The Sisters of Mercy have touched the lives of hundreds scarred by violence earlier this year in Guyana.

Four American Sisters of Mercy and an associate, all trained and experienced in various aspects of counselling, offered their skills to residents of Buxton and Lusignan.

The initiative came out of a meeting with the leadership of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Regional coordinator of the Mercy Sisters in Guyana, Sr Julie Matthews, informed the leadership of the recent massacres and the trauma suffered by the people.

In February, criminals killed 13 people in Bartica while a similar attack in Lusignan in January killed 12, including children.

Sr Julie asked if the Institute could offer any help. As a result, the four Sisters and one Mercy associate, all from the United States, volunteered for the short mission.

During their month-long stay they met with adults and children in their homes, in Church facilities, in schools, one-on-one and in small groups.
The therapists spent five days at Buxton Community High and met individually with over 100 students. They also met with each class and with teachers.

Outside of the school environment, in the Buxton area, the counsellors met with about 50 children between the ages of eight to 14. This was followed by other encounters with about 30 teens over the age of 14; there were some sessions with families.

The focus of the sisters’ work was trauma, grief and loss counselling and helping individuals to cope with living in communities which for years have experienced high levels of violence. Other problems surfaced during these encounters such as family, marriage and teen issues.

In Lusignan, the Sisters provided some counselling to the five families directly affected by the recent massacre. Those who witnessed the killings there also came together for some sessions.

The sisters also provided some training for area social workers and other caregivers, and met with Social Work students of the University of Guyana for a day-long workshop on trauma intervention.

They also counselled troubled youth at the Bosco Orphanage and at Mercy Wings.

The Sisters each expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to visit Guyana, and noted that while the mission was hard, they felt extremely blessed by residents of Lusignan and Buxton who welcomed them into their homes and were appreciative of the help they provided.

All were impressed with the faith, courage and resilience of the Guyanese people and even though they were able to offer only shor-term trauma intervention, they felt that they had begun a process which will assist the country to come together and find new life.
- edited from Catholic Standard