Sister
Marie Theresa Paulino, SJI, a diocesan sister in Gweru Diocese, Zimbabwe was
stationed at St. Anthony Mission, Musiso during the war.  A nurse, she often
travelled to ZANLA bases dressed as a peasant woman with her medical instruments
tied around her waist, spending several days treating wounded guerrillas.  Her
reflections on how she decided to assist the nationalist forces reveal the
development of a local theology and spirituality of liberation:

    I
pictured Christ carrying his cross bleeding and falling and the crowd just
watched.  Only one woman had courage and stepped out and wiped his face with her
veil.  I asked myself if I would stand by and watch the people suffering or if I
would take courage and get involved.

Many African
sisters also credited the war with helping to bring blacks and whites closer
together at most missions.  In many cases, a common dining room was set up where
priests and sisters, blacks and whites, ate together, often for the first time. 
In a few cases, sisters and priests stayed together in the same house for the
sake of safety.  All faced the same dangers and felt compassion for the
suffering people, helping to break down the racism in the Church.