The home of the elderly at Mapuifagalele would be nothing without the Sisters from the Little Sisters of the poor who take care of the elders there, make them feel at home, take care of them and keep them happy. 

They do it so voluntarily, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They take care of elders who come from different backgrounds and different personalities. 

The Little Sisters of the Poor (a non-profit organisation) who are currently serving at Mapuifagalele include: Sister Maria Frances Pale, Sister Alosia, Sister Maureen, Sister Marta, Sister Lucy and Sister Marguerite Marie.

Out of the six Sisters now stationed at Mapuifagalele, only two are Samoans while the other four are foreigners who have left their homes and have been residing in Samoa, taking care of the elders at Mapuifagalele. 

While admitting that the work they do is no walk in the park, the Sister in charge, Sister Maria Frances Pale’s face beamed as she talked about the “joy” they get from what they do on a daily basis. 

Something they have been doing for five decades now. 

When asked about where they draw the inspiration from to do the work that they do every day, Sister Maria simply replied saying: “Jesus.”

“It’s that heart of giving and helping those in need that inspires us to do what we do, with the belief that whatever work we are doing here, we are doing it for Jesus.

“I get inspiration from the Lord. I really enjoy being around the residents because I know I was quite a troublemaker growing. 

“If I get stressed out, I always step out and talk to the residents and then get a good laugh. 

“That’s why it’s important that we start the day with the Lord.  Seeing them happy is very rewarding. “

Nevertheless, Sister Maria also paid homage to the founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Saint Jeanne Jugan. 

The Catholic religious institute for women was founded in 1839.

Saint Jeanne’s compassion in taking care of elderly poor people continues to inspire the work the Sisters at Mapuifagalele do every day. 

Reflecting back to the year 1972 when the aged home at Vailele was first set up in Samoa; Sister Maria said it has not been easy. 

One of the first obstacles they faced when it was first established was that “not everyone” in Samoa were welcoming and accepted what they did and the purpose of their organisation. 

“Some did not like what we do and questioned why we’re here because Samoan people look after their own (elders). 

“I mean, I also grew up with that notion, but as time went by, I saw that it is not always the case. 

“Because now time has changed, people go to work and we have the elders at home with no one to look after them. We persevered which is why we made it this far.”

A lot has changed over the years, said Sister Maria. This is the third time she has been sent to Samoa to look after the Mapuifagalele and Sister Maria said a lot has changed. 

“The first time I saw that a lot of the residents were able to move around and walk on their own,” she said. 

“However, it’s different this time around, a lot of the people we have here can barely walk and some of them can’t move around.”

Keeping and making the elders happy is the mantra behind the work that the Sisters do on the daily. 

“As our founder always said, make the elderly happy. That’s basically what we try to achieve every day. 

“It’s not an easy job, but it is a joyful job as well. There’s never a dull moment because either you like it or don’t like it. 

“Sometimes you find some very challenging characters and we always have to keep in mind that it’s not who they are, it’s just part of the illness that they have. 

“So that’s why we make sure that our staff follows our mission philosophy and also our core values in place to guide the work that we do.”

The core values she referred to includes respect; which Sister Maria said is a vital part of their work. 

“This is something that is considered quite big in the Samoan context and we always make sure that we practice that within our family,” she said. 

“Compassion is one of the core values that we implement. This is to make sure that we feel and share what the residents are going through. And the good old, treat them as you would for your mother and father. Also our mother founder used to say: ‘it's always Jesus that you are looking after’.”

Nonetheless, doing their best to make the residents feel at home is one of the things they prioritise in their line of work. 

“This is very important because the residents come from different families and backgrounds. They all have different personalities and are different from each other,” she said. 

“So we do our best to make them feel at home and make them feel safe here with the other residents. 

“We need to make them feel like they are a part of our family. We also want to become good stewards.”

Furthermore, because Little Sisters of the Poor is a non-profit organisation, Sister Maria said that they’re very appreciative of whatever they get from members of the public. 

“Because we depend a lot on public charity and also we have to make good use of whatever we get from the public. 

“I always tell our staff that this is taxpayers’ money, someone is making the sacrifice for us so we have to look after whatever we get. We always make sure that our staff understands that. 

“We always put aside our differences and the different opinions we have on things when it comes to the work that we do because we are a team. 

“Some of the residents we have here cannot walk and aren’t able to move around too much and as we were taught, we become their feet and hands. 

“We have to put their needs first and try to understand the struggles they are going through internally.”

Sister Maria then shared some of the fond and “joyous” memories from spending time with the residents. 

“In the morning, the Sisters wake up in the morning and we go to church first then we spread out and start helping the residents to get ready in the morning,”she said. 

“One time I was watching someone dying, I heard another resident calling out at 3 o’clock in the morning saying he wanted to get up. I rushed over to the room to see what he needed only to find out that he wanted to go shower already saying that he was tired of sleeping. 

“Then I thought to myself, oh this is a perfect time to sleep and this man wants to go and shower. 

“They get up so early and by 6 o’clock, most of them have already showered and are already at church, and they’re from different denominations, Mormons, Catholics, Methodists etc. That’s one thing I couldn’t believe. They always start their morning with some biscuits and tea before church.”

Aside from the financial struggles they continue to face, one of the many obstacles they face is that families and relatives of the residents do not visit their relatives as much as they should. 

Some of them, said Sister Maria, only show up when something bad happens to their relatives. 

“They would just drop them off and then don’t show up to see or visit them anymore,” she said. 

“And it’s quite sad because the elders do ask for their families sometimes. I know it’s hard for some of them but all we ask for is to make an effort to come and see their family members here. 

“Come and see them, even if it’s just for a while because they need to see them. 

“They want to know about their families and what’s going on with their families. And I find that very hard to believe that this would be a problem here in Samoa; like people would actually just forget about their loved ones here. 

“Some of them wait until something bad happens to their relatives, then they’ll come in and see them when they’re dying. Then they come in and cry and question us as if we had never called them. 

“Another difficulty we continue to face is the different personalities of the residents we have, some of them are easy to look after and some of them are very hard to handle. 

“But the idea is to always try and understand what their problems are and what they’re going through so we can understand what their needs are and what they are suffering from. 

“And it really gets to me when I hear some of our staff complain about how difficult it is to take care of the elders.”

Despite the challenges, Sister Maria said they love what they do. She admits that the “precious moments” they share with the residents is what makes their work enjoyable and gives them something to look forward to every day. 

“One of the joyous things about this job is that we get good laughs from the littlest things the residents do,” she said. 

“Sometimes they argue like kids and they raise their voices and sometimes I encourage them to go ahead and fight and would joke and say something likeI would help the winner beat up whoever loses the fight. 

“And then we laugh about it as if nothing happened and that’s what makes them comfortable within our little home and we are used to their ways and the things they do and the different acts they put on. 

“They can be dramatic sometimes, but they do bring a lot of joy and make our job very enjoyable.

“That’s what makes this work enjoyable for us; it is difficult to deal with them, but it’s a rewarding job and we do enjoy the moments we share with the residents.

“But you know what, they can be difficult to deal with most of the time, but the smallest things make them happy.

“Everybody is different and some of them, it’s the smallest things that upsets them, but it’s also very simple to make them happy. 

“For instance, we have this old man here who has a habit of playing with the tv remote. He likes to play with it and changes the channel when everyone is watching. 

“That’s annoying for the other residents and can stir the peace whenever they watch tv. And we always try to make them understand and calm them down.

“It doesn’t cost much to make them happy, sometimes all you gotta do is to understand their situation and see where they’re coming from and you can disagree with whatever they say and don’t show it. 

“Because you do not want to argue with them when they’re not in their right minds and it’s not because of who they are, but it’s all part of the illness that they have.”

Right now there are 41 residents currently under the care of the Sisters at Mapuifagalele. However, they can now take in 44 residents with the new renovations made to the place. 

Sister Maria used the opportunity to thank the generosity of the Samoan people who have helped them over the years. 

One of the positive changes they have seen over the years, said Sister Maria, is the support and love from the community. 

“The support and love of our people for this place has been amazing and overwhelming. For us, it’s very humbling to know that our people understand and feel the need to make the sacrifice and donate whatever they can, whenever they can for us so we are able to take good care of our elders here at Mapuifagalele,” she said. 

“Mapuifagalele is a very busy place because we get a lot of visitors. The people are so generous and whenever we have visitors, the residents are always happy to see them. 

“It’s such a joy when we have visitors over and they bring presents for them. You’d see the ole women holding on tight to the presents they receive as if it’s the first time they have received such gifts. 

“The people have been so generous and we have received a lot of help from our community. 

“It’s so fun being with them because it’s the littlest things that make them happy and smile. 

“Sometimes we get invitations from restaurants for free lunch or Sunday to’onai and they get very excited about it. We got an invitation from Taumeasina and we would take all of them on the bus and we would go out there and enjoy the food. We are so fortunate for the loving and kind gestures from our community. 

“The other night we took them out at night so they could see the lights and they were all so very happy. We ended up buying ice cream at Scoops before coming back home and it’s just very satisfying to see them smile and happy.”

The process of establishing the elderly home began in 1970 when Cardinal Pio, who was a Bishop at the time, visited one of the missionaries at the elderly home in Auckland.

Cardinal Pio had seen the work that was done there and believed that is what is needed in Samoa.

She said he started the process of requesting the Little Sisters of the Poor to come to Samoa and Sister Maria indicated that at that time the church was having a general chapter where the request was proposed.

The foundation was accepted by the General Chapter of September 1970 and preparations commenced.  

Sister Maria said that the same year Pope Paul VI visited Samoa and she later found in the home's archives records showing that Pope Paul VI was the first benefactor of the home as he gave $20,000 to help with their establishment.

Four Sisters from New Zealand, Spain, Australia and India were the first ones to begin the work of caring for the elderly at Mapuifagalele. And Sister Marguerite Marie of India continues that work to this very day.