Feature Article
This is a feature article that was published in Vital Health Magazine, Perth 2001.
Maggie Sister
To hear Maggie Nolan speak about her passion, her experience and her determination, goosebumps would surface on your skin.
Her tale of work and travels in India ignites awe. She cannot be classed as the tourist seeking the poverty experience, or a journey off the beaten track. She has found her calling, and made it her life, and quietly, she goes about her purpose, with love and discipline in her heart. She emits a sense of achievement, with no need for trumpets or heralding. What she has achieved is its own reward.
Maggie Sister, as she has come to be known by the people she serves, lives in Capel a small community in the south west of WA, at idyllic Peppermint Grove Beach. A trained nurse, she has devoted her life to helping people in the region of Orissa in India. Recently awarded the Order of Australia Medal, the word volunteer falls short of describing this passionate woman.
All her life, she has had a persistent urge to visit India. This dream led to her first and only intended visit in 1989. She remembers her initial culture shock arriving at 3am and traveling by motorbike to her destination. During her 6 week stay, by chance she had the opportunity to visit the New Hope Leprosy Trust that a friend had told her about.
She was impressed by the work begin done, but shocked at the conditions that the minimal staff endured, and the lack of medical equipment and resources. Much work needed to follow and funding was greatly sought. Maggie returned to Australia with a persistent voice in her head, that she was to return and devote herself to aiding the New Hope Leprosy Trust. After her own personal battle with cancer, and with her own funding, she traveled the difficult journey back to Orissa to find where her place would be.
New Hope Leprosy Trust was started in 1985 by eight young Indian men, all children of Leprosy patients. Initially with some help from the Salvation Army, the trust grew. The Indian Government contributes some funding for the treatment for Leprosy in the form of drugs and training, but action to put the resources into place is lacking, with a tendency for some to turn a blind eye to an old problem. The Indians of New Hope Leprosy Trust are actively helping other Indians. In essence, they are rehabilitating the lives of others through health services and the education of renewed life skills. Begging is no longer a way of life for these people.
Since that first visit, she has returned 12 times, usually for 2 or 3 month periods. Developments that Maggie Sister has worked on include the building of a solar-powered clinic and improved education regarding nutrition. One of the greatest gifts that Australia gave was immunization through Rotary.
“You can’t change the world.” Maggie says. “You can’t change the poverty but you can change the quality of their life.” In Rhugaburi, in a corner of India, Maggie has improved life for countless individuals. “Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change a small part of the world.”
With this in mind, Maggie sees many people leave New Hope cured, with no trace of having Leprosy, find employment and begin their own family.
More recently, Maggie began working with AIDS patients. She recalls a day when staff at the small office in Visak opened the door to find a girl of 7 years, on the doorstep. A note was pinned to her from a Worldwide charity to say that she had AIDS and Tuberculosis, and that they did not want this problem. As the problem of Leprosy eases, the AIDS epidemic has been growing. Now the Trust has expanded from assisting and renewing life for Leprosy sufferers to benefiting AIDS patients, railway children, elderly people and the homeless. 200 people are fed daily from one project in Jan Jhur Colony, at a small railway station, though recently record rains devastated the area. Presently, the vision is to establish a Hospice and resettle the villages of Jhan Jhur Colony in Orissa.
Maggie was able to travel back to New Hope this year with the assistance of the STA Travel Trust. After several attempts at requesting funding, Maggie was overwhelmed to be told that the STA Travel Trust would contribute to two trips back to Orissa to continue her work. This fund was put in place to enable people like Maggie to explore a voluntary role in countries such as India. Other volunteers to benefit from the program include Christine Tan, a student of Medicine at The University of Western Australia. She traveled to Papua New Guinea in January of this year for a period of 4 weeks, with the goal to find rare field experience and to improve her medical skills.
A book about Maggie’s life has been published as a non-profit publication, “The Ring of Capital L”, which tells the story of New Hope and Maggie’s life, where all proceeds go directly to New Hope. No donations made to New Hope go towards Maggie’s fare and expenses travelling to and from India.
Donations to New Hope Leprosy Trust are gladly accepted, and an ingenious way has been developed for you to contribute. Often, people have gold or silver rings put away somewhere simply because they don’t know what to do with them. A positive way that you can put them to good use, is through donating them to New Hope so that their work continues to make a difference. “Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change a small part of the world.” For donations, please write to Maggie at PO Box 47, Capel WA 6271.