JEEVODAYA SOCIAL& LEPROSY REHABILITATION CENTRE
December 5, 1969: Jeevodaya Social and Leprosy Rehabilitation Center, started by Fr. Dr.
Adam Wisniewski.
History of Jeevodaya – Abhanpur
The ‘Jeevodaya Social and Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre’ (SLRC) for children and adults
affected by leprosy and the children of the leprosy patients is situated in Abhanpur, 20
kilometers south of Raipur City. Fr. Dr. Adam Wisniewski, SAC of the Polish Province
started the centre. He worked in Lyons, France before coming to India. Fr. Adam
Wisniewski came to India in 1961. After obtaining his entry visa for India he went to
the Provincial house of the Sacred Heart Province, Friedberg. There, on September 03,
1961, together with Bro. Martin Geis, he was commissioned for the missions by the
Provincial Rev. Fr. Sittenauer. About a month later he arrived in Bombay on October 07,
1961 and in Raipur on October 12, 1961. He received a cordial welcome from Fr. Weidner,
then delegate superior in India. After his arrival in India Fr. Adam Wisniewski worked
some time in Mysore and also engaged himself in the promoting of vocations to the
Society which also brought him in contact with some of the bishops of South India. After
his activities in Mysore came to an end, he worked for a time in Kutela and Tumgaon, and
at the Christsahaya dispensary in Raipur. His desire to start a Leprosy Rehabilitation
Centre was materialized when, on October 24, 1969, Msgr. Weidner laid the foundation
stone for Jeevodaya.
The work on the building progressed fast and the first five boys affected with leprosy
were admitted already on December 05, 1969. On January 30, 1971 the centre was
officially declared open by Mr. Ambedkar, the MLA from Abhanpur, and Msgr. John Weidner
blessed the main building. This centre served not only leprosy patients but also
mentally disabled children and children from broken families.
In his work at the centre he was assisted by Sr. Barbara Yacenta, also from Poland.
Together they attempted to found two religious congregations, one for women and another
for men. These were aimed at recruiting and training dedicated women and men to work for
children, especially those abandoned and for the lepers. Already in 1979 a team from
Jeevodaya visited the neighboring dioceses of Raigarh and Ranchi to recruit girls and
boys for the newly founded Congregations. These did not last very long, and lack of
proper and systematic training facilities caused them to end up in failure. Soon,
through the intervention of the Bishop of Raipur, the new Congregations were dissolved.
The death of Fr. Adam Wisniewski on July 31, 1987 was a great blow to the centre.
Though, the Pallottines showed interest in taking over the administration of the centre
that could not be realized due to the uncompromising attitude of Sr. Barbara on the
issue. She, however, left the centre later and it was then taken care of by Sr. Helena
Pyz, also from Poland.
In 1997, at the request of Sr. Helena, the Pallottines decided to assume charge of the
centre. Fr. Abraham Thylammanal was appointed its new director. Under his guidance the
centre has begun to show signs of renewed life. The credit goes to Fr. Abraham and his
staff that the centre now has educational facilities up to the higher secondary for the
inmates and it is recognized by the Chhattisgarh Board of Education. The school was
begun for the children of the leper colonies who otherwise would be discriminated in
public schools. The first batch of students appeared for the Metric Board Examination in
2001 and secured commendable results.
Today the centre has about 450 persons in the campus of these, more that 200 are
children of the leprosy patients. Jeevodaya has also a hospital and mobile clinic for
the treatment of the leprosy patients even in the far flung areas.