Bringing the love of Christ and giving
hope to the most marginalized and outcast of society, especially lepers
and AIDS patients in India.
This is the mission of a group of Sisters of
Cluny, who for over 30 years have managed a community about 8km from
the small village of Tindivanam, in the diocese of Pondicherry.
Here,
Sister Cecily tells AsiaNews, "we welcome all those rejected by society and by the authorities and try to give them help and dignity as human beings."
Founded
in 1981, the Sisters of Cluny is one of 1,000 communities in India
dealing with leprosy. Most of the center's guests are Dalits, the
"untouchables" of society.
"Today - says the religious - there are 13
people living with HIV / AIDS and 16 leprosy patients. Among these, some
also suffer from tuberculosis. Before coming to our center, they were
begging on the street because they had been abandoned by their family
and society."
For some time, the Sisters of Cluny have also given a home
to 35 children from families with leprosy, and 15 orphans whose parents
have died of AIDS.
In the hostel, the nuns organize training
courses of various kinds, and teach patients how to sew, paint, make
cards and other small handicrafts. "This way - said Sister Cecily -
patients feel that they are a gift from God, and that they can
contribute to society."
Although leprosy has been eradicated in
many parts of the world, even today thousands of people suffer from this
disease. About half of all leprosy cases are located in India.