The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, yesterday awarded the Cross of Military Merit with white badge to Sister Cristina Fernández Hoyos for her work in health care and training of girls and women in Mali.
After imposing the medal, Robles expressed her gratitude and affection to a woman who is “an example of courage, generosity and dedication”. “People like you, you and your sisters of the congregation, have the capacity to transform the world”, stressed the minister, who also emphasized that the missionary does her work “with a smile, a laugh, which is the best weapon there is”.
Cristina Fernández belongs to the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate, who settled in the capital of Mali, Bamako, in 1998 and founded the Vicenta María Center to house and train girls and young women between 12 and 25 years of age. In addition to this work, as noted by General Santiago Ortiz-Repiso, commander of the EUTM-Mali mission, “she practices medicine at the Kulikoro health center.” “She is an example of work by and for women”, he declared.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the Spanish contingent in Mali has been collaborating in civil-military projects with the training center and with the missionaries since its deployment in the African country began. The Minister traveled last March to Bamako and was able to see in person the work done by Cristina and her sisters with a hundred girls and women between 14 and 25 years old, many of them with children.
The honoree, who was accompanied by family and friends, thanked the Minister of Defense and all her team, as well as the Spanish troops stationed in the country, for the distinction and all the support received, stressing that “love should be put more in deeds than in words”.
The Vicenta María Center offers training to young women fleeing forced marriages, violence or to avoid being a burden on their families, most of whom are illiterate. The sisters train them for insertion in school or vocational training, in activities such as tailoring, pastry making or esthetics, among others. The project, financed mainly by Manos Unidas, is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of education, equality, and access to clean water and sanitation.
