From Indianapolis: a brother and sister, both doctors, both deeply involved in serving in Africa:
Growing up in a family of 13 kids, you learn very quickly you are not the center of the universe,” Ellen says. “There are all kinds of people, and you have to get along. Our parents were raised in the Church, and their faith was very important to them. They let us know we are one small part of a greater world.”
They both remember their father telling them and their siblings, “We are Christ, you are Christ, our neighbor is Christ.”
“Our parents had this notion of teaching us to live our faith and live out our faith rather than wearing it on our sleeves,” Bob notes. “We are given gifts, and we have expectations to use those gifts. Those are lessons from our faith and our parents.”
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The view looks considerably different 16 years later. With her leadership, a new hospital was built, a hospital that includes a children’s pavilion and a maternity and surgical ward. She has also trained nurses, directed the building of health centers in isolated villages and opened a women’s edu-cation center where women and girls learn to read, write and develop skills that can lead to an income.
“It’s 100 percent hands-on working with the people,” says Ellen, now 51. “I run six health centers and the referral hospi-tal for this district. I’m responsible for the health care of 109,000 people in a very poor, very isolated area of Cameroon.”
A significant part of the funds for her efforts and the build-ing projects have come from the parish where she grew up— St. Matthew.
“Ellen is the nearest thing to Mother Teresa I’ve ever met,” says Father Donald Schmidlin, a former pastor at St. Matthew. “Her whole attitude of being in Africa is it’s such a privilege because they welcome her willingness to help. I just admire her whole attitude and courage and skill. It’s just so remarkable, and it seems to run through the family.”
Reaching out in need
In his office, Bob looks at Ellen and says that she has always set the standard for him. She is the second oldest of the 13 siblings. At 50, Bob is the third oldest. He followed her example and served in the Peace Corps in Haiti. His focus is also in Africa.
Yet Bob long ago moved out of Ellen’s consider-able shadow. Since the late 1980s, he has left his own distinctive mark through the IU-Kenya Partnership—a partnership he helped to found, a partnership that has led to the treatment of 30,000 HIV-positive patients at 18 clinic sites in Kenya.
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