Story: Sister Placida

Michael Gerson’s Story.
A memory from the AIDS crisis. It was 2005, the year that global AIDS deaths peaked at 2.3 million. At the end of a dirt road in Kericho, Kenya, I visited Sister Placida, an energetic nun caring for a few dozen equally energetic AIDS orphans. She showed me several ‘memory boxes’ that dying mothers had prepared for their children, holding photos, letters, and a few mementos. The exercise struck me as forlorn — a short life poured into a shoebox — but also defiant. Facing an absurd death sentence, these women wanted to be recalled not as victims but as humans. They wanted to leave a mark, to make a statement: “Once there was such a life as mine.”

Sister Placida’s Story.
“We had a couple from Milngavie—Sheila and John—who gave us a donation to build the transitional care and training centre for kids in the community with HIV who had been neglected. They were more or less dying because they weren’t getting the right nutrition and medicine. So, that’s been a real big success because it’s the only one of its kind in the South Rift Valley. We have them for some months and we send them to the local school, so they don’t miss out on their education. However, we teach them about their status, taking their medicine on time and how important it is. We also give them good food and we make sure that they have counselling to deal with their status. They are also taught about being responsible with their sexual behaviour when they are older, because they could spread it. So, it’s a very good project that one.”

“Being in the company of these children is a beautiful memory,” Sr Placida continued. “The HIV positive kids know that they have a life-limiting disease, but with the antiretroviral drugs they can live a normal life. They often get visitors coming in and they give their witness. Tears just trip me because they are so grateful for their lives. They realise that, as young as they are. They tell these people thank you so much for your funding, because without it we would be dead. That sticks in mind because it happened so many times and no matter how many times that I heard kids talking like that it didn’t fail to move me. I was a wreck, crying my eyes out. That’s part of the joy of being able to help them.”

Sister Placida on Vocation.

“Vocation is God’s call to every single person,” she said. “Vocation means call, right? So that call is for everybody to come to know Him as a friend and to be able to put Him in their life so that their life becomes a meaningful existence. They, as believers, would be able to share the faith, the joy and the love that they have with others and spread that goodness to transform the selfishness of the world. My belief is that God comes into that selfishness and lets you see that you can help other people to be happy and at the same time it’s amazing how happy you’ll become by helping others. That’s what I learned early when I used to visit the sick and the old people with the legion. I found joy. I couldn’t explain it. It’s just something inside you that feels amazing.”

Having found that joy to an even greater extent through her vocation and imbued by a desire to help others, Sr Placida knew that she would have to draw strength from various people and places in order to fulfil her mission. While she credits ordinary people, Holy Communion and going to Mass every day is key to giving her the strength and energy she needed. She also pointed to a very special saint and scripture passage, both of which are close to her heart to this day.

St. Francis as told by Sister Placida

“St Francis’ life story really touched me,” she said. “I didn’t know much about him before, but I learned about him when I joined, and I was so touched by the fact that he was a bit of a wild boy. I’m not saying that I was a wild girl by the way, but perhaps I wasn’t your typical candidate for the sisterhood. So, he gave me a lot of encouragement in that sense and also the way he really made true friends with the poor, he got right down there and got his hands dirty, helping them. He really did inspire me, and I’d like to be like that one day.

“I also love the scripture passage, Luke 5:31, that says it’s not the healthy that need a doctor, it’s the sick. That really touched me a lot because when you become a sister you are filled with so many doubts, like I’m not good enough or holy enough to become a sister, but in fact, it’s the ones who are weak in the eyes of the world that God uses to confound the strong.”