Amelia Barbieri dating history

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Amelia Barbieri (15 November 1918 – 20 August 2016) was an Italian nurse, midwife, and lay missionary. After a career in Italy, in 1983 rather than retire she moved to Rwanda. She worked as a nurse in Rugabano and then founded a maternity center in Shyorongi. Later she moved to Byumba where she cared for abandoned children. In 1992, she founded an orphanage in the village of Muhura, in the Gatsibo District of the Eastern Province. The orphans were endangered during the Rwandan genocide but Barbieri refused to leave without them. With help from humanitarian Maria Pia Fanfani they were temporarily moved to Uganda and then relocated to Verona, Italy. Her dedication to the children's welfare was honored by President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, who conferred upon her the distinction Commendatore al Merito della Repubblica (Commander of Merit of the Republic) in 1995. When the genocide ended Barbieri returned to Rwanda and ran the orphanage until 2008. Because of failing health, she brought in assistants and worked with them until 2012 when her condition forced her to return to Italy.