India’s Miao Diocese dedicates its hospital to Mother Teresa

The Diocese of Miao in extreme north-east India’s Arunachal Pradesh state on Thursday paid homage to the Catholic Church’s newest saint, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, by blessing and dedicating its first  hospital to her.  At the ceremony, a statue of St. Teresa of Calcutta was installed at the entrance to the hospital.  Named after the two French Missionaries,  Frs. Nicolas Krick and Augustin Bourry of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, who were martyred in Somme Village of Arunachal Pradesh on their way to Tibet in the year 1852, the Krick and Bourry Memorial (KBM) Hospital is in Injan village of Changlang District of Arunachal Pradesh.  In his remarks at the blessing,  Local Circle Officer Mr. Rai said it is a huge blessing for the people in the district and in the east of the state. 

The 25-bed hospital was under construction for the last four years and the process was slow due to lack of funds and unsuitable weather conditions. The hospital is well equipped with latest tools needed for tests and diagnosis.  The facility is being be run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, whose convent was opened on 14 April.  Sr. Nirmala, the lab technician of the hospital said, “Most of the tools today depend heavily on electricity. Though we have a generator as a backup, unsteady power supply may be a concern in the coming days. We hope it improves.”  

“Mother Teresa and Mercy go hand in hand,” said Salesian Bishop George Pallipparambil of Miao, explaining the reason behind dedicating the hospital to St. Teresa of Calcutta.  He noted that the only place in Arunachal Pradesh the new saint visited was Borduria village in Tirap District on August 2, 1993.  He said Miao Diocese felt greatly blessed in celebrating the Sept. 4 canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta by honouring her with this first hospital of the Diocese.  "There is a lot of public demand for a hospital in the area as the nearest hospital is 120 km away in Assam's Tinsukia. No other medical facility is functional nearby," Bishop George said at the dedication ceremony of the facility that is aimed at serving a population of four million people..

The tribals living in the remote Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh will not have to travel over a 100 km into neighbouring Assam for treatment as this medical facility will be a huge blessing for the people around Miao, Mr. Lungphi, the man who donated the land for the building of this hospital said at the dedication ceremony.   A lot of work still needs to be done but the hospital will provide basic facility for treatment of diseases like TB, malaria and jaundice which are common in this part of the north-eastern state.  "People die there not due to some complicated health conditions but because of very ordinary diseases which are curable. Due to geographical distance, no medical attention is available to patients when they need it," the Bishop said.

Besides nurses from Kerala, they will have two doctors to be available 24/7 at the facility. The Catholic Church also has plans to start a training centre for nurses for availability of manpower.  Also on the cards is a volunteer programme for youngsters who will be trained as village health workers.  The hospital will be manned by Rev. Sr. Dr. Rosetom, a veteran gynecologist from Kerala, Dr. Bhattacharjee from West Bengal, and a team of trained and qualified nurses led by Sr. Elizabth.  "Their task will be to identify the sick and bring him under medical supervision," the Bishop said.  After the first Catholic bachelor degree college in east Arunachal Pradesh in 2014 in Namsi District, this first hospital is another landmark event in the 10 year history of the young Diocese of Miao.