Sr. Valsa Sebastian
Presentation Sisters
India
Karanje is a small Adivasi village consisting
of 5 small hamlets in the Mahaarashtra State on
the West Coast of India. It is a remote village
about 5 km from the main road. People have to
commute on foot and there is no public transport
in the area. 95% of the people have not attended
school. The only primary health centre is 5
kilometres from the hamlets. There are no
employment opportunities available in the
vicinity and the people have to migrate in
search of employment.
The Presentation Sisters have been working in
the area for 8 years providing a wide range of
services. At first they were using a room in
their own house as a makeshift dispensary. In
this space the sisters have been catering for
500 people a month. Patients attend with fever,
eye problems, malaria, scabies, gastric problems
and jaundice.
With help from IMRS a centre is being built,
which can be used as a dispensary and also for
training. This project was selected through a
consultation process with the local people. To
have a chance of receiving better medical
attention they were clear on the need for a
dispensary. They also saw that such a dispensary
would give them a space where basic training
could be carried out in the areas of health
care, and community development.
Another
need that the sisters saw was the education of
children who because of house hold chores were
deprived of schooling. ‘We knew we had to do
something about this,' says Sr. Valsa Sebastian,
an Indian Presentation Sr. and trained teacher.
‘To respond to this need we began night schools
in seven villages for these children which are
well attended. We also had to get local people
involved so we went out searching for local
teachers, expressing the need of the hour and
showing the importance of an educated society.
Thankfully a great number saw the importance and
responded to the cry of the sisters for
uplifting the needy and the downtrodden.' With
this response seven night schools came into
being.
Sr. Valsa is encouraged by what has been
achieved but sees huge challenges ahead. ‘The
need is great, the field vast, many such schools
need to be opened - millions need to be
educated. More teachers need to be trained and
given salaries but lack of funds prevent the
sisters from going ahead.'