Sister Sister is the true story of how Maggie McMullen escaped an unhappy childhood and an abusive marriage in Australia to find acceptance and purpose among some of the world’s most rejected and destitute people in the slums, railway stations and remote tribes of India.
Better known as ‘Maggie Sister’, little did she know when fulfilling a lifelong dream to visit India 30 years ago that her life would be changed by a meeting with a charismatic young Indian man named Eliazar T Rose. Raised in a Leprosy colony, Eliazar had given away a career as an engineer to dedicate himself to establishing the fledgling New Hope India Leprosy Trust.
For the next 30 years Maggie would split her life between working alongside Eliazar to care for those with Leprosy, orphans and HIV-positive children, and bring immunisation and medical care to remote tribal villages in India; and raising funds at home in Australia.
Her journey was punctuated by highs and lows, from receiving the Order of Australia, to surviving her first bout with lung cancer.
The second half of Sister Sister gives a startling insight into the experiences of Leprosy sufferers in India through the tragic yet heart-warming fictional story of a young woman named Preethi.
After contracting the disease, Preethi is cast out by her husband, shunned by her family, and forced into a life of begging to support her infant daughter. And yet in her life among Indian society’s most marginalised people, she finds a love and acceptance she has never experienced, and eventually her redemption.
“Dreams mixed with dedication and faith are a powerful combination.”
– Maggie McMullen OAM
