A Woi*^ 3Fi*nm ila^lu*a 
 
 you were to find yourself some morning at 
 the dis{)ensary of the Hosj)ital for Women 
 and Children in jMadura, South India, what 
 would you see? As you enteretl by the back door 
 leading' from the mission com])Ound, where the 
 doctor’s bungalow is, into the office of the dis- 
 pensary there would very probably be a little 
 cart backed up to the steps with a curtain in front 
 and another behind. If no boys or men were 
 about, we would see the curtain lift very carefully 
 (at first) and a face, veiled to the eyes, peer out. 
 Then, its occupants assured that no men were 
 
2 
 
 A USorb from li^la^ura 
 
 at hand, enough of the curtain would be held 
 back so that the two or three women and as many 
 children could climb out and come up the steps 
 into the office. Already we would have .shut the 
 door from the office into the waiting-room. 
 
 Why all this .secrecy? Becau.se these women 
 who have come in the cart are gosha women — 
 Mohammedans. They are never allowed to .see 
 any male person except relatives. We attend 
 to their needs, and then the poor women, who 
 live most isolated lives, go out to the cart and back 
 to their hou.se again. The coming to the ho.spital, 
 even though they are ill, is a bright spot in many 
 of the.se women’s lives. We hope we have given 
 
A Ifltirft from fflahitra 
 
 3 
 
 them something besides medicine to take back 
 with them. 
 
 After they’ve gone, we open the door into the 
 waiting-room, and what a sight greets our eyes ! 
 INTany patients have accumulated during the time 
 the door has been closed. Fortunately, time 
 doesn’t mean much to these people, and for the 
 most part they wait patiently for their turn. 
 There are women sitting silent, some listening 
 to the Bible-woman while she talks to them and 
 shows them Bible pictures. Children of all aTCS 
 are everywhere, and babies crawl contentedly 
 about the floor chewing a piece of sugar cane or 
 a green cucumber. 
 
4 
 
 A ^BDr^ from iQa^ura 
 
 As soon as the white doctor appears, it is a 
 signal for each patient and her relatives who have 
 come with her, to make her wants known. 
 Everybody begins to talk, asking all sorts of 
 questions. Here’s an old woman who throws 
 herself prostrate at the doctor’s feet, asking that 
 special attention may be given her daughter who 
 has come many, many weary miles in a springless 
 bullock cart. Here’s a poor young mother with 
 tears in her eyes holding up a blind child, beseech- 
 ing “doctor amma” to do something for the hope- 
 less, wailing bit of humanity. Another undoes a 
 dirty cloth and shows a baby only a few days old 
 with the signs of death already on its tiny face. 
 
A Iflnrh from fHaimra 
 
 In contrast to some of the sad cases are those 
 who have come back to show that they are much 
 better or entirely well. For instance, here is a 
 happy, laughing young girl, who a few weeks ago 
 was not able to walk, having severely injured her 
 knees And here’s an old lady, making many 
 salaams. The doctor is sorry to admit that she 
 has forgotten of what ailment the poor old soul 
 has been cured, but it cheers her heart to see the 
 
 gratitude on the smiling face. 
 
 It is hard to get through the small crowd 
 without stepping on a lively adventurous baby, or 
 without stopping to speak to familiar old laces 
 or pleading new ones. Two by two they are 
 
A Ittort frnni iHabitra 
 
 poing into the consulting room where the assistant, 
 ]\riss Pitchannithu, will try to find out why they 
 have come. This is not always an easy task as 
 they love to tell all the family history, and 
 invariably go into many unnecessary details. 
 
 So while Miss Pitchamuthu is asking 
 Questions you might like to go into a little room 
 where many minor .surgical cases are attended to 
 every day. In one chair is a girl whom we 
 recognize as from the Girls’ High School at 
 Mangalapuram. She has a great hole in each 
 ear-lobe, big enough to hold a fifty-cent piece. 
 ■^Mien I ask her what she wants, she looks up 
 shyly and says she wants small holes as the 
 
A frunt fUailnra 
 
 7 
 
 girls at school all have. So we put in something 
 in order that she may not feel the pain, cut off 
 a piece on the bias, sew the ends neatly together, 
 and in a few minutes there are two aood ears, 
 nearly as good as if they had been let alone in the 
 first place. It is a success — and the girl will 
 enjoy being like her classmates in style as to ears! 
 
 These poor people who come to the hospital 
 and dispensary are full of superstitions and 
 constantly consult soothsayers and astrologers. 
 One patient, Nahaletcheuny, was very ill with 
 pneumonia. On the day of the crisis her relatives 
 came and told the doctor that Nahaletcheuny 
 must die in three days— the astrologer had said 
 
8 
 
 A Wnrb from iHabitra 
 
 so. Therefore they must take her home, as she 
 must not die in a Christian hospital. We said 
 she would not die, but as arguments are of no 
 avail in these cases, we had to let her go. In a 
 few days her relatives came back saying Nahalet- 
 cheuny was much better. That’s one time that 
 we got ahead of the astrologer in our prognosis 
 and we were pleased. In just such things as these 
 we get the confidence of the people. 
 
 They are grateful. It is always pleasant 
 when we are called to the front verandah of our 
 bungalow, and find a small company of people 
 waiting for us. There is a woman just able to 
 leave the hospital, or perhaps a little child who 
 
A ITInrt from ilHahura 
 
 9 
 
 has just got well under the eare it has received. 
 With the patient come the relatives to pay their 
 respects by giving many salaams. The ’doctor 
 must sit down. One must never seejn in a hurry 
 in the Orient, you know. A nice moist garland 
 of jessamine, or of tiny yellow chrvsanthemums 
 is put about her neck and .she is presented with a 
 tray of fruit, bananas, oranges, pomegranates 
 and so forth. Generally there is a little pile of 
 sugar on one side of the brass tray, and some 
 betel and as a mark of special favor, some tobacco 
 for the doctor to chew! This is the time when 
 we have an opportunity to talk to the people 
 and tell them why we have the hospital and what 
 
10 
 
 A Wort frmn ^^!a^ltra 
 
 we are trying to do. We are there to .serve them. 
 We want to show them what we do, oiir way 
 of caring for the sick in hoth body and soul. 
 And we want them to understand that we do as we 
 do, not just because it is our way, our custom, but 
 because it is a better way. We are there to give 
 them something that they themselves have not 
 got, and that they, within themselves alone, have 
 no power to obtain. 
 
 And so the work goes on, with the hospital 
 and its forty beds full of patients, the outpractice 
 where we get a chance to go to the homes of all 
 castes, even of the highest; and the disnensarv, 
 where anywhere from fifty to a hundred people 
 are treated every day. 
 
A Ulnrft frnm ilHailura 
 
 11 
 
 We hope to have more adequate equipment 
 for caring for these people in the near future. 
 We’d like to have you all come and see if it’s 
 not worth while, but in the meantime, will you not 
 take our word for it and share the joy of it with us. 
 
 ^ ours in His service, 
 
 K.\TH.\RINt: M. SCOTT. 
 
WOMAN’S BOARD OF MISSIONS 
 704 Congregational House 
 Boston, IMass. 
 

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