Figure 2 - The six Sisters posing with the captain of the SS Changte, Captain Frame
“[The trip to Japan] was a big adventure, especially going to a place where we weren’t able to speak the language, but I wasn’t nervous. I hoped for the very best." - Sister Mary Constable
Six Good Samaritan Sisters left Sydney on October 15th 1948 on board the SS Changte for a new expression of Good Samaritan life in Japan. On board were Sisters Mary Constable, Catherine Teresa Mercovich, Julian McKenna, Canisius Whitton, Etheldreda Boyle and Eustelle Gleeson. The voyage took 33 days. It was the first overseas mission the Good Samaritan sisters had taken part in.
In the 18th and 19th century, 'mission' was viewed as a way to convert the “uncivilised” to Christianity and expand the church. It was only in the 20th century that the purpose of mission began to shift. When the Good Samaritan Sisters made their journey to Nagasaki, they were not attempting to convert communities to Christianity. Their aim instead was to set up a dispensary to aid those affected by the atomic bomb in 1945, to set up schools, and repair the church that had been left in disarray after WWII.
Sister Mary Constable recalls her time on board,
“Well, we had our prayer life of course, so that set the structure for our days. And we talked to the other people on board, who were all very nice.”
Learning the Japanese language was also a priority for the Sisters as it allowed them to communicate with the Japanese on arrival. The sisters had a set time each day where they were tutored by a fellow passenger on the Changte, Mr Bavier, who taught at Yokohama University before moving to Australia. According to the Sisters, moving to Japan was hard because they were unfamiliar with the food and customs of the country, “But the language was the hardest. We kept our lessons up, but it was very hard and we needed that to be able to communicate and to be of any use,” said Mary Constable. When the Sisters arrived at Urakami (located on the border of Nagasaki), they were welcomed by Bishop Yamaguchi, Australian priests, laity from the area and students from Junshin High School. The sisters came fully equipped with tinned food and other goods, to not be an inconvenience, as the post-war resources in Nagasaki were limited.
Shortly after settling, the sisters established a dispensary in Nagasaki. They were able to begin their work quickly, as the St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia provided them with the medications they needed. There were many cases of extreme poverty, malnutrition and affliction in Nagasaki as a result of the bombing. With the dispensary, the Sisters helped people with the people’s post-atomic bomb injuries, radiation illnesses and other conditions. At first, they started with people with minor ailments, then more people came requesting medicine as it was unattainable in post-war Japan. It allowed the Sisters to be introduced and accepted into the public. By December 1949, they had built a Catholic Centre and convent in the middle of the city. Two rooms in the Centre were set aside for the dispensary. The Centre raised morale in the community and the Sisters made it known that it was for those who could not afford medical attention at the hospital. Within three months, the dispensary had supplied free consultation, medicine and treatment to over 500 patients. Severe cases that needed special attention were referred to the American Bomb Casualty Centre. Within the three years that the dispensary was open, the Sisters and the supporting doctors treated 7,152 patients and hundreds more had gone to the convent seeking assistance.
The Sisters also contributed other services to the community. They supported the orphanage opposite the convent by giving children medicine, milk and egg powder. They also received clothes from the Australian St Vincent de Paul Society and gave it out to the poverty-stricken in Nagasaki.
Once the Sisters had assisted the people of Nagasaki they ventured over to communities in Sasebo and Nara. There, they built kindergartens, parishes as well as Seiwa High School in Sasebo, all of which contributed to the community when recovering from the war. To this day, there are Japanese Good Samaritan Sisters living in Nara who have supported the people of Fukushima after natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, and the nuclear accident in 2011.
In the 18th and 19th century, 'mission' was viewed as a way to convert the “uncivilised” to Christianity and expand the church. It was only in the 20th century that the purpose of mission began to shift. When the Good Samaritan Sisters made their journey to Nagasaki, they were not attempting to convert communities to Christianity. Their aim instead was to set up a dispensary to aid those affected by the atomic bomb in 1945, to set up schools, and repair the church that had been left in disarray after WWII.
Sister Mary Constable recalls her time on board,
“Well, we had our prayer life of course, so that set the structure for our days. And we talked to the other people on board, who were all very nice.”
Learning the Japanese language was also a priority for the Sisters as it allowed them to communicate with the Japanese on arrival. The sisters had a set time each day where they were tutored by a fellow passenger on the Changte, Mr Bavier, who taught at Yokohama University before moving to Australia. According to the Sisters, moving to Japan was hard because they were unfamiliar with the food and customs of the country, “But the language was the hardest. We kept our lessons up, but it was very hard and we needed that to be able to communicate and to be of any use,” said Mary Constable. When the Sisters arrived at Urakami (located on the border of Nagasaki), they were welcomed by Bishop Yamaguchi, Australian priests, laity from the area and students from Junshin High School. The sisters came fully equipped with tinned food and other goods, to not be an inconvenience, as the post-war resources in Nagasaki were limited.
Shortly after settling, the sisters established a dispensary in Nagasaki. They were able to begin their work quickly, as the St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia provided them with the medications they needed. There were many cases of extreme poverty, malnutrition and affliction in Nagasaki as a result of the bombing. With the dispensary, the Sisters helped people with the people’s post-atomic bomb injuries, radiation illnesses and other conditions. At first, they started with people with minor ailments, then more people came requesting medicine as it was unattainable in post-war Japan. It allowed the Sisters to be introduced and accepted into the public. By December 1949, they had built a Catholic Centre and convent in the middle of the city. Two rooms in the Centre were set aside for the dispensary. The Centre raised morale in the community and the Sisters made it known that it was for those who could not afford medical attention at the hospital. Within three months, the dispensary had supplied free consultation, medicine and treatment to over 500 patients. Severe cases that needed special attention were referred to the American Bomb Casualty Centre. Within the three years that the dispensary was open, the Sisters and the supporting doctors treated 7,152 patients and hundreds more had gone to the convent seeking assistance.
The Sisters also contributed other services to the community. They supported the orphanage opposite the convent by giving children medicine, milk and egg powder. They also received clothes from the Australian St Vincent de Paul Society and gave it out to the poverty-stricken in Nagasaki.
Once the Sisters had assisted the people of Nagasaki they ventured over to communities in Sasebo and Nara. There, they built kindergartens, parishes as well as Seiwa High School in Sasebo, all of which contributed to the community when recovering from the war. To this day, there are Japanese Good Samaritan Sisters living in Nara who have supported the people of Fukushima after natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, and the nuclear accident in 2011.