Missioners
Sister Margaret M. Donovan
Not many people translate their Masters thesis into their dream come true, "Women are the key to health for all," but Sister Margaret (Peg) Donovan did!
Born in the Bronx, NY, Sister Peg was the second of nine children. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters in 1956 after studying for a year at the College of Mt. St. Vincent. After First Vows, she worked for the Maryknoll Society and then did Mission Education and Promotion work for the Maryknoll Sisters. Completing her college education at Maryknoll Rogers College in 1970, she earned a B.A. in Community Service. That same year she was delighted with her assignment to Tanzania, East Africa.
Except for three years as a member of the Maryknoll Sisters Central Governing Board and the pursuit of her Master’s degree in Public Health with a specialization in International Public Health from the University of Hawaii, Sister Peg has served in Tanzania. The VEMA Program was the main thesis of her Masters, “Women are the Key to Health for ALL.” VEMA is a Kiswahili word meaning complete well-being. It is also an acronym for the Kiswahili words for the elements of Project Vema: education (elimu) development (maendeleo) and health (afya) which are integrated to bring about the well-being of people living and working in the villages.
After serving as a consultant to the Christian churches on training community based health care workers, Sister Peg started Project VEMA in 1988 with two other Maryknoll Sisters at the invitation of the bishop of the Geita Diocese. In a small isolated village called Kalebezo near Lake Victoria, the Sisters started by conducting a health survey in the area. There was no health facility for over seven thousand people who lived in Kalebezo. Sister Peg’s vision was to improve the health status of the family through training of women and young girls as health promoters. They set up a program of Health Awareness and Education for the local women and found them very receptive. The program grew rapidly. Land was given by the Tanzanian people; many worked on the project from the beginning, breaking rocks, hauling water, clearing bushes and tree trunks, digging a well. By 1997, through the generous assistance of family. friends and benefactors, Sister Peg and her co-workers were able to build a training center in the village which enables youth to receive education in masonry and sewing skills. Since the center opened, over two hundred youth have completed courses. There is also a kindergarten for one hundred thirty children and a health clinic for malnourished children and pregnant women. Tanzanians, Maryknoll Sisters, Irish volunteers, Maryknoll Lay Missioners, an Affiliate, have all contributed to the success of the VEMA Project and dream.
Sister Peg has written two health manuals in the local language of Kiswahili, one of them considered a best seller, “The Health Manual for Rural Women.” It is a detailed and clearly illustrated text on health and nutrition and includes suitable procedures needed to achieve its goals in rural African settings where medical facilities are limited. In 1999, she was invited to attend an international meeting on “Global Strategies for the prevention of HIV transmission of mother and child.”
In 2000, Sister Peg was named one of the first of eight “Wall of Fame” award winners in her high school, Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel, White Plains, NY, which gives recognition to outstanding alumnae who possess the qualities of compassion, dedication, altruism, courage, wisdom and vision. Winning candidates have also achieved personal and professional success within service-oriented fields. This one translated a dream into reality.
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