Think you’ve got problems? Perth midwife Cheryl Barich, wife of Record journalist Anthony Barich, paints a sobering picture of people who live in real poverty and writes about how caring for them changed her life. You may want to help.
It’s been six years now since my world was turned upside down. It was, quite literally, a life-changing experience. I left the comfort of my home in Australia to embark on a journey to a Catholic mission called Nityaseva in an inland, semi-arid region of India, for six months. In that time we delivered over 5,000 babies.
The district, Ahmednagar, is a farming region that had been plagued with drought for over 10 years. Due to the lack of rain and other related economic hardships, the people of this region struggle to attain even the basics of life: food, water, clothing and shelter.
When first entering the village Shevgoan where the mission was situated, we travelled via unsealed dirt roads. I was firstly struck by the small mud hut structures held together by flimsy ropes that were people’s homes. Most were no bigger than two square metres, housing, on average, five people each.
In the heat of the day the temperature often reached 50C in this inland area, and the villagers’ homes were unbearably hot, but still provided some shelter from the fierce sun. As I was so accustomed to fans and the luxury of air-conditioners in summer at home I marvelled at the villagers’ resilience in these conditions; they could often be seen hand-ploughing the fields with buffalos or cutting sugar cane by hand with a sickle.
Nityeseva was originally started by a German missionary Order in the 1960s and continues today run by Indian Sisters known as the Medical Mission Secular. The area the Sisters serve includes a staggering 104 villages. There are only 16 Sisters. The hospital is a 100-bed unit that caters for the poor, at no cost, and runs on Divine Providence.
It caters for anything from the relatively common Cobra snakebites, pregnancy and childbirth to people who need urgent life-saving operations. No one, for any reason, is refused treatment. I was privileged to care for what many would consider the outcasts of society including HIV, leprosy and tuberculosis patients. I found these patients particularly tragic, as most were young and poorly treated in a society which did not understand their diseases and their need for compassion.
Though I’m a nurse and midwife by profession, many of the patients I came across in the hospital were still shocking cases. I delivered babies who had physical deformities I would only ever have read about in textbooks. They were born in this condition often due to the pesticides and chemicals used in the farms which are so toxic and known to affect the unborn that they are banned in Australia. India has no such strict regulations.
I cared for many women who were found (in labour due to blood tests) to be HIV positive. Their delight at the birth of their newborn was tempered by their tragic diagnosis. I met and cared for women who were victims of domestic violence due to compounding factors – often-male unemployment and the resulting alcoholism, which is distressingly common.
Yet through all of this sadness, there was always an element of hope. Years before, the Sisters realised they needed to target the root problem of the cycle of poverty: education was the key. Due to the fact that females are most often the uneducated in India, the Sisters realised they needed to assist the village girls to be educated.
The village and its surrounding area had a population of approximately 50,000. A significant proportion were female children, incorporated into the farms as workers.
Gradually, through many battles, they convinced parents that their daughters would be better off educated. This meant having to pay for the girls’ education and provide a small stipend for the family as the girl progressed through school as a reward.
Today, through the generosity of benefactors, the Sisters are able to fund the school education of over 100 girls. But there are many more they wish they could fund. They then found that once the girls passed their Year 12 schooling they were unable to find further education for employment. Most of the girls wanted to remain living in the village with their families. This proved a huge problem. Many girls wanted to work in Nityaseva hospital as nurses but could not afford the nursing education and accommodation costs in the nearby city of Aurangabad.
The Sisters appealed to benefactors for funds to build a nursing school in the hospital grounds. The late Sheila Dyer, a relative of mine, very generously donated in her estate a large proportion of the funds needed for the building.
Just this year, after some major fundraising in Perth, including the Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Ministry office, a nursing school and boarding accommodation has been built. The official opening ceremony was in February.
The nursing school had to be government approved so that graduate nurses receive an official nursing qualification that is recognised throughout India. The cost of educating one of the village girls in nursing is $1,300 for the whole course, including the cost of close to two years’ board as live-in students, tuition and books. Though this may seem expensive, it also covers the cost to be registered as nurses through the government, which has to be accredited education. The Sisters are appealing to the WA public to help in the costs of the education, as the girls are unable to meet these costs. Some have saved a small amount of money for their education, but need assistance with the remaining costs.
Here are some of the girls’ stories:
Varsha Shinde – 17 years
Varsha comes from a small village. Her father died when she was young. Later, her mother married again. Varsha was brought up by her grandparents as her mother left her. Varsha has completed her Year 12 schooling and proved to be a bright student. Her family are too poor to fund any further education for her. She aspires to be a nurse one day and help her grandparents with her income.
Jyoti Kamble – 18 years
Jyoti’s father has a heart condition where he needs an artificial valve. Due to lack of finances they are unable to afford surgery, and he is unable to work. Her mother works as a labourer, not earning much. Her younger brother has left school in order to work and help the family. They have two other younger children and a small plot of land but, due to the drought and costs, are unable to cultivate it. Jyoti would like to study nursing and help her family financially.
Manisha Magar – 17 years
She lost her father 10 years ago and her mother five years ago. They both died of AIDS. Manisha has a younger brother who is 13 years old and is also HIV positive. He has been sponsored by Nityaseva hospital for antiretroviral therapy since December 2009. They have been cared for in orphanages. They both have been sponsored by the hospital for their education and Manisha has completed her Year 12 studies. She wishes to become a nurse one day and care for her brother.
Today: There is also a growing need in the area for an orphanage for young children.
The Sisters are currently housing 11 children, all under the age of four, all abandoned by their families due to reasons such as increasing poverty and terminal illnesses of the parents such as AIDS. They are desperately in need of more funds to adequately care for these children and hope to build accommodation for them.
I am not the same person who left for India six years ago. In my everyday work as a midwife in Armadale, and indeed in my every day life, I see people and situations with a whole new perspective.
To date, I have not found any situation as challenging as those I experienced in India.
The young woman faced with a diagnosis of HIV and her anxious concern for her children or parents who have to watch their child starve due to their inability to provide the basic necessities of life is something that I would never have thought about in my comfortable Western loungeroom, or even the hospital I work in which is equipped with every available technology for best-practice, yet which these poor nurses in India would only dream of – if that.
I know now just how privileged I am to be born and live in Australia and have all my most basic needs met – and then some. Whenever I am tempted with self-pity or lacking generosity, the Holy Spirit reminds me of everything I have in abundance, compared with the unfortunate people who suffer from poverty that I encountered.
Nityaseva Mission is seeking further funds for continuing projects. Prayers are always required but if you can help, please contact me on cheryllyra@hotmail.com or 0400 639 172.