"We all are wounded by the war but these people look up to us. So we must bring them healing and wholeness."
Sister Geraldine Tar, OP
Pope Leo was in Cameroon today, bringing encouragement for healing to the nation. The Dominican Sisters, Nuns of the Monastery of the Mother of God near Bamenda, site of the papal visit, have turned their monastery into a refuge from the conflict for hundreds of individuals who flee to them for safety. Here is a recent message from Sister Geraldine Tar, OP, to the global Dominican Family. You can learn more about the background of the conflict and the Dominicans’ courageous response to it here.
Sister Geraldine’s message
Show me your faith apart from works and I by my works will show you my faith. This is the challenge from scripture.
For nine full years we have been doing the best we can to keep faith alive and active. We have prayed and hoped. We continue to pray without ceasing.
The war in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon has persisted. Insecurity heightens and lives continue to be lost. Value for human life is lost. The sacredness of human life is at its lowest.
These and more challenges continue to stare us in the face daily. What do we do. We are faced with this question every day. What is the best action to take or not take as a Monastic community. We see internally displaced persons around us all the time. They knock at our door seeking food, shelter, clothing, they are traumatized.
With us at the moment is Mama Caroline whose husband was shot and killed before her very eyes. Her daughter Helen can hardly focus in school because she saw her dad die before her eyes. The trauma is too much.
With us are university students who cannot afford transport faire to go home during the mid-term break because transport faire has been raised four times the normal. How will they survive when schools resume? They could not go home to gather foodstuffs and other necessities. Life is hard.
Prior to February 11th, all of Bamenda was shut down for three days. In the monastery and its environs, this shut down included electricity power failure. How do we produce Alter bread, vestments and other chores that require electricity? How do we as a monastic community respond to these needs and still keep our identity as a cloistered monastic community? These are challenges we must face.
We have taken steps to give them the best support we can give. Pray for them and with them. Listen to them share their stories, comfort those who mourn. Sometimes listening to the same narrative several times without showing signs of discomfort. Giving them support from our meager resources. Henry Nouwen talks of a wounded healer. We all are wounded by the war but these people look up to us. So we must bring them healing and wholeness.
