"Suffering and Resilience" Testimonial von FFT-Projektpartnerin Bina Stanis in WUCWO-Publikation

In der März Ausgabe von Women's Voice der Organisation WUCWO (World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations) ist ein Text der Familienfasttags-Projektpartnerin Bina Stanis (CASS) zum Thema "Suffering and Resilience" erschienen:

Held with Love

I came here years ago at that time I was new to the reality of coalmining. Living with Kalista Soren a young Santhal woman and a nurse in a little mud house that also served as our first health center for the Santhals here I visited the Santhal villages that were situated in the most beautiful spots of natural beauty. I got lost in the forests, the waterfalls, rivers and streams and I didn’t realize how the years went by. Matio Tudu was married to Gomilal Murmu who was the village Naeke (Priest) in Lopongtandi village where we lived; she introduced me to rural life in this part of Ramgarh District, Jharkhand, ndia. Matio shares “when she came here life was so hard even to get one chilly to eat with your food was a dream. So I used to hide them. Portable water was scarce so we gave water used to brew Alcohol from Mahua to visitors”. Matio became my companion to the neighboring villages. We both walked through the forests visiting homes and from her I learnt to speak Santhali and she learnt Hindi from me. She laughed as she spoke as Hindi didn’t come so easily. Here I experienced closely Indigenous Women depend totally on the Ecology for growing food like rice, Maize, vegetables and lentils, for Mushrooms, wild berries, fruits, for different kinds of Spinach, Mahua, Tubers, fish, and Mollusk; grass for brooms and mats; wood to construct their houses; twigs to brush their teeth; mud to clean and paint their houses, stones to construct the Nala Bunds (stone contour barriers), fodder for their animals, herbs to heal themselves, space to share their struggles and to connect with the Supreme Spirit. When all this is gone ndigenous women are totally vulnerable, marginalized, impoverished, get mentally ill and become parts of the throw away culture. Dr. Eva Wallensteiner visited Lopongtandi that sowed the seeds of Hope for the women here from KFB. From the Mothers and Women of Katholische Frauenbewegung Osterreichs(KFB) Aktion Familienfasttag Austria who rebuilt their country after the war and today have become ladders to sustainable development all over the world the women of Lopongtandi found support to renew the ecology in the region devastated by coal mining. This precious support from Kfb enabled women form self-help groups; educate girls; plant trees; encouraged women to persevere in their struggles to protect sacred spaces; grazing lands; created oasis for communities for their survival needs, increased fish in the water bodies and provided opportunities’ for exposure to enjoy; and to organize workshops to gain knowledge on health and improve their self-confidence. Panno was another valiant woman who also joined Matio and together they gave leadership to the whole village and inspired other women in the entire region. During Lockdown Matio passed away. She always suffered from poor health, she had only two sons. She would say “ wish I had a daughter I could have gone and lived with her for sometime”. After both her sons got married Matio and her husband became totally depended on their sons and their wives to feed them. Though Matio had struggled hard her family and all others still have not been able to meet their basic needs. She kept telling us” Why you didn’t come ten years back we would not have given up our land to the coal companies.”

I am grateful as a Medical Mission Sister to be among Indigenous People. It is taking years to build their trust and confidence as they regard outsiders like me as “Diku” (The Diku is traditionally known as an exploiter who conspires to loot and rob them of every form of dignity and divinity). Being a social worker for years I believed that I must change the world around me and my happiness depended on it. Living among Indigenous people and sharing life with lay staff has taught me to look inside myself. Being with Indigenous women like Matio, Phulki, Asmati who exude such great joy , who can laugh, dance and sing to the gentle rhythm of the drums in the face of so much suffering teach me the secret of living. I am learning to live in the present moment and experience the spirit of God in all situations and people. Recently my mother was here she spent three months with me. She spent most of her time praying and reading. She often wondered why God brought her here. She posed this question to a Jesuit priest in Hazaribagh. He replied “You are here to encourage your daughter continue in this mission of Healing”. I experience this daily in my everyday life and I can see transformations happening here in my life and in the lives of women and girls around me. I catch glimpses of God’s infinite love for me and share this pure love to those whom I meet in my daily life. And like Teilhard this is what I deeply desire for myself and our world” Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire”.

Erschienen in: Women's Voice. Official magazine of WUCWO World Union of Catholic Women's Organisation: Suffering and Resilience. International Women's Day 2022, March 2022/No. 57

Eine noch ausführlichere Version von Bina Stanis Testimonial findest du hier: PDF