We recently released our video, A Mission of Hope and Healing in South Africa, to show others the dramatic needs of the South African people. These are people faced with hunger, malnutrition and even starvation. They also suffer from HIV/AIDS and there is an overwhelming population of orphans. Our sisters in South Africa provide care to many with these devastating needs while sharing their love of God in everything they do.

Our ministry began in the village of Limpopo, South Africa in June of 2008. In 2010, two sisters from the United States, Sister Vicky Segura, CBS, MD and Sister Elaine Davia, CBS, NP traveled there to assist with medical and nutritional needs. The sisters utilized their medical skills to assist many HIV/AIDS patients and were also able to help refugees, families and orphans with basic needs in the village. They share inspiring stories from their journey in this short video.

In addition to the sisters’ work in their HIV/AIDS clinic and in outreach to the people in the village that continues today, they are now educating young women in the skills they will need to assure income and a brighter future. They currently provide cooking classes for those interested in further cultivating that skill.

The Sisters of Bon Secours answer God’s call globally to help others by defending all life, crying out against injustice and human trafficking, advocating for global solidarity and promoting the preservation of the planet. We invite you to experience this inspiring video that demonstrates the many ways, in one corner of the globe, where the sisters are sharing Jesus’ message with those so much in need.

Do you feel God’s call to a ministry as a sister?  For more information on discerning your vocation or becoming a nun, please email Sr. Pat Dowling, Vocation Director, at CBSVocations@bshsi.org or call 410-442-0267.

Please click here:

UNANIMA International Updates: July 2011

Click here to read the newsletter in English.

Click here to read the newsletter in Spanish. 

The Sisters of Bon Secours are proud of our membership in UNANIMA, a non-government organization (NGO) with membership status in the United Nations. The coalition was founded in 2002 by sisters from seven religious congregations who believed they could make a difference by working collaboratively.

Today it numbers over 16,000 members world wide in thirteen continents. As women religious, the coalition is able to bring their collective expertise and concerns to the members of the United Nation. We act together for the economic and social advancement of all people with a special emphasis on women and children in poverty; immigrants and refugees and the welfare of the planet. We are glad to have a “voice at the table” and a chance to educate others on issues relevant to our mission.

I am sure he Senator Nelson could not have predicted the radical importance of Earth Day in today’s world.  Although Earth Day is only one day a year, millions band together across the United States to become strategic about their own carbon footprints. It is one day out of the year where we can all devote our time, efforts, and imagination purely to preserve our planet for the next generations.

We would love to offer the following resources to make your Earth Day more educated, fun and active!

• Measure your household’s carbon footprint using a Carbon Footprint Tool provided from New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light.
• Enjoy the delightfully hip video, “Everyday is an Earth Day,” from the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System.
• Request our 2011 Pocket Prayerbook, “Defending and Caring for All of Creation.”  (Please be sure to include your name and address in your email).

Here are some other tips for environmental conservation:

• Ride your bike to work for ONE day a week.  One day a week would save you nearly 10 WEEKS of gas over the span of one year.
• Be more conscious of your recycling.  Make sure to recycle the small bits and pieces of plastic and aluminum.  If there is no recycling bin nearby, create one.  Be determined to figure out how much MORE you are able to recycle weekly.
• Try paperless billing.  Most companies offer paperless billing to save on paper waste.  You can even set up online bill pay to avoid using more paper and stamps.
• Go through your home and find 5 different things to “recycle” via donations.  Do you have some old towels or sheets that you were considering throwing into the garbage?  Instead, recycle them to your local animal shelter.  They are always in need of old linens.  Don’t throw away your old books, try to donate them to a local library system, or (depending on the content) donate them to foster care agencys, nursing homes, homeless shelters, or jails.  These are all places where books are not often readily available.  Be creative!
• Eat dinner by candlelight one or two nights a week.  Not only is it a chance to bond with your friends and family over a “special” meal, but you are also conserving energy.

What are some other creative ways you are celebrating Earth Day?

Sunday, March 13, 2011
7:00 p.m. EST
Basilica of the Assumption
Cathedral and Mulberry Streets, Baltimore, Maryland

Including:
Baltimore Archbiship Edwin O’Brien, Auxiliary Bishop Denis Madden, and other Maryland interfaith leaders.

For more information, visit www.mdcathcon.org or www.archbalt.org

“From oppression and violence he redeems their souls; and precious is their blood in his sight.” 

                                                    -Psalm 72:14

 The discussion in our forum was about “stigma,” as we explored the pain and harm it causes to people and relationships.  In 1962, the Webster Dictionary defined a stigma as, “A scar or brand left by a hot iron on the face of an evildoer.”  Fortunately, the definition has been refined over the years.  

The Anti-Stigma Project currently defines stigma as ”Pre-determined attitudes or beliefs, regarding an individual or a group, which disempower or devalue that individual or group and undermine relationships with them.”  Given that, each table in our forum broke off into a group and talked about whether any of us felt victim to a stigma or whether we ourselves harvested any of these type of beliefs and attitudes.  

It was surprising that each of us could come up with something to say about our own life experiences.  One of our housekeepers commented about how, with a previous employer, she was treated poorly because she was “only a housekeeper.”  When she commented about how it made her feel like she wasn’t even a person.  We all stopped to ponder her input, and another coworker admitted to having been “less chatty” with housekeeping staff in the past.  She didn’t do it on purpose.  In fact, she admits she did it without any conscious thought.  She just noticed that office staff and housekeeping did not “mingle,” so she followed the crowd!

Since the 1980′s, when HIV/AIDS began to creep faster into mainstream life, we saw a monstrous stigma associated with HIV/AIDS patients.  That stigma was born out of fear of the unknown.  As people have learned more about HIV, as awareness evolved, the ”fear of the unknown” subsided, but the stimga remained. 

I have also seen it happen with mental illness.  While the art of psychology dates back to ancient civilizations, the laboratory-based science of psychology did not begin until 1879.  It is a relatively young medical field.  Again, fear of the unknown fueled the public about those suffering from mental illness.  It really has not been that long since a person with hysteria would have been “locked away for good.”  Nowadays, with a greater level of understanding, and through years of lab experimentations, and education on mental illness, there are medications and alternative therapies that help many people to live normal, productive lives. 

Yet, it doesn’t end there.  These same people who have been afforded a chance to function “normally” STILL wear an outdated stigma that mental illness should be hidden away.

“You finally decide to get help, and then you’re punished for it – pigeonholed into a diagnosis, shamed, labeled, and discriminated against for life.  The stigma can be worse than the illness.”

Going back to the Webster’s definition from 1962, could you imagine what our world would look like if everyone who was “different” was branded?  By God’s definition of humans, we are ALL DIFFERENT.  No two of us are alike, whether we have blond hair, or black hair, whether we suffer from mental illness or not, whether we are lawyers, housekeepers, or secretaries.  God created each hair on each of our heads! 

Stigmatizing attitudes and practices are barriers to the progress of humanity in life.  Have you noticed in your life where you may be judging someone based on a belief or “value” that is innate to your life?  Is that belief wrong?  Is it unfair?  Have you fell victim to being stigmatized and judged?  What was it for?  Respond to this Blog, I would love to know your thoughts…

CLICK HERE for more information about The Anti-Stigma Project

CLICK HERE to download the ENGLISH newsletter

CLICK HERE to download the FRENCH newsletter

A Commitment to Healing

Flying across time zones, Sister Patricia Eck, C.B.S. saw first hand the devastation left by a Tsunami that left over 250,000 dead in 2004. Representing Bon Secours Health System as part of a delegation from Catholic Relief Services, Sr. Pat Eck as chair of the BSHSI board stood on the expansive flatlands of Banda Aceh in 2005 and realized that no one could have survived the violence of the tsunami that struck Indonesia.

The purpose of the trip was to see first hand how donations helped in recovery and as a witness to tell the story of how CRS relief efforts are doing wonderful works. Three years later in January 2010, Sr. Pat, as Chair of Bon Secours Ministries and as Congregation Leader for the Sisters of Bon Secours stood in the desert heat of Trujillo, Peru as part of a delegation from BSHSI to support the formal launch of a collaborative Infant Mortality Project to address the gap in healthcare services where children die from acute respiratory infections, lack of water and latrines. This BSHSI and Peruvian Sisters of Bon Secours partnership, along with others will help to address the incredible child mortality problems in Peru.

Sr. Pat’s strong belief that, “The struggle for a more humane world is not an option but an integral part of spreading the Gospel.” is core to who Sr. Pat is and a reason why she is a great fit to serve as Congregation Leader of the Sisters of Bon Secours internationally. Sister Pat has helped to facilitate change in the health care field over the last forty years both locally and nationally, and has never wavered from her commitment to take actions that ensure the preferential option for the care of people who are poor and marginalized. Now, as Congregation Leader of the Sisters of Bon  Secours internationally, a position she was elected to by an international delegation of sisters at a meeting in Rome, Italy in October 2009, Sr. Pat is bringing her vision, love of her community and her talent to a new role.

Excited about this new chapter as the international leader of her community, for Sr. Pat, the sisters’ hopes and dreams are in the forefront as she creates structures that support the future they envision. Whether serving in health care, chaplaincy, peace and justice, human services, education or pastoral or spiritual services, the Sisters of Bon Secours share a common goal of providing compassion, healing and liberation to all of creation and all whom they serve.

Visioning a Better World

When asked what the future holds as the sisters unite in their global efforts, Sister Pat replied, “Our plans now go back to the past when our sisters treated the sick and dying in their homes.  They brought people to wholeness. Our commitment today is to bring people and communities to wholeness wherever there is a need. All of our sisters have an important role in our collective works for the future. All are filled with enthusiasm and hope. As we move forward we invite other women to be a part of our community and to share the joy of what we do.”

For information about the international Congregation of Sisters of Bon Secours community email Sister Pat Dowling, Vocation Director at

CBSVocations@bshsi.org or call 1-877-742-0277 and visit their website at:  www.bonsecoursvocations.org.

Here is an excerpt from the Global Zero website:

The film is a fascinating and frightening exploration of the dangers of nuclear weapons, exposing a variety of present day threats and featuring insights from a host of international experts and world leaders who advocate the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

Countdown to Zero is a chilling wake-up call about the urgency of the nuclear threat. It tells the striking story of uncertainty, exposing the real possibility of nuclear disaster and revealing the truth behind an issue on which human survival itself hangs.