India: The Medical Missions



 

Sister M. Sophia, Provincial Superior, leads her novices on visits every Christmas to local leper villages. An amusing anecdote from this province is that Mother Theresa's Sisters will send young women to our Franciscan congregation when they find out that they are not strong enough to serve as Sisters of Charity in her Order. Because of special training needed to work in a leper colony our Sisters have not accepted this kind of full-time apostolate yet.



 



In 1994 our Indian Sisters were given permission by the Sacred Congregation for Religious to return to wearing the
traditional sari in place of our western garb. The saffron color of their saris is recognized all over India as a color indicating
religious persons. The distinctive brown stripe
identifies them as Dillingen Franciscans



 





The Sisters run simple hospitals for the poor in remote
areas where they bring healing and hope. Before these missions were established many more persons died every year from
treatable illnesses and injuries.



 




When someone is ill or injured they are typically
brought to the clinics on this style of home-made litters.
Family members or friends must often carry them
for miles over rough paths and roads.

India: The School Missions


"Diversity" is maybe the best word to describe our Sisters' approach to education in India for the past 25 years. In Bilaspur, a large city where the school enrollment is 1000, they serve in modern buildings, have computerized classrooms and many other conveniences. Ameri, on the other hand, is a village where the children have no books or materials with which to work, class is often held on the bare ground outside. The class rooms in these villages have bare dirt floors, sealed with cow dung, on which the children sit on mats.


 

Most of the children our Sisters teach are Hindus. Sister Sophia, Superior of the Province of India, tells us that in India everyone is religious. Every home, no matter how poor, has a room (or at least a space) where you will find an altar. She goes on to say that wherever Christian and Hindu or Moslem families are living next to each other, they expect each other to fulfill their religious duties. Whenever a Hindu woman sees that her Catholic neighbor did not get up an go to Mass as usual, she will probably ask why without hesitation; and if the reason is not a good one, she'll tell her very directly to get up and go because the community needs each one to stay close to their source of strength, wisdom and holiness. She says that outside of scattered fanatical groups, the people of India are largely ecumenical in their ability to live together.

 

Public transportation:

In the larger cities
the children of wealthier families
come to school by rickshaw

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