Palliative Care for Elderly African Nuns
We want to build a robust model of Palliative Care that can be rolled out across
Africa improving the lives of up to 10,000 elderly African nuns.
Sister Mary Rita, Sister Rose Marie and Sister Jane Francis on the veranda of the convent in Nkokonjeru.
The need
African catholic sisters dedicate their lives to spiritual and physical care of others
through their services in education, health, and other professional areas. They do not
render their services for profit and do not accumulate any personal resources for
their care when old and retired.
African orders, unlike most of those in countries like Ireland, have few if any assets
and very limited financial resources. This creates a situation that towards the end of
their life, having worked all their lives for the good of others, these sisters are
frequently left without proper palliative care or end-of-life supports. This is an
injustice that needs to be addressed.
Sister Consolata caring for 106 year old Sister Mary Denis Rovina
“They face severe pain that makes them lose their heads. When you look at them,
they look normal, but when they are almost dead because of the pain.”
- A sister talking of her colleagues
Origins of the project
This project arose from an appeal made by Sr Jane Frances, Regional Provincial of
the Little Sisters of Saint Francis. At the time Sr Jane Frances as regional superior
for Central Uganda was responsible for the wellbeing of the 450 nuns in her
community. She described in graphic detail the conditions in which nuns in her
community were dying – without even having basic pain relief.
One of the people who heard the appeal had a deeply personal response. Jean
Callanan, former chair of Irish Hospice Foundation and an advisory board member
of the African Palliative Care Assoiation thought of her a grandmother, a doctor who
became a nun when she was widowed and spent the rest of her life working in
Africa. These women could have been her grandmother’s colleagues – and after a
lifetime of service, they deserve better. And so was born the spark for a project to
develop a model for community-based palliative care for African nuns, which could
be rolled out across the continent.
The demonstration project is being run by The African Palliative Care Association, a
highly respected international body, with the support of a team of international
experts. This project, which commenced in September 2025, aims to develop and
assess a model of in-community palliative care for African nuns, which if successful
can be rolled out to other religious communities across Africa, improving the life of
up to 10,000 elderly nuns in Africa. This project is focused on a group of 50 elderly
and retired nuns of the Little Sisters of St Francis (LSOF) Nkokonjeru, Uganda (the
community led by Sister Jane Francis, above). The Little Sisters of St Francis were
set up by Irish woman, Mother Kevin Kearney whose work had such an impact on
Ugandan healthcare, that hospitals there are often referred to as “Kevina”.
95 year old Sister Rose Mary, laughed as her Superior, Sister Rita, told us that she used to get into trouble with her as a novice because her embroidery was not up to scratch.
“We do not have the kind of attention that we might need as we go grow old… and
so the sisters die, disgruntled, lacking the comfort that they need, and that is
why this project is so important.”
- Sister Jane Frances
Jean Callanan talking with Sr Ria about her life and current needs
Needs
The total cost of the project is €135,000. We have raised €25,000 of this cost so far.
All support will help to improve the old age of these women who have done so much
to help others.
Read more about this project here: https://shorturl.at/PhFIT
Learn more about the Little Sisters of St Francis here:
https://littlesisterseducationfund.org/who-we-are/mission.html
Learn more about the work of the African Palliative Care Association here:
https://www.africanpalliativecare.org/
Read more about these nuns and the need for support in this article from American website NPR https://www.npr.org/2026/06/20/g-s1-128632/nuns-convent-africa-hospice
“They have served humanity for all their useful years… Now, they deserve decent,
person-centered care." Sr Jane Frances