CNEWA

Year of Sisters: Compassion for Those With AIDS

In sprawling cities and tiny villages across India, millions of people endure lives of struggle and abuse.

Name: Sister Rosily Karuthedath
Order: Nirmala Dasi Sisters
Facility: Grace Home
Location: Peringadoor village, Kerala, India

In sprawling cities and tiny villages across India, millions of people endure lives of struggle and abuse. For the poorest of the poor who also live with HIV and AIDS, that struggle can be totally overwhelming.

Sister Rosily Karuthedath knows how much they suffer. In the village of Peringadoor, she and four other Nirmala Dasi Sisters have run an oasis of hope called Grace Home since 1999. On a slender budget bolstered with funds from Catholic Near East Welfare Association, the sisters provide shelter, food and medical support for sixty-five HIV infected patients, including thirty children.

Each resident’s life story is different, but all share a common thread. They’ve been rejected — often violently — by nearly everyone. They’ve been set adrift with nowhere else to turn. “A patient called Matthew came here with HIV,” Sister Rosily recalls. “He was in a state of depression and physically very weak.”

Although the sisters aren’t equipped to provide full medical services, they gently administered medication and IV fluids. In time, Matthew was strong enough to be taken to the regional Medical College for more intensive treatment. “Day by day, he became better,” the sister says. “Now he is able to help others.”

In a country where poverty and public ignorance about HIV run deep, Sister Rosily and the other sisters are painfully aware they can only do so much.

But for the poor and ill who arrive at Grace Home? The door is always open. And the caring sisters are always inside. “We believe in giving acceptance and dignity to the patients, even if they are socially isolated and discriminated against,” Sister Rosily says. “We attempt to fill the emptiness experienced by the patients with love, concern and care.”

As a CNEWA donor, you can help them continue their good work. As the sisters spend each day doing all they can, they can use a helping hand from you.

Thousands of sisters. Millions of small miracles.

To support the good work of sisters throughout CNEWA’s world, click here.

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