Twenty-three nuns live a cloistered life behind the walls of Santa Catalina Monastery in the heart of Arequipa, Peru. These nuns of the Dominican Order spend their days divided between prayer and religious labors, including making the host for the Basilica Cathedral and creating handicrafts. While the oldest active nun, Sister Consuelo de Jesus, has been a member of the cloister for 61 years and the youngest novice, Sister Heidi Marjorie, has lived with the order for a mere three months, both women have devoted their lives to God through service and prayer.
WhiteCityStories.org was built in partnership with Charlotte Sister Cities and UNC-Chapel Hill to educate North Carolinians about the lives of their Peruvian counterparts . I had the opportunity to travel to Peru’s second largest city and work with multimedia producer Andrea Ballocchi, who produced the audio in this piece, to tell the story of two of the monastery’s nuns. Radio and multimedia producer Nick Vidinsky produced the English voice-overs.
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