In 1968, a request was made by Bishop Dalton OSA to the Sisters of Mercy in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, Ireland for Sisters to work in his diocese of Yola, in what was then the North Eastern State, now Gongola State, Adamawa Province, Nigeria. He had such memories of the great work done by the Sisters in Stradbally, Co Waterford that he wished for Sisters of Mercy in his diocese.
Volunteers were sought, and after much prayer and discussion, we, Philomena Kelly, Mary Jo Sheehy and Mary Flynn from the Dungarvan community and Emmanuel Aherne from Waterford, were chosen.
In October 1969, a missioning ceremony was held in St. Mary’s Parish Church, Dungarvan, during which we Mercies and four Augustinians received mission crosses.
On October 24th 1969 we left Dungarvan after a pre-dawn Mass, and flew from Cork Airport via Dublin, where Bishop Dalton and Raphael O’Shaughnessy OSA formally blessed our departure for Yola. Bishop Dalton, being seriously ill acknowledged that this was a day he had longed for and told us to use his car until he returned. Unfortunately Bishop Dalton died in November 1969.
Having spent five days with the OSAs in Rome, we landed in Yola on 30th October, having had a few hours stop with the Louis Sisters in Kano, en route.
An extraordinary welcome awaited us at the laterite/earth runway in Yola. Christian Mothers, Augustinians, Franciscan Missionaries of Divine Motherhood, parishioners and children greeted us with drums, clapping of hands, bugle blowing and cheering. It was almost overwhelming and there was a certain relief on arrival at the Mission house.
Left to Right: Mary Flynn, Philomena Kelly, Emmanuel Aherne, Mary Jo Sheehy in October 1969
The house being built for the Sisters was not completed, so we took up residence in the Mission rest house, sharing all facilities with Dan Kelleher (RIP) and Ailbe Brennan OSA. We had then (mixed community living) what is sometimes now seen as the way forward into the future!
The following Monday, Mary Jo started teaching, while Philomena, Emmanuel and Mary started Hausa lessons with John Gough OSA and visitation in the Parish with Athanasius, the Parish Catechist.
Those early weeks were not easy. We were coping with the human feelings of loneliness, being far away from home, having no telephone, no IV, no newspaper. A letter from home took almost a month to arrive.
In those days there was no preparation for mission. We went in at the deep end. It was a leap of faith. We had come from large communities with a regular horarium, into a group of four trying to adjust to a new culture, a difficult climate, a language barrier, mosquitoes, lizards and snakes.
The mystery of this was that we learned to cope very well. We got on well as a group, we trusted each other and we had to learn to live creatively together, relying on our own inner strength and our deep faith in God. It was a real experience of ‘shared responsibility’ from the start.
Like any founding group we had difficulties and made mistakes, but the good thing was that we were able to look at these and learn from our experience. The four of us, looking back on that time, would offer this reflection. One of the greatest blessings was that circumstances challenged us personally and collectively as a group of four, to be responsible and sometimes to make difficult decisions without being able to get the imprimatur from Dungarvan, due to the great difficulty re communication. For example, there was a two month time lapse between sending a letter and receiving a reply.
In December 1969, our house, Aras Mhuire/Gidan Maria, was ready for occupation, whilst still being in a very crude state. However, it was ‘heaven’ to have it and to sit down to a pot of tea with ‘our feet under our own table’ at last.
Our first Christmas dinner, which consisted of duck, was shared with all the local expatriates. It was, for each of us ‘a Christmas never to be forgotten!’
In March 1970, the decision was taken to open a clinic in Bare, with two Sisters residing in what was formerly ‘the Father’s house’. From then on, we had two separate locations a distance of sixty miles apart. Because of the ferry, the mud track and the wet season, access to the mission in Bare was always very precarious. We had many adventures as we travelled to and fro!
Our houses in Yola and Bare had a great spirit of openness and hospitality, which was as inclusive of Nigerians as of expatriates. The expatriate population was wide and multi-denominational. Mercy had to be big enough to encompass all of this.
We always felt that this spirit was in keeping with the Mercy charism. All that human interaction was essential for us and challenged us to embrace a wider concept of community.
We now recognise that these were very formative years. We also acknowledge that we went out believing that we were bringing something special. While this is true, we would have to own that we received more, individually and collectively, from the people than we ever gave. A profound experience was witnessing the deep faith out of which they lived. They were ‘NOW’ people, who lived every moment in the deep awareness that God was with them. This was as true in the difficult times as in the good times.
We will always be grateful for the privilege of that experience.
Now, thirty five years on, the Sisters are involved in education, women’s advancement, small Christian communities, hospital visitation, formation of young women and ecological formation. The call to compassionate care of the poor of the earth and the poor earth is still being heard and answered by the Mercy women and their Nigerian colleagues. ALLAHAMDULAHI!
Mary Jo Sheehy is on the Southern Provincial Team, Cork, Ireland
The concluding paragraph written by Maire McGann and Goretti Kelleher
Southern Province
Southern Province 