By Frida Toppo

Bishnupur, July 21, 2020: I am a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate, popularly known as PIME sisters, working in the Archdiocese of Imphal.

I teach in Loyola School, Bishnupur. We collaborate with the Jesuits of Kohima Region.

Our convents are mostly situated in remote areas. We try to share God’s love through teaching, preaching, healing and helping the needy in villages. We also undertake apostolate such as having boarding and work in parishes.

Besides our professional work, on holidays and Sundays, the whole community goes for pastoral family visits–our priority.

Families face many problems because of poverty and other reasons.

We live in St Ignatius parish that caters to 18 villages that are far away from the church. Houses are scattered on the hills. People cannot come to the parish to participate in the Sunday Mass.

Five Jesuit priests currently work in the parish. However, they cannot reach out to all villages on Sunday. So our mission superior and parish priest have assigned ten sisters to different villages for pastoral visits and missionary work.

Before the lockdown, every Sunday we set out for our assigned villages, mostly on hills.

I used to reach Sadu, my assigned village, after one and a half hours of journey by auto and on foot. It has 18 Catholic and 26 Baptist families.

When I reach the village after the arduous journey, the Catholics wait for me singing hymns. I conducted a prayer service and share my reflection on the day’s scripture readings.

After the religious service, I visit families along with a few village leaders. Most families have some problems or others. I make it point to visit the aged and sick and pray for them.

I was doing this for the past five years until the lockdown restricted people’s movement. I have come across broken families. I recall how Helena Gangmei held my hand and burst into tears. The 36-year-old mother of three was suffering because of her alcoholic husband. The family did not have a house to live in. They shared a neighbor’s house for two years.

Her children were growing up in an insecure environment that could impact her future behavior.

I felt compassion for the family, yet found challenges when Helena held my hand and sobbed.

I cannot forget her painful face.

When I returned convent that evening, I shared my experience with my community that later build a house for her family. I also spoke to the principal and got her a job at the Loyola School as a helper.

Lifting people out of poverty, empowering women, and encouraging children to grow in religious values and moral education has kept me occupied in the past five years.

I could see the villagers slowly growing deep in faith, unity, and cleanliness. Children got interested in education and learned to compete with other students. Seeing them growing I was glad, until March.

The Lockdown time

Although the Coronavirus pandemic has restricted my movement it has not stopped my concern for my people.

The villages have posted guards at their entrances to restrict people’s movement. They are allowed to go out only in an emergency.

No outsider is permitted to enter the village. So, I am unable to visit my village.

Sonia Gangmei (no relation to Helena) and Roma Kamei, teachers of St. Xavier’s School, recently told me that villagers have told them that they miss my Sunday visits.

“Yes, I too miss them very much,” I replied.

The lockdown has changed the community religious worship into family prayers.

Since parents do not go for work, the entire family is always together. Like Helena, many women now have difficulties with their husbands, besides financial problems.

The villagers depend on “jhum” (shifting) cultivation (which is common in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and on the hills of Manipur) for the financial support but the lockdown has prevented them from selling theirs produces.

Women such as Helena think it is their responsibility to feed the family.

Many villagers were casual workers who earned daily. But that has also stopped putting many families into inconveniences.

Sonia told me that the villagers somehow meet their basic needs. They are sensitive to the needs of others and they support them in their difficulties.

I am happy that people stand by each other. They share in this moment of struggle bringing greater solidarity and mutual understanding among them.

People are materially poor but rich in affection. Their houses are small but their hearts are large.

Rose Mary, the wife of the village catechist, told me, “You are just like one of our family members. We are waiting for your coming again.”

I have done very little for the villagers, but I receive their love and affection in abundance.

Hopefully, the current health crisis would end sooner and I would visit the people in the village. Until then, I pray for them daily and keep updated on the happenings of the village through the phone.

I tell them that we all need to be resilient and sail through a difficult situation with faith, hope, and optimism.