29 Apr 2011

The Most Special Place in Addis Ababa


For me this has to be the institution, which is run by the Sisters of the Charity (Order of Teresa of Calcutta) in Addis Ababa, a place I know well, although I’m sure there are other places just as wonderful as this.

It’s special for many reasons...

For the care they give to sick, disabled and terminally ill people.  For the love and care they provide for those who are virtually rejected and abandoned by others.

The rooms are clean and well ventilated. It’s a model organisation. Peace and order for those who have lived chaotic lives amidst the chaos of Addis Ababa, where life has very little value, but who begin to feel like normal people when they are taken in.

Volunteers are devoted to their unselfish work for the welfare of others.

A group of tiny nuns – from India, Kenya etc – with huge hearts and plenty of courage, who always have a smile on their face as they look after more than 1200 people plus those who attend the outpatient’s service.

I remember one day they asked me to examine a small mentally handicapped boy with a cough. The nun, who was Polish and the only tall one there, brought the child to me asking me to check what was the matter with the little angel whom she was so worried about.   All the people they take in are considered angels, whether they are disabled children, terminally ill with cancer or AIDS, psychiatric patients, elderly, incapacitated...

If you are going to Addis Ababa or any other place where the Sisters of the Charity work then I urge you to go along to visit and help them. They are funded by donations and obviously the more they receive, the more they can achieve.

For the last 5 years Mediterránea has been supporting them with money, medication and diverse resources, for they are the true angels. There is a special aura about them, a halo surrounding them which reaches out and touches those around them.

And this is written by a non-believer….

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