Choose life: Catholic nun brings hope in rural Zimbabwe

Sketimpilo Centre, run by the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood under the administration of Sr. Felistar Dube, CPS, serves as the centre of renewed hope. Its name means “choose life,” a motto that is lived every day at the centre.

The centre was founded in 1998 by German-born Sr. Ludbirga Schumacher, CPS, during the darkest days of the Zimbabwe’s history when HIV and AIDS struck, leaving behind orphans, the sick, rejected, and marginalized. Many people lost hope, and stigma was stronger than compassion.

Sr. Ludbirga saw the need to support the marginalized, poor, and vulnerable children, as well as adults who were infected and affected.

She gathered groups and trained community givers, organized home visits, and began restoring dignity where it had been lost. She made it her mission to remind those struggling with illness that their lives still hold value, despite the stigmatization and segregation they face in the community.

Hope was reborn, and a dry tree trunk sprouting new shoots became a symbol of the project, a symbol that life even in brokenness is possible. Today, more than two decades later, Sr. Felistar carries that mission forward with the same courage.