| The Samaritan Ministry Program began in the Bahamas in November, 1988. At the request of Most Rev. Archbishop Lawrence A. Burke, former Catholic Bishop of the Bahamas, Father James F. Lotze, a Jesuit priest form Detroit Michigan and Sister Mary Mulligan, a grey nun from Pembroke, Canada came to the Bahamas to begin a programme of caring ministy for people suffering in any way from HIV/AIDS virus. In 1990 they were joined by Sister Clare Rolle, a Bahamian Benedictine Sister. Together these three instructors shared a wide background in clinical pastoral education, teaching, and counselling.
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The Purpose of the Samaritan Ministry Program is to train volunteers from the interfaith community who will then reach out in ministering not only to those suffering from HIV/AIDs, but also to their families and friends.
Training for Volunteers consist of ten, two and a half hour session, meeting once a week. Instruction and training are designed to help the volunteers prepare for counselling and their caring ministry. Presentations are given on such topics as: The Art of Listening effectively and compassionately, Dealing with feelings, and ministering to people who are experiencing the crisis of sickness, depression, hospitalization, and those who are acturally dying of HIV/AIDS.
Upon completion of their training, volunteers are commissioned to minister on a one-to-one basis, visiting the person at least once a week in hospital or at home. The Samaritans provide companionship, care and support, counselling and education, and in many cases a return to a spiritual life and acceptance by those who may have rejected them.
The programme has trained over (300) three hundred volunteers. |
