The Ministering Angel of Delft

Priyanka KURUGALA

Delft, the largest inhabited island off Jaffna peninsula, with a population of little over 6,000 has only a single doctor. She is Dr. N Maheshwari, 64, who has been serving the people of Delft for one and a half years, with dedication amidst numerous difficulties.

After her retirement in 2007, while she was spending her leisure in her own native place in Jaffna she heard a radio announcement about Delft hospital sans doctors, situated far away from the mainland.

She applied for the vacancy only for three months, in accordance with the announcement.

In July 2010 Dr Maheshwari got the opportunity to go to this island in the middle of the sea far from Jaffna.Dr Maheshwari did not know how to travel to this distant hospital. She checked the map and went to offer her services to the poor people who live in this solitary island away from the mainstream of the country. All things were traditional in this island, but this gave new experiences to the doctor. Boats, sea, the tiny hospital, an island that is full of Dutch ruins, provided her quite a different experience.Delft hospital has three wards.

They are male, female and Maternity wards. She is the only angel for this people who do not have any healthcare service from the outside world.During her lifetime as a doctor, she had worked for people who lived in Sinhala areas, mainly in the Gampaha District. Since she belongs to the Tamil community, she was not sure whether she could reach and understand these people’s personal health problems and treat them. Therefore she was motivated to treat people who spoke Tamil and according to what she says, she has been successful.Due to the war she was unable to make use of her experience in a hospital in the North or the East.

However after the eradication of terrorist activities, Dr Maheshwari has been able to get close to her own community. She was then able to make a reality of her dream to work in a Tamil area in the country. Her services are available 24 hours of the day to these innocent people. She moves out of this island only to draw her salary once a month. The people also love her. She remains here to provide the healing touch to her community because, nobody likes to go to this isolated place.