By Nirmala Carvalho
Mumbai, March 11, 2020: The Missionaries of Charity nuns plan to close all houses to visitors and volunteers.
“The health of our children comes first,” Sister Terese Joseph, regional superior of the Missionaries of Charity in Mumbai told AsiaNews agency.
She also said Mother Teresa would have said ‘Trust in God” when faced with an emergency as disruptive as that of the Chinese coronavirus spreading rapidly also in India.
“We contemplate the heart of the world that today suffers from coronavirus,” said the nun who added that their centers continue to welcome children with special needs.
Covid-19 has also arrived in Mumbai and the nuns are deciding on the measures to be taken. “The health of children comes first, especially those with special needs. No visitor is allowed to enter,” Sister Joseph said.
India on March 11 reported 62 confirmed cases of coronavirus. In Mumbai, six people who had had contact with a couple in Pune tested positive for the disease and were hospitalized. International experts criticize Delhi’s still too cautious stance with the administration of tampons. For a country of over 1.37 billion people, the consequences of the infection could be disastrous.
All the houses of the Sisters of Mother Teresa welcome the sick and frail, with a high risk of infection.
Sister Joseph reports that in Vile Parle’s “Shishu Bhavan” [children’s home] In Mumbai, “there are 30 children with special disabilities, aged between three and 13 years. We are very careful with our children. Since the infection began, we have decided not to allow entry from the outside anymore, therefore neither visitors nor volunteers. ”
The “Asha Daan” (gift of hope) house in the Byculla neighborhood (south Mumbai) houses “260 other people, including 45 disabled children. Even here nobody can enter, we are doing everything to protect the people we care for “.
The superior sends a message of encouragement: “We trust in God!” Then she adds: “As Missionaries of Charity, we contemplate the heart of the world that today suffers from coronavirus. We are praying and continue to offer our tireless service for the poorest of the poor. Our Mother said: ‘Prayer in action is love in action’.”
Source: asianews.it