Daughters of Charity serving at the UN?

Sister Brenda Fritz recently when to the United Nations for an orientation to the work of the NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). The role of the NGOs is to inform the delegates to the UN as to what is really happening on the ground.   Data, statistics and stories are gathered where the people represented by the NGOs serve and the plight of the people shared with governmental officials in order to advocate their case.  Many Religious communities are part of NGOs and try to focus on the areas of the UN Millenial goals that most fit their charism.

Here is the link to the Daughter of Charity NGO website that we share with the Congregation of the Mission (our brother community): http://www.cmdcngo.org/dc-page.html  The Daughters of Charity in the US are part of a Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul NGO which gathers information from the international reaches of the Daughters of Charity on mission throughout the world.  The US Daughters of Charity are also part of the Seton Federation NGO which is made up of communities with connections to Mother Seton.

Below is a photo of Sr. Ligia, Sr. Brenda Fritz, Sr. Angela and Sr. Germaine who works at the UN NGO.  Sr. Ligia and Sr. Angela are both Daughters of Charity in the US studying English.  Sr. Brenda is director of a child care center in Indiana.

No matter what our ministy is as a Daughter of Charity, we are called to advocate, to be a voice for the voiceless of those who live in poverty and those who live in misery.  Hopefully, we can help the people find their own voice.  Each year a few Sisters go for an orientation to at the UN to understand the work being done by our NGO.

From Sr. Brenda:

The work of the Vincentian Family @ the united nations is inspiring and energizing. The work of global advocacy is so rooted in catholic social teaching, the vincentian charism, and last but not least, the Gospel. Back in the 1600's, way before social media, vincent was sending his guys to places like Madagascar! Vincent and Louise and Elizabeth Seton were promoters of the reality of the Body of Christ, including everyone at the table. Issues highlighted yesterday during this united nations orientation were multinational mining companies violate human rights of indigenous persons and communities by failing to fully implement the united nations principle of free, prior, informed consent. The bottom line is people are displaced and violently victimized for purposes of greed! Seton Federation, Daughters of Charity, Congregation of the Mission ngo's - God bless your work! And thank you for caring. Sister Brenda Frtz, DC