DR Congo: Mission to the Periphery
The “house” is a small white building amidst uncultivated grass and the debris of new construction. The complex is an offshoot of the more famous and older centre that the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus have run since 2007 on the centrally located Boulevard Lumumba.
Sister Alina Lyna Kana explains that the “new” Telema, — which in the local dialect means “to put a man on his feet” — arose last May thanks to the generous help of a “donor”, the father of two sick children, who was scandalized by the misery of his fellow citizens and in awe of the sisters’ work.
At any time of day or night, with an influx of nearly 50,000 people per month, Sister Ángela and the other sisters — Ida, Alfonsina, Ortensia, Prisca, Odette and Maria — welcome and host in the small rooms “les gens de la rue”, people who wander the streets.
They pick them up every evening from the crowded, smoke-imbued sidewalks of the Congolese capital. Or they let in whoever they find outside their door.
Source: Vatican News
