(Agenzia Fides) – For some years now, the parish of St. John Vianney in Foya, a remote strip of land in Liberia, with the formation of a charitable group, has begun to support the medical expenses of those who are unable to do so, especially the disabled and people in extreme poverty. Fr. Lorenzo Snider, a priest of the Society of African Missions (SMA) has been taking care of the community for the past few years and has launched a project that provides, among other things, medical visits and basic medicines for people with physical disabilities or in extreme poverty; supplies of basic medicines for people with epileptic disorders and treatment for other mental illnesses; powdered milk and peanut paste for malnourished children; and support for emergency surgery.
“From treatment for malaria, to infections, prenatal visits,” says the missionary, who is parish priest of St John Vianney. As we started to help, new scenarios opened up: people with epileptic seizures, unable to pay for their therapy of 20 cents a day, then malnourished children, due to the death of the mother because of post-natal problems or other situations. There are also those who present themselves to the parish with neglected sores due to poverty, which they have suffered perhaps for years or in some cases decades.”
If all goes well, explains Fr. Snider, 500 people a year will benefit from this support at the Foya Health Centre, run by the SMA fathers, (about 40 people a month), or at the hospital in Borma or the one in Gueckedou (Guinea – the only centre with a good analysis laboratory); 20 people with epileptic disorders, 20 families with malnourished children. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 14/4/2025)