Austrian Midwife Shares Joy of Serving Alongside Catholic Missionary Sisters in Angola

Luanda, 08 October, 2023 / 9:05 PM

Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger has fond memories of the Nzeto Municipal Hospital Maternity Ward in northern Angola, where she volunteered as a midwife until towards the end of September.

The 22-year-old Austrian midwife who served alongside Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) in the province of Zaire, one of Angola’s 18 provinces, also taught at the Nzeto High School, experiencing a new culture for 12 months.

In an interview with ACI Africa, the youngster gave a feel-good account of her stay in the Southern African nation, where she helped in the delivery of nearly 100 babies at the maternity ward.

For her, adjusting in a foreign country was made easy because of her Catholic faith. “Here I found a community that welcomed me and what we have in common is our faith that we are Christians,” she said. 

Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger

Elisabeth learnt about the work that the SSpS members do in the province of Zaire after she completed her studies and felt an urge to learn more about Africa.

She learnt that SSpS members, who are present in many countries across the globe, specifically take care of young people in Angola by enrolling them in a year’s program.

“I met the Sisters in Austria and they told me about this program where they take in young vulnerable people, so that for a year the young people can live at the Sisters’ residences in various countries. There, they are provided with their daily needs while they serve alongside the Sisters in the schools, health centers and in the hospitals,” Elisabeth said in the September 26 interview.

Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger

She added, “So, I found this program very interesting and I told the sisters that I wanted to do exactly that and that they could place me in a country that they thought would be a good option for me.”

“They gave me a list of countries to choose from,” she recalled, adding, “At that moment I didn't know what made me choose Angola, but my heart really did beat for Angola from the very first moment. I saw Angola on the list and I knew that this was the country where I was going to do my voluntary work.”

Elisabeth told ACI Africa that though she knew nothing about Angola, she was convinced that it was the country she wanted to go to.

Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger

“I didn't know where exactly Angola is, on the continent of Africa; I didn't know that Portuguese is spoken here; I didn't know anything at all, but I wanted to know and learn, and so I did. And I've never regretted this decision that my heart made, because I enjoyed the experience so much,” she said.

Serving alongside missionaries in Angola was to her, an experience of a lifetime, she says, and adds, “I'm taking back such beautiful memories, these stories that my grandchildren will even hear about their grandmother who stayed in Angola for a while and lived there with the people and worked.”

The Austrian midwife who was present at 94 births, all of them offering a new experience, says she goes back to her native home a better midwife.

Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger

Her best day at work was when she was named a godmother to a child whose young mother had a difficult pregnancy.

“The most beautiful and happiest day, I think it was the day I was given an affiliate, a namesake at the hospital,” she tells ACI Africa, smiling.

Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger

“I was on the shift when this patient came in with labor pains,” she says, and continues, “It was her first delivery, and as things are, first deliveries sometimes take longer. And this birth took a while too. And the woman was in a lot of pain. But as a midwife I tried to do the best I could, massaging her, comforting her, talking to her, telling her to take heart, it would pass! You'll make it, you're a strong woman. It’s not long now!”

“This birth was really difficult for all of us, both the professionals and the patient. But in the end this child was born. And I was so relieved I actually teared up. The mother was crying too, because she had finally made it, and it really was a very, very beautiful moment. At that very moment, I knew I had chosen the most beautiful profession in the world,” Elisabeth recalls.

Credit: Elisabeth Sophie Schindegger

Then the question came, “Elisabeth, do you want to be my daughter's godmother?”

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“This made me so happy, this gesture of gratitude and thanks; of course I accepted and from that moment on we have been very good friends, the baby, and her mother, Anna Bella. I will always stay connected and linked to Angola, because here I found family is really like family,” she says.