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Call > Sister Fernande's Story
Sr. Fernande Barnabe left for Thailand in the spring of 2000. Here is her story.
Priests, brothers and sisters are often asked by young people, "Why did you decide to be
a ...?" To me, it is like choosing a spouse. How does one know if a person is to be one's life long companion? Maybe we can say it is like a strong attraction, a gut feeling that you have inside for someone. When we are together, we feel very happy. We love each other more than anybody else. This is what I felt for Christ? I wanted to give my whole life to him.
 During part of my teenage years, religious life was pushed far from my mind. I went out with my friends and had a good time. A good time was all I was having; I had no desire to settle down and start a family. Many would tease me by asking if I was going to be a nun. I firmly answered them in a joking way, "Me a Nun!"
But there was more to the story. I had been reading about the White Sisters of Africa and I inquired about them. They told me I had to be a certain age before I could join them. Meanwhile, we would receive letters from my Sister who was an Oblate Sister and missionary in the North. One day, I asked her about the Sisters and she told me to "come and see". She thought that God was calling me. God works in mysterious ways; I don't think I would have made the leap if I had not done it quickly. I entered this religious community not more then two weeks later.
I find myself very privileged to have leaped and stayed with my decision. I was not disillusioned with my Beloved. When I was down, He always came through. In the first years of my religious life I was part of a visiting team at Stony Mountain Penitentiary. For thirteen years I visited and corresponded with some of the inmates. It is during these years that I deepened my faith and learned to believe in people especially those who are on the edge of society. Some of the Sisters would ask me, "Aren't you afraid?" I would answer, "Afraid of what?" When I was unable to visit after I had been transferred to Saskatchewan, I corresponded with some inmates and when I went back to Manitoba I would visit my old friends. When I was teaching in Peace River, I was invited to visit the provincial prison. I did this until I was transferred to Grand Prairie. One inmate, whose father I visited while in the hospital, died in Saskatchewan and he asked me to accompany him at his father's funeral. So I did.
In reading the lives of founders and foundresses of religious communities we see that they had a burning desire to serve God's people by answering a need in society that is not being met. A recent example is Mother Teresa. She was called to tend to the poorest of the poor. She saw many who were left to die in the worst of human conditions. Other people saw the need to look after the sick or to provide education to the poor. Others saw the need to proclaim the Good News in foreign countries as they ministered to the needs of the people. This desire to serve people in other countries was awakened in me by my association with Fr. Hamel, a White Father from Africa, who would tell us (my brother and I ) all kinds of adventures that he had in Africa. I fell very much attracted to this kind of life. This desire never left me. When I entered the Missionary Oblate Sisters I thought that I would be going into mission as I understood it. It was only in 1989 that I was asked to go to Africa. Within the seven months there I was sick and had to return home to Canada. Sometime later, after retiring from teaching, I asked the leader of my community, our Superior General, if I could go to the foreign missions, as I still felt this desire within me. We talked about it and I received a positive answer. It was then that I joined the Scarboro Missions. I received four months training and was sent to Thailand.
When I first came to Thailand, I was amazed by the work done by the Catholic Church. Fr. Raymond Brennen started a huge project in Pattaya which involves a vocational school for the handicapped, a school for the blind and deaf, an orphanage, a home for the street kids and a new centre for the street girls. When I visited the slums in Bangkok, I saw a Center begun by Fr. Myers for teaching the children from the slums and for AIDS patients. He is an advocate for the Street kids in the courts. In Rayong, there is a Centre for the terminally ill with AIDS, which was started by a Camillian, Fr. Giovani. They can take only a few people so they are taking only the ones rejected by family and who are alone. The care is a loving and caring one; Fr. Giovani has a gift of preparing these dying people for their imminent death. I visited Nong Kai in the Northeast where the Good Shepherd Sisters have Centres in different villages and employ over 300 women. They do weaving, pottery, and make different items such as T?shirts and beautiful cards. The Northeast of Thailand is the poorest region. Many come to the big cities in search of work, but having no education they often are lured into the sex industry which brings in big money in Thailand.
All these projects are able to survive because of the generosity and caring of many people. A man from Denmark, a Rotary Club member, has raised 80 million bahts for these projects. Our New Centre for the Children has been financed by people outside of Thailand and businessmen in the community have assumed 50% of the running cost. They are also able to survive because of people volunteering their time and talents. At the Women's Centre where I work, the Thai staff is paid but the volunteers have to provide for themselves. Only their lodging is provided. There are organizations such as the Rotary Club in Denmark that provide two or three young university students every six months to teach English or German. Belgium also provides two volunteers for six months a year as well as Enfants de Mekong in France. Some stay for a year. We have one that came from the USA for three months and one from Holland for seven months. These volunteers are indispensable for the running of the Centre. The same can be said for the other Centres in Thailand.
The Centre where I work is called, "Fountain of Life", a Good Shepherd Sisters' Foundation and the Women's Centre in Pattaya. Pattaya is known to the world for its sex industry. So the goal of our Centre is to give an alternative to women who are exploited and underprivileged by offering courses in hairdressing, computers, typing, sewing, and learning to read and write in Thai, English and German. Every opportunity is taken to give these women information on the value of life, their dignity, their rights under the law, the prevention of STD, HIV/AIDS. The latter is rampant in Thailand; counseling is offered.and the women respond well. We have about 150- 200 women going through our Centre everyday. On the feast day of St Mary Euphrasia, the foundress of the Good Shepherd Sisters, 218 women attended the function. They had a great time. The Good Shepherd Aspirants (8) did a mime about the work of the Sisters. We played games and then we had a talk by a Sister on the dignity of each and everyone. We ended with a banquet.
My work at the Centre is to see that the needs of the volunteers are met and to bring their concerns to those
responsible. e.g.To help them in their teaching, replacing them when they are sick or on their visa run, to lead them in prayer in the morning, to write letters of recommendation, letters for visa, correspondence with the future
volunteers, etc. I also teach English to the Thai staff and stamp all student cards. I deal with the
English speaking visitors who come to the Centre for information about the Centre.. My work is varied and interesting. I am so blessed by being able to be a part of this project. The women are so respectful, gentle, grateful and so eager to learn and improve themselves. It is a rich learning experience for me. I leave you with these statements: "My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection." My cup of compassion holds the bruised and exploited women and children, the impotency of injustice and lack of respect for human dignity.
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