Dr Pat Nickson OBE (Photo: © CMS) One of the foremost community health practitioners of her time will be sorely missed
Dr Patrician Nickson OBE, long-time CMS mission partner and renowned community health pioneer, died on Sunday from abdominal cancer.
One of the mission giants of her generation, she became a leading authority in her field and founded the Pan-African Institute of Community Health, a unique centre of training excellence based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Memorial services are planned in two locations in Congo as well as at her home church in Wirral, where she was a curate.
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The plurality of health - a fascinating interview with Pat Nickson from 2000
Nickson goes mixin' - Pat gets 'down with the kidz' in Wirral in 2005 (Web Archive) Pat Nickson, 64, worked in Northern Australia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Congo and became a world authority in her field, working closely with the World Health Organisation, the World Council of Churches and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where she had a faculty position.
Pat was a leading trainer of indigenous healthcare workers and became an authority on utilising the healing properties of local herbs and how ‘wellness’ is understood in different cultures (which involved rich dialogue with local healers).
She was a CMS mission partner from 1971 to 2006 and was awarded the OBE in 2005 for services to community health, especially in West Africa.
Her work first took her to Central Asia and then Bangladesh, transferring to Congo (then Zaire) in 1982 where she was responsible for the health programme of the Diocese of Boga.
Pat completed her PhD in 1989 and CMS then seconded her to the Christian Medical Commission of the World Council of Churches, and she continued to lecture at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. During this secondment, Pat visited many African countries in an advisory capacity.
She founded the Pan African Institute of Community Health (IPASC) in 1992 to train students on how to help communities achieve their own health objectives. The institute has academic support from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and is recognised by the government of DRC. Both its centres in DRC were forced to relocate from Nyankunde and Bunia to Aru because of fighting.
In 1994 Pat was asked by the World Council of Churches to work in post-genocide Rwanda with the Church World Action (CWA) programme to assist Rwandan refugees who had had traumatic experiences. She led training programmes for locally recruited CWA workers in Goma and Bukavu in DRC as well as in Rwanda.
A second IPASC centre was opened in 1998 despite some terrifying episodes as war enveloped Congo.
She was abducted and held at gunpoint with nine others in the Mission Aviation Fellowship hangar at Nyankunde. On another occasion she was interrogated by security for two days - during which time she was so terrified she could neither eat or drink.
In 2004 Pat was ordained into the Anglican ministry. She began to spend more time in her role as curate at St Mary’s Upton in Wirral, though with frequent working visits to Congo.
Her mission lifestyle continued in Wirral, where she took the temperature of the culture by heading out onto the streets and into nightclubs to find out what young people were thinking. Teenagers found her easy to talk to and in an interview with CMS in 2005 Pat talked of directing some subtle mission training towards the older generation for whom she saw a missionary role in reaching out to their grandchildren.
Pat was diagnosed with abdominal cancer nearly two years ago. Her health took a downward turn last Wednesday and she was transferred from hospital to a local hospice the following day. On Saturday, in a simple ceremony, she received a final anointing, heard a reading from Bishop Tom Wright’s book Surprised by Hope (which she greatly treasured) and her vicar prayed the Nunc Dimittis. Later various friends called to say their farewells. She is survived by a brother and two sisters.
Pat’s funeral will be held at St Mary’s Upton at 11am on 5 May. The vicar, the Rev Graeme Skinner, is preparing a book of condolences. Anyone may contribute, email graeme@stm-upton.org.uk If anyone has stories of Pat and how she influenced their lives, Graeme Skinner would be glad to receive it via email. Memorial services will also take place in Congo: in Aru on Wednesday and in Bunia on Saturday. Update - second uk serviceA second UK memorial service is to be held in Sussex simultaneously with the service in Wirral. The venue is St John's Church, Polegate, Sussex BN26 5BX (just a few minutes' walk from Polegate station). Date: Tuesday 5 May. Time: 11am. Contact: the Rev Peter Markby, 01444 870831 or petermarkby@googlemail.comUpdate - Diamonds in the DarknessA website has been launched -
Diamonds in the Darkness: learning about the whole of life with Pat Nickson - to tell the story of Pat's life and share her wisdom.
www.diamonds-in-the-darkness.co.uk