Our work with neglected cancer and HIV/AIDS patients in Kerala, South India, is one of the hundreds of ways in which Medical Mission Sisters around the world try to be a healing presence to those in need today.

Our Sister Dolores Kannampuzha created the Cancer and AIDS Shelter Society (CASS), a charitable organization, with a group of service-minded and committed women of Kottayam, in Kerala, South India. "It was formed with the objective of offering love, comfort, and shelter to neglected cancer and HIV/AIDS patients; also, to create awareness among the public regarding cancer and HIV/AIDS," explains Sister Dolores. CASS is supported and guided by a team of professionals from different segments of the community.

With generous donations from individuals and groups, as well as government resources, the Anna Clinic (named for Mother Anna Dengel, our foundress) was built for CASS. There, patients are treated by both Ayurvedic doctors and traditional practitioners. Medical check-ups for early detection of cancer are performed with the help of a team from the Medical College Hospital. Awareness classes are conducted for the general public, college students, and special segments of the community.

"We provide moral and financial support, nursing care and counseling service, which helps the family and their neighbors to accept the patients," Sister Dolores says. "Terminally ill patients are visited frequently, at home and in the hospital."

Expenses for the day-to-day needs of CASS are met by membership fees, and by the sale of herbal preparations and acupressure tools.

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