anna dengel & the holy family
a while ago i wrote a story about hans schörkhuber, my fellow austrian friend. find the story here.
in this story i mention a hospital founded by the medical mission sisters in ghana, who in turn were founded by one of the first female medical doctors from austria, born and raised in a tyrolean valley not far from my home town.
her name was anna dengel. she studied medicine in cork, ireland, before travelling to rawalpindi, then part of british india and now in pakistan, in 1920. there, she encountered many women who could not receive treatment from male doctors due to religious and cultural traditions. the shortage of female medical professionals meant that even treatable conditions and complications during childbirth could become life-threatening.
convinced that more medically trained women were needed, she travelled to the united states and, together with another doctor and two nurses, founded the medical mission sisters in washington dc, in 1925.
this was no easy undertaking. at the time, catholic religious sisters were not permitted to practise medicine fully. anna dengel worked for years to change these restrictions, eventually helping open the way for sisters to work as doctors, surgeons and other medical professionals.
over the following decades, the medical mission sisters established hospitals, clinics and training programmes in countries across africa, asia and other parts of the world. their work extended beyond treating patients to training local healthcare professionals and improving access to medical services.
anna dengel died in 1980, but the organisation she founded continues its work today, more than 100 years after its beginnings. her approach was based on a straightforward principle: healthcare should be available to those who need it, regardless of their background or circumstances.
one of the hospitals founded by the medical mission sisters is the holy family hospital in techiman. after first visiting in early 2023 i got to visit this hospital again for a day to look after the equipment in the eye center.
