sensory and mobility devices. So, Sr Hedwig implored Missio Scotland to help 143 disabled children in Bui Division, a request which the Pope’s official charity for overseas mission duly acquiesced to. As a result, the sisters will be able to provide these children and young people with wheelchairs, crutches, hearing aids and epilepsy medication. This will not only strengthen inclusivity, but will also help the sisters to restore their dignity.
“Children and adults with living with disabilities in our communities face lots of challenges, which have become even worse with the advent and continuation of the Anglophone crisis,” Sr Gloria Wirba Kenyuyfoon, Provincial Superior of the Tertiary Sisters of St Francis, said. “The caregivers of most of these children living with disabilities find it very difficult to provide them with medication and other devices to enable them to relate to their environment and hopefully reach their potential.
“For a long time, the sisters have journeyed with these people living with disabilities and we are very happy that Missio Scotland is supporting us to be able to reach out to more of these deserving children and young people.”
“Mission for me means doing deep down what you feel you have been called to do,” Sr Hedwig added. “My mission—and our mission as Tertiary Sisters of St Francis—is to bring life to people and to be a voice for the voiceless. That mission is full of difficulties but we have to persevere. In any case, these difficulties help me to grow and help others to grow. In short, we want to change the situation of the people we work with for the better and thanks to Missio Scotland we will be able to do that. So, thank you Missio Scotland and everyone who supports you, and thank you Fr Vincent Lockhart and Fr Bernard Fox. We are united in prayer. God bless you all.”
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