Sister Stanislaus Mackey, Nurse: An instrument of His help.
Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston

It was 1962 when Sister Stanislaus Mackey heard the call for four volunteers to staff a hospital in Guatemala. As a surgical nurse who had heard and read a lot about Central America, she volunteered, thinking to herself, "If God wants me, it would be nice if I go and help."

After spending her first months in Guatemala learning Spanish, she finally saw the hospital, but didn't know where to begin. There were so many needs. There were two or sometimes three very sick patients to a bed, no inside runnig water, no electric power except one small outlet, and no medical and surgical supplies available.

Many of the patients had traveled long distances to get to the hospital and were already too sick to recover. Sister Stanislaus quickly realized that if help got to them sooner, more lives could be saved. She worked with people from the villages to teach them how to recognize symptoms of illnesses and how to use simple remedies to relieve pains and aches.

Thinking back on her experiences, she says, "It is not what I did there, but what God did for me and how we were able to be His instruments in helping to relieve the suffering."