The vast majority of the population of K.V.Kuppam are Hindu. A little over 10% are Christians and there is one much respected Muslim family in the village.

There are one or two Christian churches in the village.

Selvar Kumar works at RUHSA and is a Pastor at the church in one of the villages.

Some of the people, who have converted to Christianity, attend Selvar Kumar’s church each Sunday.

Rubea’s family were Harijan before they converted to Christianity when RUHSA workers came to their village.

Christian Medical College Vellore

Dr Ida Scudder, founder of CMC Vellore.

The town of Vellore has become well known because of the highly respected Christian medical college and hospital there. Christian Medical College Vellore, known simply as “CMC”, was founded more than 100 years ago by a lady called Ida S. Scudder.

In the late 1800’s as a young American girl she was visiting her medical missionary father, John Scudder, at his post in Tamil Nadu, South India.

One night, Ida was asked to help three women from different families struggling in difficult childbirth. Custom prevented their husbands from accepting the help of a male doctor for them and being without training at that time, Ida herself could do nothing. The next morning she was shocked to learn that each of the three women had died. She believed that it was a calling and a challenge set before her by God to begin a ministry dedicated to the health needs of the people of India, particularly women and children.

Ida went back to America, entered medical training (practically unheard of for women at that time) and, in 1899, was one of the first women graduates of the Cornell Medical College.

Once trained, she returned to India and opened a one-bed clinic in Vellore in 1900. Two years later, in 1902, she built a 40-bed hospital, the forerunner of today’s 1700-bed medical centre. In 1909, she started the School of Nursing, and in 1918, her fondest dream came true with the opening of a medical school for women. (Men were admitted in 1947). With the training of these women as doctors and nurses, Indian women would now begin to have access to health care professionals. This was the beginning of the vision of Ida S. Scudder which continues to grow to this day.

Christian Medical College employs over 9500 people today.

You can find out more about CMC and its vision at www.cmch-vellore.edu

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