It's Throwback Thursday: Sr. Mary Stuart, DW Reminisces

Photo by Roger Eitel

It’s Throwback Thursday, and it was 40 years ago in 1980 that Sr. Mary Stuart, DW was in Thailand working with Cambodian refugees as a part of a three-month tour with the Catholic Office for Emergency Refugee Relief of the United States Catholic Conference. There she worked at a center for unaccompanied children. Despite a language barrier, with the volunteer effort alone comprised of Thai, Khmer, Japanese, French, British, Canadian, Dutch, Australian and Chinese people- she wrote, “…the basic communication of caring…has made a difference for these youngsters.”

She recently reminisced about her time there and shared this reflection. It shares the view of someone working on the inside of the devastation people undergo as a result of war, and similarly, the people called to help heal them.

“My time in Thailand remains especially precious in my memory.  

I was challenged to volunteer when I saw an emaciated child on the cover of a news magazine and felt called to respond in some way and then discovered that we were sending Sisters. I was fearful but, thankfully, after a time of discerning I took the leap and seeming obstacles to my going were no longer an issue.  

In my time with the Cambodians in the refugee camps in Thailand, I received so much more than I gave.  My heart was opened to the challenging and painful reality of so many in our world; the horrendous impact of war, the resilience of the human spirit, the beauty of people of other cultures so different from my own who welcomed and shared what little they had with a stranger.

It was a time of living moment to moment in the face of so much that was new and different yet never had I experienced such deep sadness in the face of suffering alongside a profound peace and sense of all being held in God’s tender love.  A sense of mystery in the face of such paradox remains as does my gratitude for the experience.”

Sr. Mary Stuart, DW

Sr. Mary Stuart, DW will celebrate her 60th Jubilee on February 2, 2020.