They spent their lives in service. Now they need someone to gently journey with them.

Retired nuns who worked for decades as nurses, teachers, and social workers across Uganda are living out their final years without wheelchairs, hearing aids, or trained caregivers. A pilot hospice program is changing that — if it can be funded.

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Sisters walk through the convent cemetery in Nkokonjeru — "the motherhouse is where we begin and where we end."

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A record of service

In the cemetery at the Little Sisters of St. Francis convent, Sister Jane Frances Nakafeero walks between rows of simple white crosses, naming what each woman gave before she rested here.

Nurse — decades of service

Teacher — decades of service

Social worker — decades of service

Doctor — decades of service

"The motherhouse is where we begin and where we end," Sister Nakafeero says. Before that end, though, is a stretch of years these women didn't plan for — and one the Church has largely left unfunded, especially for African orders.

Young sisters look after retired ones daily — but mobility aids at the convent are scarce and worn.

Fourteen sisters, seven wheelchairs

At the convent in Nkokonjeru, fourteen retired sisters live out their final years. Ten have mobility issues. The convent has seven wheelchairs to share between them, and most are in poor repair, with sticky wheels and failing brakes. There are no spare adult diapers. No hearing aids. No extra blankets for cold mornings.

Small daily moments of care — a warm cup of tea, steadied by patient hands.

Sister Rosemary Luyiga is 95. She came to the convent at age 12 and spent her working life running a school that taught girls to cook and clean. Now mostly immobile, she spends her days alone in a small room, a single bed and chair, a photograph of her mother on the wall. She says she often doesn't call for help, even in an emergency, because there's rarely anyone to answer.

"I don't know what can take away loneliness. You would like to sit and talk, but you find that you cannot do that."

Sister Mary Consolata Nakawoojwa, a social worker trained in geriatric care, is one of a small team responsible for a dozen retired sisters at a time. She sees the emotional toll as much as the physical one: women who defined themselves for decades by their work now struggling to redefine who they are in stillness. A pilot hospice program launched in September 2025 by the Little Sisters of St. Francis and the African Palliative Care Association, with backing from the Irish Hospice Foundation, aims to bring medical care, caregiver training, and psychological support to sisters like these — and eventually, to convents across the continent.

Where your gift goes

African Palliative Care Association · In partnership with the Little Sisters of St. Francis · Photos courtesy of APCA