Daughters of Charity start new mission in Cook Islands

On 9 January five Daughters of Charity departed from Sydney to Auckland New Zealand to begin a new DC mission in the Cook Islands. This Mission is a new International Mission of the Daughters of Charity, and is being pioneered by Sr Sheila Brown DC (Irish Province); Sr Margaret O'Dwyer DC (Evansville USA Province), Sr Mary Duong DC and Sr Katy Quinn DC (both of Los Altos Hills USA Province) and Sr Chula Sriwarakul DC (Australian Province). The Sisters will initially be involved in Pastoral Work and a Day Centre for the Disabled at Rarotonga and Mauke. Sr Margaret Barrett DC (English Speaking Assistant to the DC General, Paris); Sr Celine Quadros DC (Provincial of the Australian Province) and Sr Catherine Prendergast (Provincial of the Irish Province) accompanied the missioned Sisters, and remained for a brief settling-in period. The Cook Islands are in the centre of the South Pacific, located between Tonga and the islands of French Polynesia - half-way between Hawaii and New Zealand, half-way between Australia and South America! Made up of 15 islands, and extending over a region of some 2 million square kilometres, the Cook Islands have a population of 21,000 people. To read a first hand account of the mission from Sr Margaret Barrett, visit the Daughters of Charity website at: www.daughtersofcharity.org.uk