My Parents Were CALLED to be Medical Missionaries in Paraguay

March 16th is World Social Work Day. It’s when we are invited to celebrate and promote the contributions of social workers to individuals, families, communities and wider society.

This year, World Social Work Day highlights Ubuntu: I am Because We Are. The word ubuntu is part of the Zulu phrase Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, which literally means that a person is a person through other people. I am who I am through you, through our common humanity, through our oneness.

If we didn’t believe in the interconnectedness of all people and all environments until now, COVID has certainly instilled in us how interdependent we really are. My health today depends on everyone’s health. It is only together that we can co-build a sustainable and healthy future for ourselves and future generations.

What a perfect time to introduce our forthcoming book: CALLED!

CALLED, the untold story of the life and work of medical pioneers John and Clara Schmidt, is a tale of humble and selfless service. John and Clara gave their lives to make the world a better place for the poor, the needy and the leprous in Paraguay.

But they were not ‘white saviors,’ superior people descending on those lesser ‘others.’ On the contrary, John and Clara believed in the common dignity and humanity of all people, most especially their cast-out and stigmatized leprosy patients.

They have been acknowledged by the American Leprosy Missions as the first people to carry out the courageous and pioneering work that serves as the basis for the way leprosy is treated in the world today. Rather than locking up and further stigmatizing leprosy patients, John and Clara treated them in their homes, a treatment methodology now accepted as the norm.

But their fight was not an easy one. They pushed the edges of the envelope year after year. They went where most people fear to tread. And the people around them, who believed in the old ways, pushed back. Hard. For example, the government of Paraguay threatened to put John in prison, their North American sponsors cut their funding, and neighbors surrounding the leprosy station came with a truck full of rocks to destroy their buildings and kill them. And yet they continued forward, believing that they were guided by a higher power to care for those in need.

CALLED will transport you into a world where stigma, cruelty, fear and anger do not win against the power of determined loving and selfless service. John and Clara were living examples of ubuntu.

Stay tuned. CALLED is scheduled to release March 15, 2022.