India - Nirmala Hospital

Project name: Nirmala Hospital
Status: in progress
Start date: 2005
End date: to be determined
Budget: undetermined
Project initiator: Sister Clara
Sponsor: Graziella Zanoletti
Contact and information: go to the contact page
Donations: go to the donations page

On the 26th December 2004 a tsunami hit India, killing thousands of persons and leaving many of others without homes or means of making a living. In spring of the next year Dr Aldo Lo Curto went to the Kanyakumari District in India to better understand what had happened. He was touched by the work done at the Nirmala Hospital, in Karungal, to provide urgently needed first aid to the victims of the tsunami, despite the difficult conditions they worked in.

Having read Dr Aldo Lo Curto's report on the local situation, Graziella Zanoletti provided the funds necessary to buy 2 boats for the local villages and 60 mattresses for the beds in the Nirmala Hospital. She also funded the creation of a Holistic Health Center, a project initiated by one of the sisters working at the hospital. This center is aimed especially at the poor, to help them enjoy better health. The activities of the center are wide ranging, to answer the needs of 2000 local families: educational classes on HIV/Aids, values and self defense; yoga, stress and grief management courses; children's camps; prayer therapy; counseling and home visits.

By funding the installation of air conditioning in the hospital we helped aid Sister-surgeon Dr. Valsa who previously operated in very hard conditions, using a simple ventilator while local temperature is always around 35°C and humidity at 95%. In 2008, we donated a solar water heater in order to further battle these harsh conditions. 

Since 2005, Dr Aldo Lo Curto has visited the Nirmala Center annually and he keeps us well informed of their progress.

To read Dr Aldo Lo Curto's latest report, please click here (PDF).

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