To Belize on a Mercy Journey

Sisters Nelda Chafitelli, Margaret Welter, and Eileen Simon went on a springtime journey to aid a Mercy Mission. Their destination was a mission operated by Mercy Sisters from Rhode Island in the tiny nation of Belize, formerly British Honduras, on the eastern coast of Central America.

Sister Nelda had met one of the Mercy missionaries on a retreat three years before and learned that the missionaries often had to travel long distances on primitive roads on bicycles. The three Ursulines decided to do something about it and secured the charitable donation of a van-like vehicle that had served a Detroit brewery for 94,000 miles.

Most of the trip was through Mexico where the trio travelling without men often got a cool reception. The sight of rifle-brandishing soldiers was unnerving. The delivery was made successfully, and the Ursulines returned to Toledo by air April, 24, 1983.



Sister Eileen reported that “In Belize there are no rich and no middle class. There are just the poor. The one-room shacks in which the natives live are without running water and electricity. They look as if they would fall over if you blew on them.” The trio was impressed with the faith of the people in the midst of poverty.