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Sister Julia Valiaveetil Sister Julia Valiaveetil is one of 650 Medical Mission Sisters in 19 nations trying to be present to others in the spirit of Jesus the Healer. Born the youngest of 5 children in a village in Kerala, South India, Sister Julia grew up near a hospital where Medical Mission Sisters worked. "I was attracted by the way they handled the sick and suffering," she recalls. "I wanted to be a missionary." She joined the Community after one year of college, and was assigned to study radiography. She served in several of our hospitals in North and South India as an x-ray technician. In 1974, Sister Julia began 11 years of mission in Ghana. "I loved the people, and they loved us. They are very generous." Her first assignment was to set up the x-ray department at Holy Family Hospital in Techiman, Ghana, which took 3 years. She also trained a young local man in radiography. "I wanted to work more directly with people, rather than with machines," she says. Sister Julia decided to study social work and leadership in the Philippines. Upon her return to Ghana, she and 2 other Sisters started a primary health care program in a very poor, remote village. "We really became one with the people," she says. Since the closest place to buy bread was 14 miles away, the Sisters also helped the women to start a baking association, with the Ministry of Health supplying the flour. After 3 years, the Bishop asked Sister Julia to start a vo-tech school for girls who were not able to continue their education due to economic or other reasons. She taught practical skills and handicrafts. "It was another example of being a pioneer - the situation was there, and the need was there, so I did it." Returning to South India, Sister Julia chose to do community health work in a village. "I saw the poverty right in my own country," she remembers. "Then I learned the 'other side' of working with the poor as a project officer for a big social service organization." She also developed her knowledge of holistic health, and served as District Secretary. Sister Julia has spent the past 3 years in Washington, D.C., working with drug addicted, alcoholic, and mentally ill homeless women in the Wellness Center at N Street Village. She will continue her holistic health work when she returns to South India this fall.
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