The sisters of St Louis are continuously involved in charitable work to help the poor, the sick and those less fortunate. In the Gwagwalada community in Abuja, Nigeria, they recently visited the old Kutunku area of the city to reach out and help some of the poorer people there. The aim of their first visit was to trace an elderly man the community had reached out to on pervious visits to the area. On arriving at his house, they discovered that he had passed away and sympathised with the family. Before departing, the sisters presented them with a monetary gift that they had intended to give to the man.
They also visited an elderly bassa woman, Mrs Mugaji Tukura, who had been abandoned by her family and children because she was accused of being a witch. At the time of their visit, she lived in very bleak conditions under a cloth canopy, and survived on the charity of two neighbours. She was very weak and fragile, and could not walk and the sisters gave her some clothing, food and water, and have since being trying to locate her children through a member of our staff who is very familiar with Kutunku. They were also in the process of trying to figure out how they could provide her with better shelter, when one of her two neighbours erected a small brick building for her. It is a significant improvement on the canopy that she had been living under. The sisters then visited the Missionary Sisters of the poorest of the poor at the Anawim Home in Gwagwalada, to see if they could take her in. These negotiations are still ongoing while the search for her two daughters and two sons continues.