How did you first get interested in Romania?
While on sabbatical doing research in May 1990, I saw a story on the evening news about children in terrible conditions in orphanages in Romania. I said, "I am going there to help. I'm a nurse, and even if I were not, I know I can take better care of children than that." I joined a woman in San Francisco and helped found a nonprofit to help one orphanage in Romania. We raised money and supplies, and in June 1991, I came to Romania.

For four years, I worked in the orphanage. It is hard to describe the terrible state of the institution. I concentrated on the children. They were dehydrated, anemic and vitamin deficient.

[This work] led to my involvement in every aspect of the institution. I got to know many Romanians and much about the orphanage situation. My conclusion was that, because so many of the children in these institutions had living parents, the real problem was in the society and the family.

I founded an association to help at-risk families keep their children. I started with a staff of three volunteers, including myself. We now have 23 paid staff and 50 volunteers doing nine full-time and several seasonal or part-time programs.

What do you see as the most important result of this work?
I believe that the main problem in Romania, from which most other problems flow, including the orphanage problem, is the low self-esteem of its people, individually and collectively.

The most important result of my work is helping to raise that self-esteem by working with trainers, creating situations that show these people what they can do, and encouraging them to do it. The people here are poor economically, but they are in general a fine people rich in culture and history. They are pros at survival. They have much to offer the world.

How has your nursing background affected what you're doing now?
My nursing background has taught me to go from the particular to the general; to note and record symptoms so that not only can symptoms be treated, they also can assist in diagnosing and treating the illness. It taught me to look at the larger picture.

How has being a nurse affected your role as a nun, or vice versa?
There are two ways in which being a nurse and a nun affect each other-one is practical and one is spiritual. There is much discipline required in both, much listening to others and learning from them.

These processes mature a person and I believe my nursing training was a great help to me when I entered the convent. I had more of a sense of who I was and what I could do.

On the other hand, it was more difficult because I often felt like I was being treated as a child, not like a mature woman who had been responsible for people's health and lives. The interaction of the two taught me much about myself, relationships, discipline and responsibility. This interaction between being a nurse and being a nun from a practical point continues throughout life. A nursing nun often is given much work responsibility, while in the community setting of the convent we share more responsibilities and are on a more equal footing.

Also, people often have preconceived ideas about nuns, treat us differently and expect different things from us. This is less so now that we do not wear the habit. Being a member of a religious community lays on me some responsibilities from the expectations of others, but it also frees me to do many things other nurses might like to do but cannot. I am financially supported by my religious community, so I can come and work in Romania for 10 years without worrying about supporting myself. I do all the fund raising for the association, but because I am personally supported by my community, I am free to do it. Many lay nurses might wish to do the same, but because of other responsibilities or financial reasons cannot.

A nursing nun does many practical things, but her general orientation is spiritual. When applied to nursing, this can and often does affect the way she sees a situation, approaches people, makes decisions and relates to others, especially patients. I am not talking about preaching or trying to convert others, but just about everyday relationships or duties. I don't mean to imply that only nuns have such an orientation. But being a nun frees one from many practical concerns. For instance, people in Romania are very poor, and as always in such situations, there is much stealing. I think when one encounters this from a spiritual orientation, for instance, one is concerned mostly not to lead people into temptation, rather than with punishment.

What would you like other nurses to know about your work?
That nursing prepares us for many areas of relieving human suffering other than patient care. Although I have been educationally prepared for and active in social work and political science for many years, I have called upon my training and experience as a nurse as much, if not more, in the day-to-day aspects of my work here. It was my nursing background, for instance, that led me to conclude that the orphanage problem was merely a symptom, not the illness that needed to be addressed if a cure was to be sought.

Has faith made you a better nurse?
Faith, I believe, always has a positive affect on one's life and work. It probably leads us in "where angels fear to tread." It provides some meaning and hope in desperate situations. In ordinary life, it may be what sometimes gets us out of bed in the morning, and enough faith may be what will keep the human race from destroying itself and the universe.