2012-11-26 00:02:44亞特蘭提斯的追夢人

The Forgotten Times, In Taiwan and Ireland

        The Forgotten Times, In Taiwan and Ireland

Text by: Sense Chen (CEO of Taitung St. Mary’s Hospital, Taitung, Taiwan, ROC )

 

In St. Mary’s Hospital, Taitung, there is a crisscross composed of five Ms on the floor in the hall. None of the senior employees I asked know the meaning of the pattern. Some even wondered if it means M&M chocolate.

At the end of last year, I made the acquaintance of George Barter, an Irish. We clicked right away and talked for six hours when we first met. He insisted that I visit him in Ireland if I get the chance. I told him that I need to thank his people and explained that it was Irish Sisters who came to Taiwan and founded out hospital. George asked me which church Order it was. I was ashamed of not knowing their English names. He smiled and said “it’s alright, please do come to Ireland and call on them.”

 

Seeing the Sisters in Ireland

Actually, the idea of visiting Irish Sisters formed in my mind when I collected the history of our hospital. Being deeply moved by the Sister’s devotional spirit, I truly hope I could visit them and express my gratitude personally. However, I found only little information recording the Irish Sisters, and this dates the earliest:

“Not standing the pregnant women to give the birth on the farms, and the poor lack of medical care in the unhygienic environment. Father Hilber Jakob hoped that it could establish a hospital, but there weren’t doctors. Father Hilber Jakob requested the help to the Mgr. Ribri, the stationed ambassador in China of Vatican City. Though Mgr. Ribri’s introduction, finding the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Ireland , that was missionaries Sisters with the  medical evangelization , by Shirley Smith and Sr. Kieran Saunders specialty in midwife, St. Mary Lyingin hospital started forming. In December, 12th, 1961, all the way to Taipei. Few days later, they found a hut that has electricity and water, which far away two miles from Malan( it was a dorm that supplied by Societas Missionaria de Bethlehem),where to be a temporary Order. At the beginning, two sisters visited the country first, made medical service at the patients’ home, and learned Chinese. They started to ride the bicycle to make a circuit of the villages, under Father Hilber Jakob’s suggestion, they had had a clinic and a maternity ward of four-bed, located in the first floor of temporary Order, that was a birthplace of St. Mary’s Hospital. At that time, the service items including the obstetrics and gynecology department, internal department and started using laboratory, Sr. Kieran Saunders acted as department head. Due to the lack of the nursing school, finding the professional nurses was too difficult. Besides Sister Maureen Sinnott from America, the staff in the hospital was introduced by the Father from every parish. They introduced the clever and young girls who just graduated from school. Sisters trained the medical skills in person.

It wasn’t until I read those documents that I realized the crisscross with “M” letter is the mark MMM left in Taiwan. A colleague who has devoted in the hospital for over forty years told me that Sr. Kieran Saunders couldn’t read Chinese, but, in order to teach young aboringinal nurses, she translated the whole obstetric book with phonetic transcription and taught those nurses word by word. In the early days, Dr. Pei had to inspect 70-80 patients every morning. It was really tiresome and toilsome.

All around Asia, MMM had only one head office and 5 or 6 Sisters, which was really not enough for the tough working condition. They hoped to have vocation in Taiwan, but it never occurred for over ten years. As the state of life and medical conditions has been improved in Taiwan, MMM decided to leave for Africa, where there are more in need. In 1975, MMM handed St. Mary’s Hospital, Taitung over to the Daughters of Charity, who continue to serve here in Taiwan. All the Irish Sisters left, leaving this history behind. And it was gradually forgotten.

This August, Father Bruce sent several photos from the U.S. after he visited those who served in Taitung. He wrote that the Sisters still remember Taitung. But they’re too old to talk much. (His words made me ponder about the cruelty of the time.) Love, don’t be late.Then, in September, I was invited to Dublin, the capital of Ireland, take attend a international conference concerning aromatherapy in clinical use. Because it was an excellent chance, I wrote to George, pleading him to inquire about MMM.

Fortunately, George found an elderly Sister who know about MMM in Taitung. She was the rector of the MMM head office. Her name is Carol Breslin. I called her as soon as I arrived in Ireland, telling her about my purpose for visiting them. I said, “I simply want to see you, and thank you on behalf of Taiwanese people”

 

 

 

Journey for the root

The head office of MMM is located in Boosterstown, approximately half an hour by car from Dublin. As the bus gradually drove closer th Boosterstown, the sight changed. In the mean time, I felt more and more at home because its vigorous grass, blue sky and ocean looked like Taitung. Perhaps such similarity could ease the Sister’s nostalgia. Fifty years ago, Irish Sisters went to Taiwan and helped so many Taiwanese. However, no Taiwanese had any opportunity to visit then in Ireland. Today, I am here in Ireland for the root.

I got off the bus, walked for fifteen minutes and finally arrived at the head office of MMM, with a low white wall, on which was written the familiar words – Medical Missionary of Mary. The building was simple and plain as the missionary itself. Seeing the statues of Holy Mother and the Sisters, I almost burst into tears. Carol Breslin, the head/manager of MMM, greeted us and kindly showed us an album she had found in advance. The album, which had rested uninterrupted in the document room for three decades, were the record of the MMM Sisters in Taitung. It marked the history I’ve never been through.

 

 

 

I also brought with me some English publications and Chinese history of St. Mary’s Hospital, even though I found little record of MMM in them. We turned it page after page. She recalled the names of the Sisters in the photos while I briefly translated the content of the articles. Back to the early days of St. Mary’s Hospital, the most special thing among the needs was often interpretation. All the Sisters and Doctors were foreigners and some of them spoke no Chinese. What’s worse was that Chinese was not the only local language in Taitung. People in Taitung also spoke Taiwanese, Hokka and languages spoken by six different aboriginal tribes. Some senior empolyees told me that the Sisters would be so anxious as to pinch the young local nurses when the translation/interpretation was too slow in emergency.

 

 

Cheerily, Manager Carol told me that she would have come to Taiwan if she had not been sent to Africa, where she stayed for over twenty years. During the fourteen years of MMM’s stay in Taiwan, the Order assigned eight Sisters and Brothers to serve in country. They were Sr. Kieran Saunders, Sr. Kieran Saunders, Sr. Petria Whelan, Maureen Sinnott, Sr. Maria Glancy, Sr. Madeleine Leblanc, Sr. Maureen McDermott, Maura O’Domohue, among whom only Shirley Smith and Sr. Madeleine Leblanc are still alive and currently serving in the U.S.

So they are all gone! I cannot stop the sorrow sprung out of my heart although I had already been prepared for the bad news.

Perhaps you can help us in the future

Before long, Sister Joanne Bierl, who is the chief, and some other Sisters joined us, too. They searched for their Sisters in those yellowed photos. The lost/forgotten time slowly take shape in our minds. In one of the photos, St. Mary’s Hospital was seen from the mountain. It was a simple but elegant white hut surrounded by paddy fields. The Sisters drew a mark/an arrowhead, writing “We have three Sisters here.” Everybody smiled because it coincided the cover of the English brochure I brought from Taiwan.

 

I shared with them the current state of St. Mary’s Hospital, starting with how it was changed from a hospital that offered the help of child delivery to that of hospice. I also told them how we look after diabetics and further the various of health promotion, how we introduced aromatherapy/aroma care due to the catastrophe, how we survived the close down crisis, and finally how we struggled for being a Healing Hospitalagainst the current harsh medical environment. The Sisters felt comforted with the development of the Hospital and praised that we are moving toward the right direction . I thanked them and replied “It’s the devotional spirit you left in Taiwan that keeps leading St. Mary’s hospital to do what should be done.”

 

Just before leaving, I gave the Sister all the aromas I brought for the exhibition/conference. They were so excited. Sister Joanne informed me that almost all the Sisters in MMM use aroma. Aromatherapy has highly curative effect when used for the elders and in the hospice but it cannot spread throughout their hospital since some people still doubt it. Therefore, aromatherapy is at present merely used in hospice in their hospital. “Why don’t they use so wonderful a thing?” wondered Sister Joanne. She smiled and said that probably we may help them with the popularization of aromatherapy in their hospital.

 

I nodded and expressed my gratitude to them again. In addition, I told the Sisters that I sincerely hope them, should the chance be available, would visit Taiwan and see the “home” their Sister founded.

 

Leaving on the bus, I felt joyful and sorrowful at the same time. it seemed to finish the regret for fifty years, and afraid that don’t have chance to meet them in the life. Suddenly, it rained in the sky. A song sounded from my heart:

 

Who is tapping my window, who is teasing the strings

The forgotten times , take shape to my heart little by little

Who is tapping my window, who is teasing the strings

The joyful scenes in the memory, appear from my mind little by little

The slowly rain floats, dropping on my window continuously

Only silent and no words by myself, recall the past now and then

Who is knocking my window, who is teasing the strings.

 

The joyful scenes in the memory, appear from my mind little by little

Not long after I returned Taiwan, I received a letter from Manager Carol. She appreciated our visit and our informing her about the development of St. Mary’s Hospital after the retreat of MMM. Also, I received a letter written by George apologizing for suddenly canceling the plan to meet me in Dublin. He explained that it was because one of his family members passed away. He felt extremely sorry that he couldn’t overcome the distance of 300 km to meet me, who had flew across almost half of the globe. He felt even more pitiful that he never knew the Sisters from his country contributed so much abroad. This is also forgotten in Ireland; especially that, within the late seven years, the power of the Order has been shrinking sharply. The Sisters grew old, and some of them died. Some units had to sell their land in order to survive. The Order has a harsh time due to the economical recession throughout Europe.

 

What can we do?

 Mother Teresa said : His own responsibility in the needs of others. Where are the responsibility of us? Everything is believe, everything is expect, everything keeps patient. We only can do the best. As for the result, that is a decree of the God. Perhaps fifty years later, people will remember the beautiful and love memory.

Sr. Carol Breslin, MMM 2013-01-01 23:44:24

Dear Sense,

Best wishes to you and I hope you are keeping well. My apologies for not writing sooner to thank you for the wonderful articles you sent about your visit here. It was great to get more details about the life of the MMMs in Taiwan. I have since heard from a friend of mine that I worked with in Ethiopia. She is from the Philippines and knows one of the Daughters of Charity who worked in St. Mary's Hospital when MMM handed over the hospital.

Maybe just to let you know about one thing: There are two people who worked in the hospital that are still alive. One is Sr. Madeleine Leblanc, who lives in our house in Boston, USA.

The other is Sr. Maureen Sinnott. She later left MMM and joined a Franciscan community in California. I'm sorry I don't have her address. Sr. Shirley Smith died a few years ago.

So many of our Sisters were pleased to know more of our story in Taiwan. Thanks for making that possible.

Yours sincerely,
Sr. Carol Breslin, MMM

GGeorge 2012-12-26 11:41:08

It has taken me until now to make the time to write to you.
First of all to tell you how moving I found the article you wrote and how the wonderful story of St Mary's has been brought to life by your interest, dedication and persistance to make the conections. Well done.
Life has changed much in Ireland since the time St Mary's was founded and as the religious pass on and to "a greater place" - much is lost and in so many cases the heroic dedication of these young Nuns and Priests is totally overlooked by later generations.
It takes an article such as yours to highlight the gems of history - that make each of our countries what they were and what they stood for so long ago. Recording it for posterity is so important.

Dan 2012-11-27 16:05:18

Dear Sense, Mere words cannot describe how fascinating I found this. Some others might not be so struck by its intracasies but I will remember it always. I plan to forward this to everyone I know so that hopefully, they too can feel more of a part of "The whole Picture" here and a part of Taitung's history. I know that it must have been hard to have to take that trip to Ireland, (lol), but as they say, "Someone has to do it" and I am so glad that someone with your writing skills and appreciation of the importance of preserving history while connecting with it, was the one who went. What a marvelous piece of work you have performed. I will assume that you are, (or will be), in touch with Alfred who was introduced to me as the city "Historian". This needs to be a part of the historical records. If you are not acquainted with, I will be happy to prompt him to get in touch with him, (he attended one of our Saturday morning breskfasts and I just heard from him again).