A group of nuns, who have been trained to work in big hospitals, say they have found even more fulfillment serving poor Hindu villagers.

The Medical Mission Sisters’ work in villages started in 1980 when three nuns from the south came to Selud village in central India and lived with a Hindu family.
Later the sisters bought a plot of land and built a cottage in the village.

“We felt our big hospitals don’t serve the poor,” says Sister Augustine, who has been working in the village for the last 10 years.

The nuns, who work among tribal people, former “untouchables” of the caste system and other underprivileged groups, have formed 135 self-help groups for women and farmers in 56 villages.

The villagers are able to manage the groups and “we can now move to other places,” said another nun, Sister Annu Thomas.

The congregation owned nine major hospitals in India, but gave up the ownership and management of six of them. “Many of our sisters are now working in villages,” said Sister Thomas.

After 30 years of “experimentation,” the sisters have found that their mission is “rewarding,” said one nun, Sister Theramma.

The idea for the village mission arose after the congregation in 1967 "rediscovered" their original charism "to be the active presence of Christ, the healer.”

The nuns also work with other groups such as the Indian Network of Action Groups, the Delhi-based National Alliance of Women’s Organization, the Catholic Health Association of India and the Raipur archdiocesan social work center.

The nuns, who began to wear the sari in 1967, are also among the first Religious in India to wear secular dress.

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IC11037.1617