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Sister Marilyn Lacey surrounded in Sudan by those she helps through Mercy Beyond Borders. (Courtesy photo)
April 12, 2018
Mercy Sister Marilyn Lacey was honored March 18 as part of The Canales Project’s “Hear Her Song” awards campaign. The project’s website called the evening “a musical celebration of extraordinary women.” Other honorees included former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Sister Marilyn is being honored for her work with Mercy Beyond Borders, an organization that provides education, assistance and hope to women and children in South Sudan and Haiti.
“Isn’t it strange that, by disappearing into refugee camps to work with displaced women whose names the world will never know, I find myself in the company of famous women,” said Sister Marilyn in a statement. “Insofar as ‘Hear Her Song’ can sing for all those unsung women, my heart rejoices.”
Mercy Beyond Borders provides critical resources to women and children in South Sudan and Haiti displaced by violence, war, oppression, environmental degradation and poverty.
Sister Marilyn founded MBB in 2008 after visiting South Sudan and witnessing hardship and poverty. The organization expanded operations into Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake there in 2010. Today MBB provides hope and assistance to more than 1,400 women and girls annually.
The Canales Project was created to give voice to issues of identity and culture through the arts and conversation their website said. Project founder Carla Canales is a well-known soprano currently serving as this year’s artist in residence at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. She has sung at venues including Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center; Carnegie Hall; and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.