FMDM Sisters celebrate 70 years of service

Leonard Ncube, Senior Reporter
THE congregation of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood (FMDM) Catholic sisters on Saturday celebrated 70 years of service which saw them building Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo, one of the best health facilities in the country.

The colourful 70th anniversary, which was held at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo and Mass was led by the Catholic Church’s Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe, Archbishop Paolo Rudelli and Archbishop Alex Thomas, who heads the Bulawayo Archdiocese.
Scores of Catholics and partners from a cross section of the society attended the celebrations. The FMDM Sisters first arrived in Bulawayo in 1952 when their Mother General, Francis Spring sent a delegation of sisters to oversee construction of the Mater Dei Hospital which had started a year earlier.

This followed a request by the then Bishop Arnoz of Bulawayo for them to build a Catholic Hospital in Bulawayo.

The need for the hospital was in response to concerns over unethical procedures such as abortions that reportedly took place at other health institutions.

The hospital was completed and opened in 1953. Mater Dei is Latin for Mother of God.

After hearing about the good reputation of the FMDM Sisters in the 1950s, the Anglo-American Mining Corporation requested the FMDM to administer Hwange Colliery Hospital and they subsequently opened a nurse training school there.

Although Hwange Colliery Company now runs the hospital, the FMDM Sisters still maintain their presence at the institution.

In 1958 Government requested the FMDM Sisters to administer St Francis Home for mentally disabled in Bulawayo and they ran the facility until 1976 when they handed it back to Government due to political interference.

In the 1980s the FMDM Sisters worked at Sibantubanye Day Care Centre in Luveve and later established Simanyane Centre in Bulawayo, which are both still functional.

They opened a novitiate in Victoria Falls in 1983 to train indigenous Africans and the pioneer product was Sr Helen Doyle who is still with the congregation.

They set up another one at Fatima Mission in Lupane in 1989 and later opened Lubhancho House in Hwange to assist people affected by HIV and Aids which at the time ravaged the country in the late 1980s.

The sisters handed over Mater Dei Hospital to a Board of Trustees in 1999 for day-to-day management of the institution, but have maintained their initial mission of providing healthcare with their presence in the board.

Sr Doyle said the moments of the 70 year-history were intertwined in people through the primary mission to be sisters to all.

“We pay tribute to the people of Bulawayo and those along the road to Victoria Falls. In our desire to spread the gospel we were welcomed, shepherded and encouraged. You opened your arms and without you, our journey would not have been successful,” she said.

Archbishop Thomas said the institution has witnessed tremendous growth since the ground-breaking in 1951. He said Mater Dei offers a unique service, making it one of the best facilities in the country.

“The work of the sisters is a marvel and I want to mention the good personal relationship that the sisters built with patients, relatives and community. This type of relationship continues to grow between the staff and management, which is the key to their success,” he said.

“The healing that people receive in this hospital is not merely medical, but it is more-so spiritual and personal and that’s the secret of Mater Dei. We are grateful to God and on behalf of the Archdiocese of Bulawayo and the city of Bulawayo, I extend my sincere gratitude to the FMDM Sisters and staff of Mater Dei, yours is a service well provided with love.”

Archbishop Rudelli said: “As we congratulate you, we all wish you to be on your mission for the next 70 years. Continue to find inspiration in the very name of your congregation. You are united in the pain of the poor and call for simplicity and the first element in your name reminds you of the experiences of St Francis of Assisi.”

Dr Adolf Macheka, a Bulawayo-based orthopaedic surgeon who also chairs the hospital board of trustees, said Mater Dei is a community hospital and commended the FMDM Sisters for catering for the needs of the community through the provision of healthcare services. — @ncubeleon