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Sister Speciosa Babikinamu Sister Speciosa is one of 650 Medical Mission Sisters in 19 nations trying to be present to others in the spirit of Jesus the Healer.
In 1975, when Ugandan-born nurse-midwife Sister Speciosa Babikinamu was in England for studies, she began hospital volunteer work two days a week in the geriatric ward of Central Middlesex Hospital. The first Medical Mission Sister from Africa, she recalls, “At first I felt uneasy because of the risks involved in pastoral care, but I also felt risks are always with us, and God is in charge.” Sister Speciosa went on to attend the Pastoral Institute of Eastern Africa. In addition to pastoral studies, she earned a certificate in HIV/AIDS counseling. She also studied community-based health care, training of traditional birth attendants, and hospice care. Ten years ago, Sister Speciosa began ministry at Mulago Teaching Hospital, a large hospital in Kampala, Uganda. She explains, “I distribute Holy Communion and pray with Catholic patients, and also with their families. I listen and counsel the sick…I help caregivers to see and make decisions for the future. Most doctors and staff ask me to pray with them, for God to give them knowledge and skill for the work they are doing.” “As I work with the seriously ill, I help to prepare them for reception of Confession and the Sacrament of the Sick,” Sister adds. She also gives a three-month course on “how to approach sick patients” to all the other volunteer hospital visitors. And, twice a week, she does individual counseling and helps people to make Wills. “Since 2004, I have been on the standing committee of the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). This committee is responsible for training clinical pastoral workers in all Catholic health units…the focus is on Roman Catholic moral ethics,” Sister Speciosa says. “In this part of Africa, as pastoral or spiritual caregivers, one has to admit that he/she does not know all the answers,” Sister reflects. “God exists, trust him! The question for the spiritual worker is not ‘What can I say’ but ‘How can I respond?’”
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