Description
Sisters of Mokama is proof that faith and courage does move mountainsAbraham Verghese author of Cutting for Stone
The neverbeforetold story of six intrepid Kentucky nuns their journey to build a hospital in the poorest state in India and the Indian nurses whose lives would never be the same
New York Times editor Jyoti Thottams mother was part of an extraordinary group of Indian women Born in 1946 a time when few women dared to leave their house without the protection of a man she left home by herself at just fifteen years old and traveled to Biharan impoverished and isolated state in northern India that had been one of the bloodiest regions of Partitionin order to train to be a nurse under the tutelage of the determined and resourceful Appalachian nuns who ran Nazareth Hospital Like Thottams mothers journey the hospital was a radical undertaking it was run almost entirely by women who insisted on giving the highest possible standard of care to everyone who walked through its doors regardless of caste or religion
Fascinated by her mothers story Thottam set out to discover the full story of Nazareth Hospital which had been established in 1947 by six nuns from Kentucky With no knowledge of Hindi and the awareness that they would likely never see their families again the sisters had traveled to the small town of Mokama determined to live up to the pioneer spirit of their order founded in the rough hills of the Kentucky frontier A year later they opened the doors of the hospital soon they began taking in young Indian women as nursing students offering them an opportunity that would change their lives One of those women of course was Thottams mother
In Sisters of Mokama Thottam draws upon twenty years worth of research to tell this inspiring story for the first time She brings to life the hopes struggles and accomplishments of these ordinary womenboth American and Indianwho succeeded against the odds during the tumult and trauma of the years after World War II and Partition Pain and loss were everywhere for the women of that time but the collapse of the old orders provided the women of Nazareth Hospital with an openinga chance to create for themselves lives that would never have been possible otherwise
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.