16 Dec 2021
At the beginning of this year, the community of Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, appealed for our help in funding a laundry for their aged-care ministry as part of our annual MSC World Projects Appeal.
The Hartzer Centre is an aged-care centre attached to the main convent in Port Moresby, the country’s capital, where the Sisters care for elderly OLSH Sisters and MSC missionary priests who have devoted their lives to serving the people of Papua New Guinea. With eight rooms for elderly residents, it was an ongoing concern that the centre did not have a dedicated laundry area of its own, creating difficulties surrounding hygiene as the centre’s nurses would have to bring all dirty laundry through the convent dining room to reach the communal washing area.
Our mission friends in Ireland and the UK have already helped the OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea to provide extra safety measures in the Hartzer Centre, including extra sinks for improved safety in the continuing battle against COVID-19. Now, thanks to the funding sent through our 2021 MSC World Projects Appeal, the new laundry is well underway, despite limitations brought about by the pandemic.
Construction work is ongoing at the new laundry for the Hartzer Centre in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
A new laundry will make a great difference to the elderly residents of the OLSH-run Hartzer Centre in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
A new store room means that the OLSH Sisters at the Hartzer Centre in Port Moresby can easily store wheelchairs and equipment without blocking up the corridors.
This week, we were delighted to hear from Sr Rosaleen, who sent us an update on their current progress:
“Due to COVID restrictions, the laundry is not yet finished, but progress is being made! The maintenance man has been working hard and has built a store room at the level of the corridor into the care centre, so we can store wheelchairs and equipment without having them blocking the corridors.”
“When it is finished, the laundry will be downstairs, with another small store room for things like garden tools, which the centre residents use when they are able to potter in the garden.”
“We are most grateful for the funding and support we have received from friends and benefactors in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and we thank you very much for your kindness and generosity towards us.”
