Nigeria: Let me give because I do not know for how long I shall live

“Let me give because I do not know for how long I will live. But while I live, Lord let me give up my comfort for someone in need, with a smile, a nod, deeds or kind words. Let me do whatever I can to ease the suffering of my neighbour. I want nothing but to do my part and to live for the tired, the weary of heart. If I do all of these, I will not have lived in vain and I will not care for how long I shall live if only I can give and give…” The words of Sr. Oresoa  Selo-Ojeme, founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters for the Poorest of the Poor in Nigeria. The congregation is also sometimes called the Anawim Sisters. It was founded in 1995.

Speaking in an interview recently with Vatican Radio, Sr. Oresoa said, her inspiration in founding the Congregation was from an inner desire that haunted her each time she came in contact with the marginalised on the streets of Nigeria. Eventually, she started reaching out to the abandoned, the troubled and the orphaned.

Sr. Oresoa soon realised that she could not take care of the poor alone.  Amazingly a number of ordinary girls were attracted to what she was doing and started to work with her on a voluntary basis and without any inclination to become religious. In 2005 Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria now in the USA encouraged Sr. Oresoa to discuss her work with Nigeria's Bishop of Kaduna. Eventually, Sr. Oresoa's pastoral apostolate evoved into a new local congregation called the Missionary Sisters for the Poorest of the Poor or the Anawim Sisters as they are sometimes known. 

Talking about what makes the work of the Anawim Sisters different from what other religious congregations are already doing in Nigeria, Sr. Oresoa said that it is not a common sight to see a religious sister ministering to prostitutes around places where they gather such as in hotels or see a religious sister engage a mentally deranged person on the street. This is exactly what the Anawim Sisters are doing in Nigeria. She believes the apostolate of her congregation is restoring dignity to the abandoned and broken hearted of Nigeria and Ghana where Anawim sisters are working. In a way, this is what Pope Francis refers to when speaks of caring for victims of a “culture of waste.”

Commenting on the achievements made so far by the Anawim Sisters in their ministry,  Sr. Oresoa said, “The people in societies where we work want us to continue doing this work because the work we do speaks for itself.”

Asked about challenges in the work of caring for the poor, Sr. Oresoa said finances and personnel remain the biggest challenges because the ministry needs money to empower and rehabilitate the people the Congregation cares for. In terms of future plans, the Anawim Sisters are determined to grow the Congregation because they believe that this is what God has called them to do. Sr. Oresoa urged well-to-do Nigerians to be a little more selfless in giving to the poor and the needy.

For Sr. Oresoa and her sisters, service to the poor is a lifelong calling. The motto of the Congregation is, “To Give.”

(By Gloria Stephen Yariok, MSPP)

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Listen to Sr. Oresoa's phone interview with Gloria Yariok