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How you can help » A motorbike for Sister Rosalie in Long Xuyen

Sister Rosalie belongs to a local congregation. She works in a clinic, which welcomes many poor and needy patients who do not have the financial means to pay for standard medical treatment. There are some 225.000- plus baptised Catholics in the diocese of Long Xuyen, or just 4.8% of the population here on the Mekong Delta.[1] Catholics are to be found among all the main ethnic groups in this area, the Chinese, the Cham and the Khmer. Most of them live by working in the rice fields, from fishing or the manufacture of rice paper and hats.

Sister Rosalie explains: "In addition to the long and tiring hours in hospital, I am also engaged in pastoral work. Once a week I visit the sick in their homes, especially the poor and elderly." For most of these patients, who are extremely poor, they have to return home to their villages once their money runs out, where they are often left to fend for themselves. Sister Rosalie does not abandon them, however, regardless of what religion they belong to. Christians are only a minority here, in fact, and most of the population are Buddhists, Muslims or followers of traditional religions. For Bishop Joseph Tran Xuan Tieu, who heads the diocese, the intensive dialogue with members of the other religions is very important, however. He encourages the Catholics in his diocese to reach out to the members of other faiths with love and respect, and he also preaches this message by his own good example. It was he who initiated the collaboration with members of the Buddhist Hoa Hao School, which involves providing food and medicines for the poorest of the local people.

We are all equal before God – this is the motto by which Sister Rosalie lives her life, and she never attempts to impose her beliefs on her patients. Often however they will talk to her about God during her visits, and then she tells them of what fills her heart, namely the infinite love of God for mankind. She strives always to pass on this love to the sick and downtrodden. Whenever she can, she gets hold of medicines and brings them on her next visit. All these long journeys she has had to make on foot, at the cost of considerable time and energy. Now, however, she has turned to ACN for help, so 

Sister Rosalie belongs to a local congregation. She works in a clinic, which welcomes many poor and needy patients who do not have the financial means to pay for standard medical treatment. There are some 225.000- plus baptised Catholics in the diocese of Long Xuyen, or just 4.8% of the population here on the Mekong Delta.[1] Catholics are to be found among all the main ethnic groups in this area, the Chinese, the Cham and the Khmer. Most of them live by working in the rice fields, from fishing or the manufacture of rice paper and hats.

Sister Rosalie explains: "In addition to the long and tiring hours in hospital, I am also engaged in pastoral work. Once a week I visit the sick in their homes, especially the poor and elderly." For most of these patients, who are extremely poor, they have to return home to their villages once their money runs out, where they are often left to fend for themselves. Sister Rosalie does not abandon them, however, regardless of what religion they belong to. Christians are only a minority here, in fact, and most of the population are Buddhists, Muslims or followers of traditional religions. For Bishop Joseph Tran Xuan Tieu, who heads the diocese, the intensive dialogue with members of the other religions is very important, however. He encourages the Catholics in his diocese to reach out to the members of other faiths with love and respect, and he also preaches this message by his own good example. It was he who initiated the collaboration with members of the Buddhist Hoa Hao School, which involves providing food and medicines for the poorest of the local people.

We are all equal before God – this is the motto by which Sister Rosalie lives her life, and she never attempts to impose her beliefs on her patients. Often however they will talk to her about God during her visits, and then she tells them of what fills her heart, namely the infinite love of God for mankind. She strives always to pass on this love to the sick and downtrodden. Whenever she can, she gets hold of medicines and brings them on her next visit. All these long journeys she has had to make on foot, at the cost of considerable time and energy. Now, however, she has turned to ACN for help, so that she can purchase a small motorbike and thus reach her patients more quickly.

Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, ACN has been able to give her €1000. "May Our Lord bless all your generous benefactors", Sister Rosalie writes in profound gratitude for this welcome gesture of solidarity. Thanks to this motorcycle she can now travel more speedily to visit the sick and bring them solace and comfort in God's name.

[1] According to the news agency Ucanews, February 2010

that she can purchase a small motorbike and thus reach her patients more quickly.

Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, ACN has been able to give her €1000. "May Our Lord bless all your generous benefactors", Sister Rosalie writes in profound gratitude for this welcome gesture of solidarity. Thanks to this motorcycle she can now travel more speedily to visit the sick and bring them solace and comfort in God's name.