Gena Heraty. Her witness can bring out the best of us.

I started writing this piece while Gena Heraty remained kidnapped in Haiti, and better judgment of the editorial team, meant that it was put on hold, as we waited and prayed that she and her colleagues would be released safe and unharmed. Thankfully, that day has come to pass, after almost a month in captivity. Listening to Gena’s interview with Tommy Marron on Midwest Radio last Monday, I admit to being inspired.

Her way of speaking – frank, honest, practical, and with reference to prayer and God – is, for me at least, refreshing. She is not political, she is not divisive, she is simply humanitarian. And most definitely I feel inadequate in comparison

Heraty’s sense of global solidarity, working for children with disabilities for decades, ended up with her being kidnapped and beaten by compatriots of the vulnerable children she sought to help. Her life and her commitment to one place better mirrors the work and commitments of religious missionaries of the past (and present, but they are fewer now) than it does the present-day professional aid worker.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said she “has made an extraordinary humanitarian contribution to life in Haiti, a manifestation of the very best of missionary endeavour, particularly working for children with special needs.”

Her work and the work of others like her, should be commended, not just when they are enduring the consequences of the choice to dedicate their lives to challenging places like Haiti, but day-in, day-out. The same could also be said of the many thousands of missionaries that went before Heraty. Much more could be said. Many of them left Ireland a century ago, at a time when “instant” messaging meant waiting months and months for an almost non-existent postal service to arrive; not seeing or talking to their families for a decade or more; living and working in countries still considered to be ‘developing’ but when conditions were significantly more difficult.

Often, they arrived in the most rural and isolated areas and started from nothing. Many arrived and started schools, hospitals, clinics, orphanages and more, before they even had a roof over their heads. They risked and endured illnesses like malaria before reliable prophylaxis was available. When they got sick, there were no medical evacuations.

A non-exhaustive list of Irish religious missionaries who were killed in recent history include: Archbishop Michael Courtney (Papal Nuncio) — killed in Burundi, 2003, Fr Rufus Halley (Missionary Society of St. Columban) — murdered in the Philippines, 2001. Fr Patrick Reilly, Fr Francis Canavan, and a group of five Irish Columban priests — killed during the Korean War, mainly between 1950 and 1953. Sr Teresa Egan — murdered in St Lucia in 2002, attacked during Mass. Fr Declan O'Toole (Mill Hill Missionaries) — murdered in Uganda, 2002. Fr Declan Collins (Salesians of Don Bosco) — murdered in South Africa, 2002. Fr Manus Campbell (Franciscan Missionary) — murdered in South Africa, 2003. Fr John Hannon (Society of African Missions) — murdered in Kenya, 2004.

Religious Missionaries are often, almost always, omitted, from the pantheon of humanitarian workers celebrated on various international days, yet rather than being colonialists, they were the antithesis of colonialism. They were the first humanitarians with a cosmopolitan outlook towards humanity that was global solidarity. Many went to bring God’s word but anyone that knows just a little about the real history of the missions, it was a service to the poor, bringing education as the tool that empowered the people of many countries to become leaders of the present.

The language of the seven corporal works of mercy – and even the word mercy itself, may no longer agree with the palates of modern international development, but the humanitarian aid agencies continue to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned and sometimes, even bury the dead.

Our sector that grew out of the missions. I know one Christian Blind Mission Board member who has been involved in the organisation for over 50 years. She started out as a young optometrist, working in training schools set up by the organisation in the early ‘70s. Today she is a member of our Global Board. The training schools she helped establish are still going today, run by the local government. But it was those schools that trained the ophthalmologists of today that mean there is no longer need for ‘white saviour’ eye doctors in places like Tanzania and Rwanda – and many other countries too. It is her work and the work of Irish missionaries that mean it is possible to localise international aid in a way that was not possible in the past. Providing the skills and training was the path to empowerment.

As Gena Heraty said, she ‘was given the strength by all the people thinking and praying’ for her and, if she is to be considered incredible because of her work and what she has endured, it is because of ‘the presence of God living in [me]’.