ngome 2

At the beginning of the 20th century... 

the area around Ngome, about thirty kilometres northwest of Nongoma...

was set aside for commercial farming. As a result, white farmers purchased land and used it mainly for cattle ranching and timber [hout] production. 

Black families were allowed to live on these farms as tenants, providing the white farmers with an abundant labour force. Missionary work among these black families could only be done with the permission of the white farmers on whose property they lived.

After the Benedictines had opened a mission station at Nongoma in 1926... 

they began to establish a string of out-stations in the district... 

in order to win new converts and form them into communities. 

In 1944 they bought a 338 hectare farm at Ngome... 

that was intended as a source of income for the mission station at Nongoma... 

with its school and hospital. 

The Benedictines used the farm mainly for cattle ranching. 

A small school was erected on the farm to enable the children in the area to get a basic education. 

It became known as the Mayime School. 

The classroom was used as a chapel... 

where the Catholics came together on Sundays to celebrate Holy Mass... 

or to participate in a service conducted by a catechist.

Bishop Thomas Spreiter at that time... 

was convinced of the great importance of indirect mission work in schools and hospitals for the spreading of the faith in a difficult mission territory like South Africa. 

With great vision and courage he worked to obtain permission from Rome that Benedictine Sisters could be trained in midwifery. After years of persistent effort, this permission was obtained from Rome and from Tutzing in 1936.

After Rome allowed the Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing to assist women in childbirth, Sister Reinolda became the first sister in Zululand to take a course in midwifery. 

She had been asked by her superiors, if she wanted to take this kind of training. In spite of her hesitation, on account of her age, she was in her mid thirties and lacked a secondary education and had scant knowledge of the English language, the Benedictine Sister who had up till then only been a seamstress agreed, trusting in God’s help, and in view of the personnel needs of the hospital which was under construction. 

Her decision was entirely borne by her spirit of faith. Sister Reinolda studied hard but not through many nights, in order not to neglect her spiritual life. She relied completely on God and in prayer, a spirit of faith and trust in God. 

She received a diploma as a midwife from Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg in May of 1938. In June of the same year the Benedictine Mission Hospital opened in Nongoma, and the newly qualified Sister Reinolda was put in charge of the maternity department.

The Benedictine Hospital had a chapel where mass was celebrated. 

Although Sister Reinolda was devoted to Our Lady, she had not been excessively so before the 22nd of August 1955. She was however known for having a special devotion to the Eucharistic presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

At the beginning the early years were difficult. There was great poverty and also distrust amongst the population, and quarrels with the district surgeon who did all he could to harm his competitor as he perceived it. 

In those years Sister Reinolda’s great union with God and her deep spirit of faith became evident. She spent many an hour of the night in prayer in order to be able to handle these difficulties. 

She won the hearts of the Zulus by her kindness and generous readiness to help. Her expertise as a midwife attracted expectant mothers from afar.

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Soon Sister Reinolda began to train midwives. 

In 1941 the first group took their exams. Hundreds of young Zulu girls, black and white religious sisters of various congregations and a number of her own fellow sisters were her pupils. She worked well with the doctors who appreciated her knowledge and skills.

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Sister Reinolda never saw her homeland again. 

She deliberately denied herself holiday leave in Germany, and except for her time of training to be a midwife in Pietermaritzburg, she never left the district she had been sent to as a missionary. 

However on one occasion a nephew of hers who had become a priest came to visit her, and she allowed herself to spend some time with him.

She was not only a midwife but also a great missionary. 

She longed to bring the love of Christ to his people in Zululand and so on many Sundays she went with the priest to the outstations, and invited the people to come to Mass. She cared for the sick and dying and would try to rectify marriages.

“Mashiane” as the Zulus called her on account of her thick eyebrows, was known and loved everywhere in the Nongoma region. Men and women are said to have gone to confession to her for trial, and when one man in hospital was asked for his religious affiliation he replied: “I believe in Mashiane”. 

Even the Zulu King, who was born in her department, came occasionally to her small office for advice.

She helped the poor, distributed food and clothing and did not stop even if her kindness was occasionally misused.

The pastor of Nongoma described Sister Reinolda as a very solid missionary sister in the truest sense of the word and of inestimable help to him in his pastoral work. 

As a responsible and efficient midwife she came in contact with many people, women and men from near and far, and she enjoyed their complete confidence. Her friendly manner combined with zeal for souls had a great moral influence on those who sought her help. Through the help she offered them, many non practising Christians found their way back to the church.

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She made every effort to track down children who had received emergency Baptism in her maternity department, and admonished the parents to have this baptized child educated in a Catholic school once it was of school age. She kept a careful record of every child who had received emergency baptism among the thousands of newborns.

In marriage situations where the Catholic man or catechumen lived together with several wives, she managed to convince the man to enter a church marriage with one of his wives, and separate without harshness from the others, and thus start a Christian family.

Through her nursing and her pastoral visits she could point out to the missionaries the families which needed pastoral assistance. Her heart suffered with the physically and spiritually sick. She wanted to alleviate their suffering.

[bron]