Sister vows to die before abandoning poor of Tigray

Ireland should be ‘very proud’ of its missionaries – Ethiopian religious

An Ethiopian sister awarded by Trócaire for her devotion to the poor has insisted she would rather die than abandon the people of Tigray, a region wracked by ongoing bloody conflict.

Sr Medhin Tesfay DC, the regional coordinator for the Daughters of Charity in Tigray, Ethiopia told The Irish Catholic during a visit to Ireland that her congregation “never abandoned the people” and never will.

She was presented with Church-charity Trócaire’s ‘Romero International Award 2023’ on the charity’s 50th anniversary last week in Dublin.

Sr Medhin said: “Even going to the extent of maybe being killed when you are serving the poor, that is the greatest choice and the greatest cause, because you can easily be killed also staying at home, anything can happen to any of us anywhere, so when it happens, when you are occupied on something you believe – and for the Daughters of Charity it is serving Christ in the presence of the poor – that is where I would like to end my life.

“In the history of all conflicts in the region none of the Daughters of Charity ever abandoned the people, we are from the people, we are for the people and we are with the people. Even when our health centre was shelled, the sisters were serving patients on the ground floor, they stayed there, treating patients and taking care of them,” she said.

Speaking about the Romero award Sr Medhin received, which honours a Trócaire partner who has displayed courage and commitment to advancing the cause of human rights in the communities where they work, Sr Medhin said she is “very much humbled and immensely honoured to have such an incredible award, it means a lot”.  

The award is named in honour of St Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in March 1980 in El Salvador. St Romero spoke out against social injustice and violence despite the threat to his life. 

Speaking about the award, Sr Medhin said: “I am very happy, I feel very much humbled and immensely honoured to have such an incredible award, it means a lot. It is a recognition not only of my efforts but the efforts of all those who contributed to make this happen, to make this possible and I take it as an award not only on my behalf but of all those who work tirelessly for justice and to alleviate poverty. It is on behalf of my own congregation, the Church and all the poor people I try to serve.”

Asked about the work of Irish missionaries across the world, as well as in Ethiopia, Sr Medhina said Irish people “should be very proud… particularly with multiple links between Ethiopia in general and with the people of Tigray. I’m thinking of the very generous Irish people and the Government, donating to various projects through partners like Irish Aid, Trócaire, Misean Cara, other NGOs and so many volunteers. 

“I don’t want to forget our own sisters who came to Ethiopia from Ireland and opened new missions and are role models to our vocation. They [Irish people] should be very much proud of what they do because they are living the message of Christ in action in solidarity with people who need their assistance.”