I belong to Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Graces (FSLG). It was my childhood dream to become a missionary for Jesus and to go to the villages to tell them about the love of God. And I wanted to be far from my home. So, I joined a congregation based in UP. Our superiors had a dream of having a doctor in the congregation, and asked me to go for MBBS. I didn’t want to, because of the fear of losing my vocation and my laziness to study.
But God’s plan was that I should become a doctor. That is why I am a sister doctor today. I joined the 1983 batch of MBBS in St John’s Medical College, Bangalore. I have fond memories of my batch mates and of our undergraduate life.
After I took charge in the Our Lady of Graces Hospital, Sardhana, UP, I felt lost. It was a completely different scenario from St. John’s: Twenty beds, no other doctors, no facilities. Staff: Three sister nurses and me.
I then asked the Lord Jesus, “What do you want me to do?” He told me to convert this building to a hospital, to improve the health of women and children. “Fear not, for I am with you.” And I said yes.
Sardhana is twenty kilometres from Meerut city and about ninety kilometres from New Delhi. It was a small township, more like a remote village. According to the 2011 census, its population is 58,252, of which 64% are Muslims, 29% Hindus and others 7%. Christians number around five hundred in all.
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Sr Liza FSLG
