In December 1994, the St. Joseph's Congregation established “St. Joseph’s Home” as a memorial of the 50th death anniversary of our Founder, Rev. Fr. Thomas Poothathil. It was started on 2nd January 1993 and was blessed by His Excellency Bishop Mar Kuriakose Kunnacherry.
St. Joseph’s home is a hospice for terminally Ill cancer patients, built close to the Kottayam Medical College. It is a charitable institution. The administration and management of this institution is done by St. Joseph’s congregation. 40 patients can be accommodated at a time in St. Joseph’s home. So far, 900 patients have been admitted to this Institution out, of these 520 patients expired from this home.
We provide service to all categories of cancer patients, irrespective of caste and creed. Most of the patients will have wounds that smell, and maggots may be moving around. We are given tender loving palliative care and are prepared for a peaceful, joyful, and dignified death. The doctors of the Medical College, especially of the cancer department, offer their services to the terminally ill patients at this Hospital. Sisters prepared the patients, psychologically and spiritually, to accept the diagnosis and have a peaceful death. We have a concrete cemetery (vault) for burying the dead body, which has no one to claim it.
Jyotir Bhavan is a home for the HIV/AIDS patients, run by St. Joseph’s Congregation, Kottayam, founded by Rev. Fr. Thomas Poothathil, to realize his above-mentioned inspirational words.
In this institution, patients abandoned by their near and dear ones receive love, care, and acceptance. It provides palliative care to those who are in the end stage of HIV/AIDS. The Motto of Jyotir Bhavan is “Love and Serve.”
Most of the patients who come to Jyotir Bhavan are referred from the Medical College, or sometimes are left at the gate by someone. The sisters receive these patients wholeheartedly without any discrimination of caste or creed. All services provided at Jyotir Bhavan are free of cost, and all the care and services are provided by the Sisters of St. Joseph’s itself.
Objectives
The objectives of this institution are the following:
St. Joseph’s Congregation themselves provide all the necessary care to these patients with love and patience.
To mention a few of them:
The patients and their family members are given counseling so that they will be able to accept the patient and the disease. The nature of HIV/AIDS, the mode of communication of the disease, etc., are also described to them. One of the most challenging responsibilities of the care providers of Jyotir Bhavan is to prepare the clients in the acute stage and their families to accept the inevitable consequence of HIV/AIDS death. Through spiritual counseling, prayer, and love, those patients are prepared for a peaceful death. The peace and self-acceptance that the inmates receive make them feel more comfortable. In case of a serious condition and the death of the patients the family members or relatives are contacted, and arrangements are made to hand over the body. In case nobody claims the dead body, they will be buried in the concrete cemetery (vault) attached to Jyotir Bhavan, under the responsibility of St. Joseph’s Sisters. By serving the bedridden and the most sick patients, sisters obtain a lot of joy by making them happy, which leads both of them to a greater God experience. At present, Jyotir Bhavan can accommodate only 10 patients. We request all the kind-hearted to support and help us in all our plans for development to make Jyotir Bhavan a heaven for many more abandoned HIV/AIDs patients. Your small deeds of kindness can go a long way in alleviating human suffering
Address: Jyotir Bhavan, Care & Support Centre for AIDS Patients, Gandhinagar, P.O., Kottayam, Kerala 686 008
Tel. 9496114649
