Alternative Health Care Ministry, Dumka-Raiganj Province

By Thomas Kattathara, SJ

Can a Jesuit be a magnet? I believe so! M.J. Peter is one such Jesuit. He irresistibly attracts the crippled, the lame, and the weak to himself with his magnetic therapy coupled with his vivacious personality. “...and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them” (Matt 4:24). A visit to Peter has itself a galvanizing effect! Peter’s good humor and support cheer up those around him.

Alternative Health Care Clinic, as it is known, had a modest beginning in 1995 in the village of Cilimpur, West Bengal, where “Peter began to treat people with magnets.” That small effort turned out to be consequential. A.H.C.C. in Kalidangal, Rampurhat, in West Bengal, is the hope of many of the afflicted from different parts of the Sub-Continent. Peter treats all sorts of bone, nerve, muscle, and many other problems. Remarkable! Most of the patients that Peter treats have been rejected by well-known doctors and hospitals! A.H.C.C is perhaps the most important apostolate in the South Asian Assistancy. This springs from the fact that there is no other alternative; thus, this ministry becomes an “essential service” within our option for the poor.

An inexorable will power has infected Peter all through his life. Armed with just two magnets when young and sporty, Peter ventured into the unfamiliar field of magnetic therapy. Back in the Cilimpur Parish campus in 1995, perhaps not even he himself was convinced of the future of this therapy. However, he was ready to try it out to see if it would be worthwhile. As the days passed, patients called on Cilimpur to be treated by Peter. As a member of the Cilimpur Jesuit Community for six years, starting in 1997, I witnessed the magnetic glow of hope on the faces and the grateful hearts of the patients as well as their kinsfolk and their enviable rapport with Peter.

A.H.C.C. is certainly not in line with the modern health care industry. The profit motive does not lead this apostolate. On the contrary, its altruistic hallmark has its impact on its large variety of beneficiaries. Several of the patients are cases that doctors had rejected as “cases of no return.” They come to A.H.C.C. where they are gifted with hope of wellbeing. They unequivocally witness to the ministry of A.H.C.C. of the Dumka-Raiganj Province. A pragmatic and appealing person like Peter engages himself and invest all his efforts to live the Good News in our times, something that will be remembered for all ages.