THE SISTERS OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD

July 27, 2010 Tuesday

Today after our stint at the nursing home, we dropped by the old convent of the Sisters of St John of God. It has been turned into a museum that tells the story of a group of nuns who came to the area in the early 1900’s. They were assigned to build a mission at Beagle Bay which is north of here. Evidently there were already a few people there who helped them begin. But there are photos of these women alongside aborigines and two or three men cutting logs, making bricks, etc., all the heavy work necessary in order to build a place from where they could “go about doing good.” Because of its remoteness, it soon became the place where anyone living anywhere close to it turned for medical help. They soon had a “hospital” running up there. They established a school where any child could come for an education. Ranchers sent their children; aborigine kids attended. Eventually, their school became a place where aborigine women could be trained as teachers’ aides so they could help in the education of their own people. Because of these efforts, Notre Dame University (in Sydney) eventually opened a campus here in Broome so people up here could become teachers. Nursing has been added to the program also. The museum is full of pictures of these incredibly dedicated women and the work they did. During World War II, the nuns took the students into the bush because of fear of the Japanese. I can’t imagine the hardships they faced. There was also a small Leprosarium in the area run by the government. That was eventually turned over to the sisters to run. They planted their gardens to have food to eat. They were isolated from any contact during the wet seasons because the only road out of there was dirt which became impossible to drive. The mission was eventually closed in Beagle Bay in the late 1980’s. The sisters moved to Broome and became part of the Catholic group here which runs a school. They have their own small cemetery plot near the town cemetery where the sisters who dedicated their lives to northwest Australia are buried.
We have all heard of the many wonderful things that Sister Teresa did. After today, I’m much more aware of the many women like her who have dedicated their lives to serving others in remote areas of the world.