 To
all forms of our ministry we bring concern for the totality
of human life. Even though our particular service may
focus on various aspects of human life, our deepest
desire in everything is to promote the fundamental dignity
of persons, thus demonstrating our incarnational charism.
Today, we remain committed to our
founding call while constantly adapting our ministires
to meet the evolving needs of society.
We currently serve those in need
in El Salvador, Guatemala, Ireland, Kenya and the United
States of America.
In Romania, we have heard the cries of
a multitude of children with AIDS and have responded
in partnership with others to renovate, equip and staff
a center to care for these children. In the outpatient
clinic of the center, nearly 1,000 children receive care.
We offer direct care for HIV clients and their families
in Kenya at St. Martin de Porres Dispensary. Elizabeth
Place Children's Home in Nairobi offers care to children
orphaned as a result of AIDS. We also provide health
education regarding AIDS in Kenya and Guatemala and support
diocesan AIDS ministry in Houston, Texas.
GO
TO TOP
At three centers in Guatemala, our
Sisters offer places of haven for the abandoned elderly.
Healing comes through spiritual and physical care, and
a sense of home and family.
We also offer care to the elderly through
our co-sponsorship of CHRISTUS Health and Catholic Healthcare
West. In addition we provide care to the elderly at Carrigoran
in Ireland where we operate a long-term care facility.
Corporate social responsibility
is the exercise of ethical and social stewardship in
investments, banking and purchasing. Active corporate
social responsibility involves influencing corporate
culture and efforts to shape corporate policies and decisions
to promote human rights, social and economic justice
for all. The Congregation has been involved in the corporate
responsibility movement for almost two decades.
The Congregation works in partnership with
other religious investors to address systemic change
in the marketplace through national membership in the Interfaith
Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) [www.iccr.org],
and in regional membership in the Socially
Responsible Investment Coalition – Texas [http://home.flash.net/~sric/].
Whether teaching children in elementary
schools or adults seeking to improve their life skills,
education is an important ministry for our Congregation.
The type of teaching offered varies in each country and
community. In Kenya, for example, Sisters help women
to develop skills for future self-employment, while teaching
theology, scripture and spirituality to young men at
a seminary in preparation for the priesthood. Among the
elementary schools where our Sisters are missioned are
Our Lady of Fatima in Texas City, Texas; St. Francis of Assisi in Houston, Texas; Bishop Ndingi Primary School, St. Peter
the Apostle School, Forest Edge Kindergarten and St. Joseph Minor and St. Mary’s
Major Seminary in Kenya.
Our health care ministry in five
countries ranges from large sophisticated health systems
to small dispensaries in remote villages. In the United
States, we co-sponsor two of the largest Catholic health
care systems in the nation, Catholic Healthcare West
and CHRISTUS Health. Among our other health care ministries
are Carrigoran, a long term care center in County Clare,
Ireland; COAR Dispensary in Zaragoza, El Salvador; and
St. Martin de Porres Dispensary in Molo, Kenya. In partnership
with others we also support a center for children with
AIDS in Constantia, Romania. We provide health education
in Kenya and we teach health promoters in Central America
who in turn teach the general public.
We are involved in social justice in two
ways:
* By direct service, which is providing for the immediate
needs of people, i.e. food, clothing and shelter, and
by the work of social change.
* Legislative issues of concern to the Congregation
include healthcare for the uninsured, immigrants, affordable
housing for low-income families, welfare reform (TANF
Reauthorization), minimum wage, world debt relief, moratorium
on the death penalty, environmental issues /conservation,
and sharing of the worlds goods.
We invite YOU to get involved. Join us by clicking on
a current issue of concern:
Our ministries in literacy include helping
adults learn to write and speak English and Spanish in
the United States; Spanish in Guatemala and El Salvador;
and Kiswahili and English in Kenya. In partnership with
the Houston READ Commission, the Congregation is actively
involved in a number of learning centers in the Greater
Houston Area. Adults there also learn arithmetic and
computer skills.
We provide children a home and family in Guatemala
and Kenya. Some of these children are orphaned because
of war; some, because of AIDS; and some come from broken
families.
The Congregation is involved in other ministries
that reflect the changes in society, including our work
with street children in Kenya, women’s groups in
the United States, Kenya, and Central America, and parish
ministry in Central America.
|
