Trauma at Mother’s Iraq house

The MOC headquarters is planning to reinforce its strength in Baghdad in view of the worsening situation. The move, it was stated, is not so much to strengthen the workforce but to psychologically reassure and comfort the inmates and Sisters who are there.

Sister Martina, the Regional Superior based in Amman, Jordan, may be the first one to move to Baghdad. An Indian Sister, who has worked in these areas before, has also offered to move to Baghdad.

A couple of days ago, MOC Superior General Sister Nirmala spoke to the Sisters in Baghdad from Kolkata, enquiring about their well-being, said Sister Christie, a senior nun at Mother’s House here.

The MOC volunteers told Sister Nirmala that children become panicky whenever the drone of an air raid is heard, followed by loud explosions. ‘‘They are very frightened,’’ Sister Nirmala was told, ‘‘and cling desperately to the Sisters.’’

It may be recalled that Sisters Dency, Rosalyn, Theresina — all from Kerala — and Sister Joseph Carol from Bangladesh are in Baghdad. When the MOC headquarters in Kolkata offered them an option to leave the town before the war began, all four refused.

Ever since, the notice board at Mother House in Kolkata has a message on it: ‘‘We pray to our Father, to our Mother and to our Sisters that peace may come to Iraq.’’

The MOC spokesperson, Suneeta Kumar, said the Mother’s House in Baghdad was located at Hay-al-Karrada near St Raphael’s Hospital, not far from central Baghdad. Mother Teresa herself had gone to Baghdad when this House was opened in 1991.