Guwahati: Hundreds of people Wednesday attended the funeral of a Catholic nun from Meghalaya’s Garo Hills, who was engaged in various works overseas, including the United Nations.
Salesian Sister Bernadette Simsang Sangma died April 27 after a two-year battle with bone cancer. She was 53. She was buried at Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state.
The renowned nun had dedicated her life for the welfare of women and young people.
After obtaining doctorate in Methodology of Education from Salesian University Rome, Sr Bernadette spent most of her years serving at the Salesian Sisters’ headquarters in Rome as consultant to the Salesian Family Sector.
With expertise in the field of empowerment of women, Sr Bernadette during her 13 years of service from 1988 represented the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) to the United Nations Commission on the status of women for its annual meetings and conventions.
During this period, she worked with International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) to create awareness about the phenomenon of human trafficking.
Sr Bernadette once commented about the increased awareness among religious nuns and priests. Some women congregations, she said, “have adopted the struggle against trafficking as part of their capitular deliberations, making it an obligatory mandate for members of their congregation. This has also included a number of male orders.”
Since 2004, IOM and UISG, with funding from the US Department of State – Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration — provided training on prevention and assistance to victims of human trafficking to more than 450 religious personnel in 31 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. For this, they coordinated 15 international networks that include 252 women’s congregations in 36 countries.
Sr Bernadette was instrumental in obtaining an affiliation of membership of the Salesian Sisters in the United Nations Organization and was entrusted with the work of conducting the side event of the UN at New York.
In 2011, after her stint at the UN, Sr Bernadette wanted to return to Meghalaya, but her superiors entrusted her with a new mission as Director of the Institute of Youth Ministry at Tangaza University College, Nairobi, Kenya, where she had been a visiting professor since 2006.
Within a short span of two years, Sr. Bernadette worked for the recognition of the IYM which has been running for many years. However, in her third year of service in the college her deteriorating health forced her to discontinue the task and return home for treatment.