Sr. Miriam Duggan
Foundress of Youth Alive Uganda — obstetrician, missionary, and pioneer of behaviour-based HIV prevention.
When Sr. Miriam Duggan was sent on mission to Africa, she had no idea what she was going to face, but her passion was always serving those who live in poverty and the less privileged, as a doctor. She was first posted as an obstetrician in Uganda, where she headed the maternity unit of St. Francis Nsambya Hospital in Kampala for 30 years.
Now in her 80s, the native of Limerick, Ireland, and member of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa, has continued ministering to youth in Nairobi, Kenya, delivering programmes on rehabilitation and character formation.
"My desire was to help disadvantaged people on the margins of society; this made me think of Africa," she has said of her decision to leave Ireland for Uganda in 1969.
Facing crisis with courage
While in Uganda, Duggan faced serious challenges. In August 1972, President Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of the country's Asian minority, and the hospital's head surgeon — who was of Asian descent — had to leave. "I took all the responsibilities," she recalled, noting that during the coups that followed, she dealt with countless gunshot wounds. "I spent days and nights alone, struggling to save lives as the numbers of injured was overwhelming. Even as the gunshots rang out and the bomb blasts could be heard, we struggled on in the theatre."
"Working in Africa, one lacked the support of other consultants, and one often had to cope with situations which were not your specialty. Standing up for what was right took courage, especially in the whole area of abortion," she has said.
Confronting the HIV/AIDS epidemic
When the HIV/AIDS pandemic broke out in 1987, it spread rapidly in Uganda. As medical superintendent at the hospital, Sr. Miriam and her colleagues struggled to cope — at one point caring for over 3,000 patients, with three teams on the road daily.
Sitting at the bedside of a young man dying of AIDS, she was challenged to do something to try to prevent the misery she witnessed. Many groups at the time were promoting the condom as the answer, but as a gynecologist, she understood that condoms only reduced risk, and that behaviour was the root cause that also needed to be addressed.
She began training young people in this process, and soon schools, parishes and institutions were requesting seminars. In time, Youth Alive clubs were started, encouraging young people to live differently — and Youth Alive Uganda was born.
Awards & honours
Sr. Miriam has been honoured with the Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award (2015), and has been recognised by Harvard University, the Church of Uganda, and the Templeton Foundation for pioneering behaviour-based HIV prevention. "While I may have been named the recipient of the award, I have always recognized that I never did this work alone," she has said, "and endeavored to share the joy with all those with whom I have worked, and to give the glory to God."
"You do your best, and God and Our Lady will do the rest." — St. John Bosco, a guiding word throughout Sr. Miriam's ministry.
