by William Gomes

The sisters of the contemplative missionary movement of Fr. de Foucauld search slums for needy and sick. Young Muslim mother: "With medicines, physiotherapy and their love, my daughter is getting better."

 Dhaka (AsiaNews) - The sisters of contemplative missionary movement of Fr. de Foucauld, known as the "blue nuns", are running a clinic that provides medical care for those most in need of all religions, in the local church of De Mazenod. They also help children with disabilities with medication and physiotherapy. For the poor in the capital, Dhaka, the centre has become a place of hope and healing.

Jesmin is a young Muslim mother of 22. Sanjida her daughter, now six years old, was paralyzed at the age of one after a violent form of dysentery. The woman tells AsiaNews her daughter’s story: "My husband is a very poor day labourer, and we are not able to give our children the necessary care, because it costs too much. We took her to hospital, but they gave her the wrong treatment. In our society, people hate my daughter because she is disabled. Some have even said that our family is cursed by Allah because they did something wrong". Jesmin explaines that they need to give Sanjida very expensive medicine three times a day. And the sisters shave been providing it on a regular basis for almost four years: "While most people will take away from my child, these sisters love her as I love her. Thanks to medication, physiotherapy and their love, Sanjida is improving. It's a miracle! And it's a great life lesson for me, I try to learn from them how to love unconditionally, and be a good mother. Now, I serve as a volunteer in the center. "

Sister Emilia, an Italian sister, tells AsiaNews that the majority of people who come to their clinic are living in the slums in surrounding areas. The sisters do not wait for the people to come to them, but they themselves seek the poorest, especially the sick: "We don’t want to only distribute medicines, but we want to share love with them. And in doing so, we feel that we share with them the love of Christ. We take on a little 'burden of their suffering, we are living witnesses of Christ who came to them, pray for the healing of their bodies and their minds, and that they may have a new life. "

The Contemplative missionary movement of Fr de Foucauld was founded by Father Andrea Gasparino in Cuneo in 1951. The Movement has 40 fraternities in the world, and is present in 11 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. In Bangladesh, there is a community in Dhaka and two in Khulna.

• Bangladesh
• missionary
• movement
• charles
• de
• foucauld
• poor
• sick
• help
• aid
• medicines
• muslim
• christian