Donation of Ambulance in Pithora

How the Anjali family helps saving lives in Pithora

On February 2, 2025, the Sisters of the Indian Province had their newly built Anjali Hospital in Pithora, Raipur, blessed and dedicated. As a gesture of goodwill, Mr. Anil, the contractor responsible for constructing the hospital building, presented the Sisters with an ambulance to serve the hospital’s needs.

When Mr. Anil handed over the key to Sister M. Johncy, the Provincial Superior of the Indian Province, he was very moved. In his address, he shared both his painful memories and his joy:

“I present this ambulance for the use of the hospital, for its patients, in memory of my beloved parents.  When I was a young man, my family was involved in a tragic car accident. I vividly remember the incident which occurred just four days before my wedding. My parents were severely injured. Although we made every effort to get an ambulance to take my parents to the hospital on time, we failed.  We stood helplessly around my father as he died.  A short time later, my mother was taken to the nearest hospital, which was 80 kilometers away from the accident site. However, she also died a few months later.

Through this haunting experience, I realized how vulnerable our human life is. I also witnessed several other critical cases in the hospital, how people suffer when timely care is not available in critical situations. The pain of that loss remained, a pain I carry with me to this day. I would not have lost my father if an ambulance had been available on time…

Now, standing here, offering you the very thing that might have saved my father, my heart is full of painful memory and yet full of joy. When I began working on this hospital project, my family and I made a heartfelt decision—to gift an ambulance to your hospital, with the hope of saving as many lives as possible. What happened to my father, and the pain endured by my mother, should never happen to another victim of an accident.  We are happy to be able to do this. To purchase this vehicle, the money is raised as a joint effort of my family. My children even spared every bit of their pocket money to raise this amount.”

The Sisters of our Indian Province and of our International Congregation are deeply grateful to Mr. Anil and his family for this wonderful and life-saving donation.

With the establishment of this hospital in Pithora, a lifelong dream of the pioneer missionaries, Sister M. Vulmara Hannöver and Sister M. Gerburg Aufderheide, the Sisters of the Indian Province and all our Sisters of the Congregation who have been involved in the planning and care of the Indian Mission has come true.  It was 52 years ago that Sister M. Vulmara left for India and the following year, 1974, when Sister M. Gerburg arrived in Pithora, they had to start from scratch.

Life was very hard for both of them.  The people in the village were very poor. If someone in the village was sick, they would ask the Sisters to give them some tablets against fever, malaria, typhoid, scabies… In those days, childbirth was often done at home. If it was a complicated case, they would help the baby to be born… This experience must have led them to set up a small dispensary, in a very humble way…

Inaugurating the newly built structure, Anjali Hospital, in her address to the Sisters, Sister M. Margarete Ulager, our General Superior stated: “Recalling all that has happened here during these fifty-two years of the life of the Indian Province, dear Sisters, I feel humbled to stand before you. You all have accomplished so much, and you have always tried to find God’s will within the reality of your daily life. What came into being out of the humble beginnings of Sister M. Gerburg, more than 50 years ago, is incredible. Sister M. Gerburg, you made India your home, and at the same time, you became Amma, a Mother for so many people: their nurse, their midwife, their teacher, provider, their comfort, life-saver and their consolation.”

The Indian province has nearly a hundred members serving in 17 different locations across India. Guided by the vision of Father Christopher Bernsmeyer, our founder in 1844, the Sisters carry forward his mission of rebuilding lives. They continue to serve as health professionals, teachers, and social activists – in striving to being and becoming Christ’s Healing Presence.  

Sister M. Lima Arackal