St. Andrew's Malta

Our overseas mission is to the poor community of Tugwashanye in Zambia where Sr. Catherine Farrugia, a Maltese nun and a qualified nurse, runs an HIV/AIDS Hepatitis programme. As well as giving medical advice, Sr. Catherine tends to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of those afflicted with HIV/Hepatitis with the help of two other sisters and some local ladies trained by them.

Sr. Catherine and her team work extremely enthusiastically bringing to their community an awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and prevention with the aim of promoting healthy behavioural change.

Sr. Catherine is focusing our attention on the educational needs of the community of Tugwashanye. Education is not free and the indirect costs are great for a poor family. We consider supporting capable students as a step out of the poverty trap. Three students have so far managed to graduate from college.

We try to raise funds through the weekly sale of greetings cards, an annual pasta night and an annual concert. We also receive donations. We occasionally send warm sweaters and cardigans donated by members of the community since these are difficult to get and extremely expensive there.

We know our gifts make a huge difference. The money has also served for once-only purposes such as a one-room house for a widow, a knee operation for a lady looking after her orphaned grandchildren. We started a maize project two years ago which continues to help families become independent. It is very dynamic and we hope that more and more families can join after every harvest. 

The mission team likes to think of the people of Tugwashanye as extended family.

If you would like to have more information about this our Mission Co-ordinators here are Marie & Norrie Alexander: norrie.alexander@gmail.com .