Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz

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Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz , called Mana Lou ( German  sister Lou ), (* 1962 in Açumanu , Portuguese Timor ) is an East Timorese , Roman Catholic nun.

Career

After the turmoil after the Portuguese withdrew from their colony and the Indonesians invaded in 1975, Maria was accepted as a novice by the Canossians . In 1985 she went to study theology at the Jesuit Institute in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on the island of Java . In 1989 she returned to occupied East Timor and founded her own order with the Brothers and Sisters in Christ . According to her own statements, Mana Lou wants her work to "improve the plight of the poor by working on the roots of the problem". In Dare , she set up a training facility for girls and boys with the Institute Main Alin lha Kristo (ISMAIK). ISMAIK runs three orphanages in Dare, Aileu and Viqueque . The children are taught tetum , catechism , agriculture, cooking and handicrafts such as sewing and embroidery.

After the Indonesians left in 1999, Mana Lou founded the Bairo Pite Clinic for the needy in September with the help of the American doctor Daniel Murphy . About 300 people receive medical care here every day. It also has a pharmacy, laboratory, and delivery room. In May 2018, the clinic had to temporarily close after Australian donors and the government stopped supporting it.

Awards

In 1997 Mana Lou was awarded the Pax Christi Peace Prize for her work. In December 2009 she received the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Human Rights Award from President José Ramos-Horta . On July 2, 2018, Mana Lou was honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Prize .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Irena Christalis: East Timor: A nation's bitter dawn , London 2009.
  2. ↑ EAST TIMOR PROJECT: AN UNFORGETTABLE TRIP ( Memento from December 6, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ ABC Compass: Sister Lourdes - Faith In A Nation , May 29, 2005 , accessed July 31, 2018.
  4. ↑ UCA news: Timor-Leste's 'hospital for the poor' in crisis as election looms , May 9, 2018 , accessed July 31, 2018.
  5. ^ Pax Christi: Peace Award Laureates, 1988-2017 , accessed July 31, 2018.
  6. ↑ Forgotten Diaries: A Society Of Peace, also HR award winners , December 10, 2009 , accessed on July 31, 2018.
  7. ↑ UCA news: 2018 winners of 'Asia's Nobel Prize' announced , July 26, 2018 , accessed on July 31, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Cruz, Maria de Lourdes Martins
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mana Lou
BRIEF DESCRIPTION East Timorese clergy
DATE OF BIRTH 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Açumanu , Portuguese Timor