Valentine Iwenwanne (@valentineiwen) is a Nigerian travel journalist and photographer who reports on global health, social justice, politics and development in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigerian sisters and their communities are raising awareness about violence against women and child abuse and spreading their prevention mechanisms among young people in Nigeria.
Medical Missionaries of Mary in Nigeria run a hospital that treats patients with leprosy and tuberculosis. They also provide reintegration assistance to patients who are rejected by their family members or communities.
Alongside violence against Christians, Nigerian church leaders describe persecution that has become structural, such as political exclusion and preventing Christians from accessing education and social amenities.
Amid attacks on the church, priests and nuns in Nigeria, Sr. Bukola Familade discussed with Global Sisters Report the precarious nature of being a member of the religious community.
La Hna. Dorothy Okoli, de las Hermanas Misioneras de San Juan Pablo II de María, un nuevo instituto religioso para mujeres que ella estableció en Nigeria, visita hoteles para rehabilitar y asesorar a mujeres jóvenes atrapadas en la prostitución.
Sr. Dorothy Okoli of the Missionary Sisters of St. John Paul II of Mary — a new women religious institute she established in Nigeria — visits hotels to rehabilitate and counsel young women trapped in prostitution.
Nigeria has 10.5 million children who are out of school. The Missionary Sisters of St. John Paul II of Mary are working to whittle away at that statistic.
For more than a decade, Sr. Matilda Inyang has cared for dozens of malnourished and homeless children from the streets of Uyo, Akwa Ibom, in Nigeria — many of whom had family who believed they were witches.
Up to 30% of Nigeria's population may suffer from mental illness. To address a gap in care, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul provide treatment and an inpatient home to those rejected by society.
On a sunny afternoon, the Rev. Gideon Oyabugbe, a minister at a local Baptist church, walked into St. Vincent's Centre for Inclusive Education to pick up James, his 8-year-old son, who is autistic.
Since opening the home in 2007, Sr. Matylda Iyang has cared for dozens of malnourished and homeless children from the streets of Uyo; many of them had family who believed they were witches.
After three years of visiting clinics and traditional healers across Nonwa Tai, in the southern corner of Nigeria, 55-year-old Benedict Ngbaji was shocked to discover the sores and lesions under his foot and ankle were symptoms of Hansen's disease, or leprosy.
Up to 80% of Nigerians who leave for Europe end up trafficked and in prostitution. In Edo, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus are working to fight the problem.
