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Giridhar Gopal in Bhubaneswar
The recommendation of Polish Christian missionary Marian Zalazek's name for Nobel peace prize has brought cheer among the residents of the leprosy colony -- Karunalaya -- set up by him in Puri, Orissa.
"He is a great man and we are happy his name has been recommended for world's top honour," 47-year-old Bhikari Behera, a patient in Karunalaya, said. Behera has been residing in the centre since the last 20 years, along with his wife, after residents of his village ostracised them. "Father gave us a ray of hope. He not only brought us here, but also helped our two daughters get good education," he told rediff.com.
Karunalaya houses about 1000 leprosy patients.
"Father has been working for the eradication of leprosy in Orissa since the last fifty years. I came in contact with him in 1990 and since then I am with him. He is a nice man," Karunalaya's caretaker Surendra Marandi said.
Though he is is a Christian, I have never heard him speak against any other religion, Marandi said. "I am happy his name has been recommended for the Nobel peace prize. He never feels tired. You will find him working round the clock."
"People across the world praise him for his work but he never gets excited. He said he is serving god by serving leprosy patients. He has dedicated his life to the welfare of lepers and eradication of leprosy," Zalazek's personal secretary Lalit Rao said.
Sixty-year-old Bhagban Ghosh, living in Karunalaya for the last several years, said, "He is god for us. We could have died of this disease but he [Zalazek] saved us. We are happy his name has been recommended for Nobel peace prize."
Zalazek has been in India for the last fifty years. He started his missionary work, first as a priest and then as superintendent of a missionary school before setting up Karunalaya in 1975.
Born on January 30, 1918 he has also spent five years in the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau during World War II.
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