A HEART FOR NEPAL:
the Dr. Helen Huston Story
Helen Huston, one of Canada's best-known and loved missionary doctors, has been called "Canada's Own Mother Teresa." During a five-year period starting in 1953, she worked in hospitals in India, sometimes as the only doctor.
In 1960 she was called to the small mountainous kingdom of Nepal to fill an urgent short-term need and was captivated by the country and its people. She returned in 1963 and spent most of the next 30 years there, nearly all of the time working at a small hospital in the hills trying to meet the medical needs of half a million people. Assisted by a team of 2-3 nurses, she found herself coping with the ravages of tuberculosis, leprosy and meningitis and distressing complications of pregnancy. She spearheaded the building of a small hospital located several hours' walk from any road; one of the greatest joys of her life was to be present at the opening in 1969.
Helen Huston's commitment to the neglected people of Nepal has earned her numerous honors and awards, including an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Alberta and the Alberta Award of Excellence. She was the first person to receive from the Hillary Foundation its "Award for Humanitarian Service."
Helen Huston retired from the United Mission to Nepal in 1993 and returned to Canada, but many of her daily thoughts and prayers are with that little hospital in the hills of Nepal.
Copyright© 2007
Gerald W. Hankins. All rights reserved.
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