Farewell to Guyana

With sadness and gratitude, OLMs say goodbye to friends in Guyana

By Leon Suseran
May/June 2008

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They quietly did God's work. And now they are returning home, leaving our shores for good.

Sr. Cecile Turner along with Sr. Doris MacDonell (who left a couple of months ago) came to Guyana in 1993 after a request from Scarboro missionary Fr. Ken MacAulay.

Srs. Cecile Turner (left) and Joan Missiaen with Betty Drepaul, resident of the Good Samaritan Home. New Amsterdam, Guyana.

Both registered nurses, the Sisters spent three months at Mercy Hospital in Georgetown before coming to New Amsterdam. Sr Joan Missiaen arrived in 2004.

The Sisters were involved in God's ministry at the New Amsterdam special needs school, in the prison, and with the prayer team. They visited patients at the country's only psychiatric hospital, tended to the grandfathers at Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity home for the aged, and visited residents at the Good Samaritan Home in Stanleytown.

Indeed they have become a part of the Ascension parish community and they will be tremendously missed.

"As I reflect on my 50 years as a member of Our Lady's Missionaries," said Sr. Joan, "the word that comes to mind is gratitude... to God, to my family and loved ones, and to the many, people I've had the privilege to walk with in Auguascalientes, Mexico; in Canada; in Southern Leyte and Mindanao, Philippines; and for the past three years in New Amsterdam, Guyana."

She continued, "Sr. Cecile and Sr. Doris who have been in Guyana for 14 years paved the way for my acceptance there. I've learned so much about love, and about life and its many struggles while living among the Guyanese people with their various cultures and languages. And, yes, I've had my own ups and downs, and have gained strength and insight from many along the journey: the women at the prison, the women and men at the psychiatric hospital, and the men at Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity Home."

Sr. Doris MacDonell

Asked about the reason for their departure from Guyana, Sr. Joan, who is a teacher, said that she was elected to the OLM leadership team in Canada. She also cited health issues and the fact that there are no replacements for them, hence the closure of their mission in this part of the world...

"We leave with very heavy hearts," said Sr. Joan. "We will always remember the warmth and welcome of the people and will carry that in our hearts."

Sr. Cecile said, "We will badly miss being here. We have become a part of the people's lives, especially those in the parish,"

Their white car would be seen all over the town of New Amsterdam and its environs as they carried out their humble duties...

"Our services extended beyond the Ascension community, beyond Catholics," Sr. Cecile added. Oftentimes, they cared when no one else did; they saw what no one else saw, they loved and showed compassion when many did not.

And so...I extend a big thank you to Srs. Joan, Cecile and Doris, for humbly serving the Lord in our community here in New Amsterdam...May God's Spirit continue to walk with you all.

Leon Suseran is a writer and a highschool teacher of English and Literature living in New Amsterdam. This article was first published in The Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana.

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