Mangaluru: Quoting Saint Mother Teresa, Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one. It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. The Father Muller Charitable Institutions (FMCI), Mangaluru, who believe in comforting and healing everyone – rich and poor patients alike – are going a step forward by providing their services to those affected by the floods in Karnataka’s Kodagu district and Kerala.
We are all aware that Kerala and Kodagu has received some of the most savage rainfall in a century that has led to the deaths of hundreds of people and has left lakhs of homeless. Both in Kerala and the Kodagu district, battling the floods and landslides have plunged them deeper into crisis, with hospitals facing a shortage of oxygen and fuel stations running dry. Rescue efforts have been progressing on a war footing now, and many organizations and volunteers are helping in providing aid to these flood-affected victims in both Kerala and Kodagu.
Here in Mangaluru, many Keralites who are either students studying in various educational institutions, including many Keralite students enrolled with FMCI, or entrepreneurs/professional, are also facing a terrible situation as their family and friends have been affected by the floods. True to its motto, ‘Heal and Comfort’, FMCI has time and again set an example by bringing health care to the suffering humanity. FMCI, in collaboration with Father Muller Medical College and Father Muller Homeopathic Medical College Hospital, has launched ‘Muller Care’- a campaign for flood relief in Kerala and Kodagu.
A team of 35 Healthcare Professionals including Doctors, Nurses and Nursing Aids, departed to the flood ravaged areas of Kodagu in Karnataka, Wayanad in Kerala, and the surrounding regions to extended their helping hand. The team will be reaching out to those in distress in the medical relief camps for three consecutive days, by providing them with Medical services and other relief items. The healthcare team will also be treating patients afflicted by various communicable diseases and will also be disbursing medical supplies to the relief camps at the location. An FMCI bus full of Healthcare Professionals along with a truck carrying the required necessities left the FMCI campus at 4 pm, after being blessed by the newly appointed Bishop of the Mangalore Diocese, Monsignor Peter Paul Saldanha.
After blessing the Healthcare Professionals and the Bus/Truck with Holy Water, Fr Peter Saldanha said, “As said in the Bible where Jesus said ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me,’ here we have a team of dedicated, committed and hardworking Healthcare Professionals of FMCI, who have stepped forward as Good Samaritans to provide care and comfort to the suffering people in the flood-affected areas in Kerala and Kodagu. It’s sad to note that thousands of people are still perched on trees and rooftops, waiting to be rescued. Water has started entering relief camps. This is the first time that Kerala and Kodagu have seen such a disastrous monsoon. And in this time of the hour, it is a very kind and generous gesture of these young healthcare professionals of Fr Mullers who have always believed in the motto Comfort and Heal to go and help these people. May God guide and protect these youngsters when they are on a mission to help and save others.”
Fr Richard Coelho-Director of FMCI briefed about the Muller Care project, and Fr Ajith Menezes, the Administrator of Father Muller Medical College delivered the welcome address and the vote of thanks.
