Maryknoll Affiliates

(click on pictures to enlarge them)

Missioner Kitty Madden left Matagalpa, Nicaragua to visit in the United States in March, starting her visit in Florida. Seven of us from the Northeast Florida Maryknoll Affiliate Chapter drove to Keystone, Florida to meet with Kitty and her friend and supporter, Carol Meyer.

Kitty is a volunteer and major fundraiser for Casa Materna in Matagalpa, where she lives. Kitty helped establish Casa Materna about 20 years ago. Kitty's good friend Mary Ann Jackman, was in a serious car accident while pregnant and soon after delivered her baby, unfortunately too prematurely. Both Mary Ann and her baby died. Casa Materna was named in her honor. The Casa provides pre-natal and post-natal care and education for mothers from rural areas with high risk pregnancies.

At one time, Kitty was a Maryknoll Lay Missioner ministering at Casa Materna. When Maryknoll decided to focus their efforts on nearby El Salvador, Kitty decided to stay in Nicaragua and continue working with the Casa. Maryknoll Sisters helped train their staff and helped Casa Materna during a time of crisis in the mid 90's.

• Mary and John Moritz led Maryknoll Movie nights in September ("It's Kind of a Funny Story" – theme of teen depression) and October ("Temple Grandin" – theme of autism); Movie Nights have been discontinued until both a better venue and a better night are found
• Mary and John Moritz reached out through the Centennial Celebrations hosted by Deacon Larry Hart to try to determine if there was interest in a new Affiliate Chapter in other areas of Florida, but did not find sufficient interest to proceed
• At the October meeting, new member Mary Williams shared on her mission trip to Honduras in February, 2011
• In November, the Chapter participated in the Appreciative Inquiry process regarding the structure of the Maryknoll Affiliates.