Felix Anthony
Guwahati, Dec 10, 2021: A nun working in Guwahati, Assam, was selected for 11th International Human Rights Award for her contribution to women development in northeastern India.
The Delhi-based International Human Rights Council conferred the award on Sister Betsy Devasia on December 10 at the India Islamic Centre Auditorium, New Delhi.
Sister Devasia, who was born on July 1, 1947, as the second child to Devasia and Rosamma Pulippara in Kerala’s Kottayam district, has been working in northeastern India for the past 30 years.
“I am not sure if I deserve this honor,” said the septuagenarian Holy Cross Nun. She has served the people of northeastern India in various roles since 1988 and as director of Women Development Centre (WDC), Guwahati, since 2008.
All this “has been the most rewarding experience of my life. That is an award in itself,” she said.
The WDC, established in 2000 as a millennium gift to the women in northeastern India by Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Menamparampil, has been catering to women from rural areas with a slew of initiatives to help them take their lives forward.
One of the major activities of WDC is helping school dropout tribal girls to complete their schooling through National Open School. Started with five students in 2005, the center has so far helped more than 500 tribal girls from Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Assam complete heir secondary education. The current batch has 65 students.
Accepting the award, Sister Devasia said, “My award is to be able to see the lives of these underprivileged children change completely. The underconfident girls who through our educational portals are never the same. They leave our campus with confidence and courage to face the world to make positive contribution to make it a better place to live in”.
Many of the girls who completed their secondary education through WDC have gone on to do higher studies including Masters Degree and 20 of them currently working in various Government and private departments in the region, including a motivational speaker, nurses and a radiologist.
“That these girls are well placed in life is my award”, said Sister Devasia.
Congratulating Sister Devasia on the award, Bishop George Pallipparambil of Miao Diocese in Arunachal Pradesh said, “This award is a fitting honour to Sister Betsy for her years of dedicated service to the people of Northeast. Her committed service in WDC, Guwahati has contributed to the progress of hundreds of women and families of Northeast India. I pray that she continues to build many more lives in the years to come.”
A Christian Missionary Nun receiving a prestigious international honor is an acknowledgement of the contribution made by the missionaries to the development of Northeast region and towards nation building, remarked the Salesian prelate.
The glittering award function was attended by delegates from Australia, Malaysia, UK, USA, Nepal and India.