Sister Yuliana lives with two other sisters in Moerwijk: ‘I have a prayer corner in my bedroom’

‘I grew up on the island of Flores in Indonesia. From our house you looked out on a rice field. My family was Catholic. My uncle is a pastor and as a little girl I met many sisters. They went into the villages to help the sick and the poor. I liked that they did something good for others everywhere. I also wanted to travel the world and I thought: if you get married, your life will be limited.

I was 22 when I entered. I took three vows: obedience, poverty, and chastity. You don’t become a nurse overnight. You first have the novitiate, and after two years you take the temporary vows that you renew every year. Only when you think you want to stay in the monastery permanently, do you take the perpetual vows. It..