My Adventures in Mission

Staff at AFYA at workshop I help facilitate with Sr. Efu

What You Will Find in my November Newsletter

• Life Lessons.
• Your support can keep me in mission.
• Plans for a new building at AFYA.
• Story about a women who came to AFYA for healing.
• Pictures, and more pictures.

Life Lessons

Five months have passed now since I have returned to Brazil as a Maryknoll Affiliate.  In that time I have become ever so grateful for all the lessons I have learned in life.  I am amazed at how many skills and resources I draw upon in order to live my life as a missionary.

I have had many different types of work in my life from accounting, youth ministry, communication, and missioner.  I find I use so many of those different skills on a daily basis.   For example I studied accounting 20 years ago but I have more knowledge of it then others and so I am now the bookkeeper.  We are beginning a construction project at AFYA and I am one of the staff members responsible for it.  I have been thinking how grateful I am for the experiences I have had like building a barn with my dad and mixing cement by hand in Mexico. 

Last week we had a staff training and I used my skills from communication and youth ministry to create teaching dynamics with Sr. Efu. 

Some of our staff members are taking a class to learn to read and write.  I have been able to understand their challenges of reading because as a child I struggled with it and now have the same experience in learning a new language.

Every day I learn something new about myself or about life.   I am becoming so aware that all the experiences I have had have shaped me into who I am and provided me with knowledge I sometimes take for granted.

Maria and Julia.  Maria is a cook at AFYA.

Now as a missioner I am learning even more.  I am fortunate to work with women who may not have the same education I do but who have so much wisdom and life experience.  Life has a lot to teach us and I have learned we never know when those lessons will come in handy.   

The neighbor girls of AFYA.

Your support can help keep me in mission.  Please consider making a donation to help me continue serving the marginalized in Brazil.

Since I am a Maryknoll Affiliate I do not receive funding from an organization.  If you have the ability to contribute to help me stay in mission it would be very helpful so I can cover the basic necessities in life.

You can donate by:

Pay Pal:  this is the best way for me.  Go to paypal my info is Carolyn Trumble at trumble100@gmail.com. 

You can send a tax deductible check made out to Maryknoll Sisters and indicate it is designated to Women’s Holistic Center, in Brazil and under care of Sr. Efu Nyaki.  P.O. Box 311, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0311  

NOTE: YOU MUST ADDRESS THE DONATION EXACTLY THIS WAY IN ORDER FOR IT TO REACH ME!!!!!!!!!

Thank You!

The New AFYA after March 2015

Staff standing in front of building to be torn down

Photo of the current AFYA buildings.

Using Bricks and Mortar to Reform Lives

AFYA A Center for Holistic Healing will celebrate 15 years this coming March. Started by Maryknoll Sisters Efu Nyaki and Connie Pospisil alongside a group of Brazilian Women, the center works to provide holistic healing in a poor neighborhood of Joao Pessoa, Brazil.  Starting on November 17th AFYA will begin a reform which will bring not only new improvements to the existing buildings but a restaurant which will service healthy, natural food,

As the opening of construction begins on the compound, the women of AFYA are not only beginning to lay a new foundation of bricks and mortar they are beginning a process of building onto the foundation of a collaborative working team that provides the women with a livelihood and the community with therapies for healing.  With a vision of evolutionary consciousness, Sr. Efu will lead the women in workshops focusing on ways to revitalize the staff and create new ways of working together, communicating and visioning for the future. 

The architects that are working with the building project have entered into a strong collaboration with the women capturing the spirit of AFYA.  For one of the first meetings they gathered all the women and asked the opinion of all 18 staff members.  Each person gave their ideas and opinions.  The final plans of the project remarkably included every idea that was presented at that meeting. 

Next week some of the old buildings will begin to be torn down and new bricks and mortar will be used to build up the new.  The building will provide AFYA the ability to serve our clients better and offer a healthy alternative for food in a community which needs more health education and options.  At the heart of AFYA the thing that cements the spirit and healing that happens on a daily basis are the women who have been trained and nurtured over the last 15 years in the therapies of healing.  They are the foundation of AFYA.  Their love, care and talents are the building blocks on which the center rests.

Maria Ausciliadora

Maria Ausciliadora

 I work at Afya a Holistic Healing Center located in a marginalized neighborhood situated in the periphery of the city of João Pessoa, Brazil.  It is an organization run by Women from the nearby communities.  Afya receives many people from the communities who have suffered from daily stress of domestic and urban violence, extreme poverty, drugs, alcohol abuse, etc.  The holistic healing therapies we offer have provided a lot of awareness and wellness for many people. To be specific, the following is an amazing story of one of the women who came to Afya for healing and after her transformation became a member of the team who work at Afya. 

Maria Ausciliadora, 42 years old came to Afya 9 years ago with severe and frequent epileptic attacks. She was diagnosed with Epilepsy since she was 5 years old.  Since then, she used medication to try to control the attacks knowing that there was no cure for this disease. When she was 33 years old her epileptic attacks started to occur more often to the extent that she was afraid to leave her house by herself.  By the time she came to Afya her attacks were as often as twice a week or even more depending on the stressful situations that she encountered.  Auscilliadora lives in a neighborhood that is in the periphery of the city of João Pessoa with high indices of violence, drug use, regular assaults on buses, etc. and she told us that at night she has a hard time sleeping because she often hears the sounds of gunshots.

Maria Ausciliadora had chronic muscle tensions as well as constantly being angry and irritated.   After two years of therapy sessions Maria Ausciliadora became more playful and started experiencing some moments of relaxation and joyfulness. She also noted that her epileptic crisis were fewer compared to before she started doing her sessions at Afya.  Then she was able to negotiate with her doctor about taking less of her medication. She eventually stopped taking medication and today she is doing fine with no medication.  A couple of the years after Ausiciliadora first came to Afya seeking healing she asked if she could join the team that works at the center. She had the desire to help other women who come with the similar situation.