leaving thousands of patients with no place to go. Mother Teresa had lob-
bied hard against the closing, but growing pressure from local residents
and developers, who wanted the hospital moved away from the area,
forced the city to shut down the facility. A new hospital for lepers was
soon built further outside the city limits.
Mother Teresa, realizing that it would be difficult for the former pa-
tients of Gobra to go to the new facility, decided to open up her own
clinic. Like the former Gobra facility, she found a site that was centrally
located, which would make it easier for patients to receive treatment.
However, residents in the neighborhood, upon learning of the proposed
clinic, did their best to stop her efforts. On one occasion, when she ar-
rived in the neighborhood to inspect the site, she was met by angry
neighborhood residents who began throwing stones at her. She took the
angry response in stride and remarked that it appeared that God did not
want the clinic in this area. She would pray for guidance.
As if in answer to her prayers, some American benefactors donated an
ambulance to the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa hoped the vehi-
cle would be the first of many mobile leprosy clinics. More help came from
a Dr. Sen, a physician and specialist in the treatment of skin disease and
leprosy. Sen had recently retired from the Carmichael Hospital for Tropi-
cal Diseases. Unsure of what to do with his free time and having heard of
the works of the Missionaries of Charity, he offered his services. Mother
Teresa gratefully accepted. Assisting Dr. Sen were three sisters who had
received nurse’s training.
In September 1957, the first mobile leprosy clinic was launched. The
ambulance could hold six persons along with a generous supply of medi-
cine, food, and medical records. Traveling from slum to slum, and also
making a stop outside the walls of the Loreto convent, the Missionaries of
Charity sought out the city’s lepers. In time, eight treatment stations were
established throughout Calcutta offering hope to the city’s 30,000 persons
afflicted by leprosy. The bright blue vehicle soon became a recognized
symbol of help and comfort. At each stop, the sisters handed out vitamins
and medicine, along with packets of food. By January 1958, over 600 lep-
ers regularly sought treatment from the mobile clinic.
A HIDEOUS DISEASE
In trying to help those afflicted by leprosy, Mother Teresa faced a spe-
cial kind of problem. The disease, also known as Hansen’s disease, has
been documented since biblical times. It is a particularly insidious ail-
ment, striking people with little warning. The bacterium that causes lep-
SHISHU BHAVAN AND SHANTINAGAR 85