In Mexico, Mother Teresa's nuns join church effort against HIV/AIDS

Published: 2007-07-20

PUEBLA, Mexico (CNS) -- Blessed Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity -- known for helping the poorest of the poor -- are working with Mexicans with HIV/AIDS. In the bustling industrial city of Puebla, a Peruvian sister and three others from India care for people dying of AIDS -- most of them from other areas in Mexico. Mother Maria Nieves said that when people with HIV/AIDS are sent to the nuns "they are desperate." She said, "Many are in the last phase of their illness and have given up all hope. They don't want to eat; they don't want to take their medication. They only want to die. Many come from a nonreligious background and therefore need a lot of convincing regarding the ministries of the church," she said. "We talk to them and pray with them. We help them regain their self-esteem. Some get better; some don't. It all depends on the person. While we have had people who died, we have also had patients whose condition stabilized."

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