When a Catholic Father Honours His Vows

Special Feature

When a Catholic Father Honours His Vows

By Abdul Kandeh Turay

Growing up as a kid in Italy, little Maurice could hardly imagine that his life would one day make a meaningful impact on the lives of many in a small African country called Sierra Leone.

He had to abandon his comfortable life in Europe to come to a war torn country in Africa at a crucial time when many were packing their bags to leave, citing security concerns.

Till today, the Catholic Priest, Maurice Boa, has no regret choosing to come down to Sierra Leone to serve humanity and God Almighty.

I really wanted to tap from the reservoir of experiences Father Maurice Boa has gained over the last two decades, especially the most touching ones bordering on humility and human relations.

He has spent 21 years working to impart knowledge in the lives of Sierra Leoneans, young and old. I lured him into an exclusive interview without formal protocols of a prior notification about my visit. It was the first time for me to meet with the catholic priest in his modest office at the Murialdo Institute compound, Kissy, in the east end of Freetown.

“At the beginning when I came to Sierra Leone the problem was the war”, he began to recall the genesis of his life in Sierra Leone.

Maurice started helping amputee victims since 1997 in Murray Town and Waterloo in 1999.   

The high level of cruelty displayed by the rebels during the war touched him personally, for which he set himself on a mission to help out.

He met the first set of amputees in Makeni and later in Waterloo where he said he had his first baptism of a very terrible and bad experience.

He told horrible tales of a child whose hand was cut off with machete when rebels entered the church where they were taking refuge.

Worst of it and to his greatest surprise, the rebels burnt a plastic bag and dropped the melting fire into the eyes of the little girl at the time.

“She is a woman now of 25 years attending the Freetown Teachers College (FTC)”, he said quietly.

Another one, the catholic father said, was when he sat down one day with a little girl whose arm was completely amputated. Father Maurice’s emotion was charged with sorrow as the girl narrated her ordeal that she can’t forget what happened to her. Every day she looked at herself, her body reminds her of that cruelty. 

“I have forgiven them”, the catholic father repeated exactly what the girl told him. That of course he remembered to be a touching experience in his life for a girl to forgive those who chopped off her hand.

It became incredibly difficult for Father Maurice to come to terms with the girl’s courage to forgive her perpetrators irrespective of the cruelty she suffered in their hands. The girl, he explained was 13 years at the time. But thanks to God, he told me, 

“She is now doing fine, and is in school”.

Till today, after 20 years of working in Sierra Leone, amputees still continue to benefit from accommodation, education and medical facilities in most of the homes the Father built for them. 

He is currently constructing a pediatric hospital at Waterloo for the children whom he considered to be the most vulnerable and easy to die. The Murialdo Home which till now since the war provides social services including education for amputees is among the numerous projects Father Maurice can be seriously proud of.

According to Father Maurice, the Murialdo Home at Low Cost, Kissy, “Is the first home for amputees in the country”.

On the achievements recorded by the home so far, Father Maurice informed that the home has groomed hundreds of amputees, some of whom are in universities and two presently in Italy pursuing further studies.

Apart from the amputees, he is also helping the deaf, dumb, blind, leaper and orphans. For the orphans, the catholic priest is presently assisting 134 Ebola orphans in Waterloo in addition to giving micro finance credit to youths.

The Roman Catholic priest noted that his overriding goal is to make amputees become self reliant or less dependent on others for their survival.

The priest has spent his entire adult life in Sierra Leone working as a philanthropist and educator, alongside his mission’s agenda.

Maurice’s love for humanity is a passion that builds up in him, and one that has made him become a noble and notable servant of God, serving the needy and socially marginalized in society.

He is a blessing to thousands of kids who lost either arms or limbs to heartless individuals.

“Presently I’m helping Ebola orphans with the help of my friends in Italy”, he concluded.