Umarpada community, creative mission

 Sublime act of charity – health care

We Sisters at Umarpada started a mobile dispensary in order to reach out to the sick, neglected and vulnerable people of this area. We work in 20 villages with 20 women health workers. The villages are far from the city, so the people find difficult to go to the hospitals to treat their ailments. Sisters of the community kept looking for ways and means so as to do something for these people. With the support of the benefactor Mrs. Addi we could implement our plan. We have covered up 14 villages, providing health check up and general treatment. Around 600 patients benefited from the mobile dispensary.

  

While implementing this plan we motivated the health workers to be effective in their family visits and to improve access to health care. They also make the people aware of the benefits of healthcare. Health workers have become more enthusiastic and energetic to carry out their responsibilities. 

Some patients with hyper tension, with hemi paralysis were referred to our hospital at Dediapada, for Palliative care and treatment. Others, who do not have facilities to get admitted, move to Umarpada dispensary for the follow up. It is noticeable that the number of patients is increasing; they are grateful and happy as they find healing to their ailments. As a community we come together time to time and discuss more ways to reach out to these downtrodden. 

 

To teach the ignorant, visit the sick, help the poor, clothe the naked… these are the works of love and charity to the neighbours, Letter 99:3. This is our inspiration to keep helping the people who are sick and alleviate their illness and bring them comfort. Hence we try to promote health and holistic care to them.

Sr. Pauline Noronha

Umarpada community 

New mission in Vijayarai

When one door gets closed, God opens the other…

The Community of Jeevan Dhara which is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India has been empowering the women of the surrounding area since 27 years providing them job opportunities especially to those who struggle for their daily living. The Apostolate comprises of three Units with a number of 40 women in each unit, who produce 800 to 1000 stabilizers for V- Guard Company. These women are illiterate and come from a poor background but they master the skills and attain their livelihood. 

In 2023 February, the V-Guard company closed one of our Units Little Flower Women Charitable Society due to low marketing of the stabilizers. The sisters didn’t lose hope but kept looking for other ways of providing employment to these illiterate women. Inspired by the thought of our Fr. Founder: Wherever I see an open door, there I will enter…when God calls me, there is nothing I do not assert and go through thick and thin, however terrible and unpleasant… Letter 54:2, sisters moved forward and plunged into a new activity sewing uniforms for different schools and other civil dresses and women take benefit from this activity.

Let us continue persevering in our faithfulness to the Lord and his mission, may the Lord bless our efforts in empowering the women and their families who struggle for their livelihood. 

Sr. Celine Menezes

Jeevan Dhara Community, Vijayarai

 

Golden jubilee of Sr. Pulcheria

    Golden jubilee 

Sr. Pulcheria Parmar celebrated the Golden Jubilee of her Religious Consecration in the Carmel family in the Community of Sagbara, Gujarat, India. Bishop Sebastio Mascarenhas, Archbishop Stany Fernandez, together with 12 concelebrants solemnly celebrated the Eucharist. Relatives and Missionary Carmelites from different communities participated. For us in India, it was a day of thanksgiving for the gift of Sr.'s vocation. Pulcheria and her dedication to the vineyard of the Lord, especially in the fields of education and pastoral ministry. In his sermon, the bishop highlighted Jesus' question to Peter: “Do you love me? This same question resonates in the life of Sr. Pulcheria. Her love for Jesus and her fidelity in these fifty years of her religious consecration keep her vital and passionate for the Kingdom of God. Today all the Missionary Carmelites of the San Francisco Javier Province, India, are filled with gratitude and immense joy for the precious gift of the vocation of Sr. Pulcheria in the family of Carmel at the service of the Church.

Province of Saint Francis Xavier, India