Fighting hostility, wild elephants and diseases, Sisters of the Handmaids of Mary continue their pioneering works in a remote village in Guwahati archdiocese.

They came to Nagrijuli five yeas ago following an invitation from Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati.

The mission under Father Nazarene Acharya, the first Catholic priest to live here, had been facing opposition since his arrival in 2004. Some 300 people rose against the 68-year-old priest, asking him to return, Archbishop Menamparampil recalled.

But the priest “was not the type to turn back easily. He stayed on. Because he knew people would not be angry after certain limits,” the Salesian prelate added.

The village already had a few Catholic families attended by priests from neighboring villages. They and the visiting priests faced continued hostility from a section of villagers.

“People used to ask us to return the land we bought. They once burned down the temporary school we built,” the archbishop said. He said police intervention and security slowly helped them establish themselves.

“Today we are seeing the fruits” of the hard work of the missioners, said the prelate.

The mission center now covers 35 villages and includes a Catholic school, hostel and dispensary serving some 1,770 Catholics and thousands of other villagers.

Primary health care center established

On March 14, Archbishop Menamparampil blessed and opened a 20-bed primary health care center, a gift from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

The turnaround for the mission began with the arrival of the Handmaids of Mary in 2005. Despite not having a place for them to live, the nuns started a health care mission.

Sister Mary Mathew, a 65-year-old nun, has treated over 43,000 people in the past five years, says Father Alex Kalayathinal, who succeeded the pioneering priest.

Sister Mathew recalled the nuns opened their health center under a tree “because there were no houses even to rent. We stayed in a makeshift tent and stored the medicines there. Wild elephants’ disturbance was frequent. They destroyed our tent twice, but left the medicines intact.”

Sister Mathew, a medical nurse does all the diagnoses, nursing and medicine administration. Father Kalayathinal says the nun’s hands “are something special. People have great faith in her.”

The priest said the diocese provides medicines. Sister Mathew also has “a lot of contacts. So we also receive a lot of medicines from the government.”

“People now have faith in us,” the priest said, adding that a year ago they also got funding from an overseas Catholic agency to build roads here.

The nuns’ arrival has helped reduce child and adult mortality rates, observed Mary Immaculate Sister Thelma, who works in a neighboring parish.

Kumar Canuhan, a Hindu, who attended the March 14 function, said his community is “very happy the Church has provided the facility. We have been happy with the services of the sisters in the health center from the very beginning.”

Source: Nuns pioneer mission in remote Indian village (UCAN)

Related posts:

1. Village exposure boosts Religious’ faith
2. Korean nuns care for Bangladeshis’ health
3. SJ Sisters guide village leaders in Sagar
4. ‘Medical’ nuns move into villages
5. Church mourns Jesuit village reformer