“Scudder-founded Institutions Continue to Grow and Serve”
By Virgil Scudder
“You really need to see these schools and hospitals firsthand to appreciate what great work they are doing,” Foundation President Sue Swanson told me. She was right. I went, I saw, and I came away very impressed with our Indian brethren and the way the two schools and two hospitals that we support are serving people in southeast India.
India is one of the world’s oldest civilizations and now the most populous. It’s also one of the most interesting to visit. Poor in material wealth but rich in culture, hospitality, and work ethic, India offers a variety of sights, sounds, and experiences. It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by it all.
Sue, SAF Secretary Clive Connor, and I traveled to India to join in the Jubilee 50th anniversary celebrations for the Vellore Diocese of the Church of South India. The diocese oversees the four Scudder-connected institutions and 700 churches.
Bishop Sharma, his family, and his staff gave us the warmest of welcomes.
Turnout for the church services was overwhelming, often 1,000 people or more.
As part of the celebration, three new churches were dedicated before overflow crowds of worshippers. People flocked to the events.
I was constantly struck by the courtesy and cleanliness surrounding us everywhere we went. People were well-dressed in neatly-pressed clothing and the churches, hospitals, and schools were spotless.
Our tour destinations required a lot of SUV travel over streets and roads that badly needed repair or upgrading. Cows, unattended, lounged beside the streets in the cities, sometimes nearly blocking the entrances to the little shops that lined the streets.
Drivers darted into and out of the smallest of openings. Motorists seemed to feel that two inches was a safe separation from other moving vehicles, even those coming from the opposite direction. Fortunately, our driver, Muti, was an expert at safely zipping into and out of tight spaces as his white-knuckled trio of American visitors looked on.
I nicknamed him F-1 Muti (for Formula One racers), a moniker he seemed to like. Actually, the spacing was more like NASCAR than Formula One but he navigated it all in a style that would have impressed stock car racing legend Richard Petty.
We spent many hours traveling to the various cities where Scudder-supported institutions and the diocese’s religious venues are located. We traversed roads that ranged from an excellent toll road to passageways so laden with boulders and potholes that our vehicle shook even at five miles an hour. Clearly, India has great infrastructure needs.
India’s great treasure is its people. I have never met friendlier or more hospitable people, and I’ve traveled to three dozen countries on five continents.
Especially welcoming were the people on the bishop’s staff and officials of the four institutions we support as exemplified by this tea reception at the original Scudder missionary church in Vellore.
We were privileged to attend special events at SAF-supported schools and hospitals. Sue snipped the ribbon commemorating the dedication of the new staff quarters at Scudder Memorial Hospital in Ranipet. This modern facility will house 16 doctors, nurses, and administrative officials and their families, helping attract skilled professionals to join an excellent hospital that is off the beaten track.
We were present for the induction of 180 newly-graduated nurses at Scudder Memorial.
We got a welcome serenade from student musicians at Arni School and Walter Scudder School, a very touching experience. Music is an important part of their curriculum.
We saw how drums and drummers play a key role in Indian observances, both religious and secular. The student drummers are both good and enthusiastic.
Scudders are much revered and appreciated in this region of India as a result of the missionary Scudders founding and support of the schools and hospitals.
Sue attended a brief ceremony at Dr. Ida’s statue in central Vallore that was erected nearly 40 years ago. Even though the ceremony was conducted in midafternoon on a workday, over 500 people turned out. And she visited Dr. Ida’s grave.
While there was much joy and celebration, we also witnessed great need. Schools with leaky roofs that damaged classrooms, a dormitory unfinished because of lack of funds, 200 students forced to sit on a school’s clay ground for want of a meeting hall, and hospitals that must constantly struggle to keep up with growing needs. Dramatic illustrations of these conditions are shown in the story in the first panel of this website.
While I have an overload of memories from this trip, one that will always linger with me is the beauty—colorful attire, music, dancing, garlanding, and the joy of the people we met. It comes in second only to the warmth and hospitality.
Any Scudder or any non-Scudder who supports the Foundation’s objectives and can go to India to see what Sue, Clive, and I saw firsthand should do so. It’s not an easy trip nor inexpensive. But the rewards far outweigh the cost and inconvenience.
