Blue Sisters: The highly-anticipated new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Cleopatra and Frankenstein

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They started their mission in 1911 when Emilia Zammit, wife of Henry Clapp, donated to the government of Malta a hospital that she had built at her own expense.

It served initially as a Seamen’s Hospital but, when in 1915 it became apparent that more hospitals were required to cope with the increasing number of wounded men being sent to the island, the Mother Superior and Nursing Sisters offered their services. Being a fine, modern building, the offer was gratefully accepted. A small monetary grant was made and Blue Sisters’ Hospital opened on 6th May 1915 with 50 beds for officers. The hospital was described as a handsome building with spacious wards and corridors, private rooms, and operating and sterilizing rooms.

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Margaret had long argued that it was impossible to educate a hungry child and her work contributed to the passing of the Education (Provision of School Meals) Act in 1906. Both sisters led a deputation to Parliament in 1907, leading to the compulsory medical inspection of school children. Throughout the book, Borg remains faithful to his goal expressed in the foreword: “The aim of this book covers not only the legal aspects of the saga but also the factual and political side of things.” The Blue Sisters was the popu­lar name of the Little Company of Mary, which was a congregation of Catholic nuns. They ran Malta’s first private hospital, the Zammit-Clapp Hospital in St Julian’s.

Blue Sisters Hospital was the first private hospital to be opened in Malta in 1911. It was run by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary (known as Blue Sisters – originating from their distinctive habit which was partially blue). The need for properly qualified teachers led to the establishment of a training college for nursery nurses and teachers, which Margaret started in 1918. A new Rachel McMillan Training College was opened in Deptford by Queen Mary in 1930. The Little Company of Mary is currently present and operational in Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, South Korea, Philippines, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Zimbabwe. [4] They continue to assist in healthcare in these countries, as well as praying and accompanying them during their illness. In 1893, three Little Company of Mary sisters arrived in Chicago to begin their ministry in the United States, providing home-based hospice care. In 1930 Little Company of Mary Hospital was founded in Evergreen Park, Illinois. [8] [9] As of 2019, there were sisters working in California, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Their healthcare ministries include hospitals, home care, hospice, extended care, and outreach programs. By 1922, the Little Company of Mary congregation had grown large enough to establish provinces with regional provincials. The four provinces were Australasia, England, Ireland and Italy. [7] Modern day [ edit ]On the following day, the Blue Sisters were escorted in a police minibus to the airport. They were met there by several people who supported the Blue Sisters’ mission which they had carried out with much love for many years in Malta. Internal violence has been endemic to Sudan since it gained independence from Great Britain in 1956. At around that time, the Muslim, Arab-influenced north of the country launched an Islamization campaign against the mostly Christian south, leading to decades of fighting.

In 1882, they went to Italy. Mary Potter had gone to gain approval for the constitutions of her new congregation, and while there she established Calvary Hospital on the Via Santo Stefano Rotondo, not far from St. John Lateran. [5] The author, Tonio Borg, is a lecturer in public law at the University of Malta, a former European commissioner, former deputy prime minister and cabinet minister. He is a born raconteur who can lead a listener or reader through complicated issues while retaining a fresh approach akin to a story. The author also had a small finger in the pie when, as a young lawyer, he was asked by Bonello to research a particular aspect of the test of reasonableness in English Common Law. He relates how he rushed to the university library to research the matter and recalls his excitement when he came across valid material that would help in the issue. According to Sister Ester, the women living at the shelter vary in age and with regard to their level of trauma. Cyril Sladden was a patient at Blue Sisters Hospital, Sliema, Malta, from mid August to mid September 1915 after being wounded at Gallipoli.There is a major stigma that falls over these mostly young women who are victims of the violence of war," said Sister Ester, local superior for the small community of the four "Blue Sisters" who help with the recovery of some 100 women in a facility in the town of Yambio, next to the diocesan chancery.

Rachel and Margaret McMillan were born respectively in 1859 and 1860 in New York State to Scottish parents. They moved to Scotland on the death of their father in 1865 and were educated in Inverness. Rachel then taught at a ladies’ college in Coventry but left to nurse her grandmother. Margaret, meanwhile, completed her education in continental Europe and embarked on a career as a governess. In the South Sudanese Diocese of Tombura Yambio, Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussala has tasked them with providing permanent assistance to the many women, including young girls and teenagers, who have been raped, abused or abandoned amid the violent conflicts that have plagued the region for years. Borg glides through the law with ease, cutting through brambles and explaining without unnecessary verbal excursions. The story is a sad one. I remember it well, but reading the book made me recall and understand better what had happened. There is a major stigma that falls over these mostly young women who are victims of the violence of war,” said Sister Ester (in the photo), local superior for the small community of the four “Blue Sisters” who help with the recovery of some 100 women in a facility in the town of Yambio, next to the diocesan chancery.

Blue Plaque

Hell was let loose. The saga started. On June 17, 1980, the government filed a court action, claiming that the hospital was to revert to the government because the sisters had refused to acquire the required permit and were therefore unable to operate the hospital. The education that I got in our school is not in other schools, the care of the teachers is not in other schools. If we could not do something, the teachers would teach us again and again. My success has been possible because of studying in this school," Ali told GSR. I remember considering whether usufruct really applied to the issue as the president of the court had suggested. I was then of the firm opinion that it did not apply. I felt that the contract was a sui generis obligation, not a usufruct. Reading this book, I now find solace that several more enlightened minds were also of that belief. The aim of this book covers not only the legal aspects of the saga but also the factual and political side of things