`I pray for guidance... Nothing is easy'

When Sylvia Wright qualified as a stateregistered nurse in 1959 she did not imagine that her career would lead to her to the depths of southern India. Nor did she think for a moment that it would bring her face to face with Prince Charles to collect an OBE.
But her charity, the Sylvia Wright Trust, has rapidly grown, and now runs a school for profoundly deaf children in Tamil Nadu, one of the poorest states on the sub-continent. In addition, she oversees the running of a 200-bed hospital which treats 8,000 inpatients and 75.000 outpatients a year.
Recognising this achievement, Sylvia Wright's name appeared , on the 2007 New Year Honours list and she travelled from Tamil Nadu to Buckingham Palace last July to collect her award. The quiet Catholic Yorkshire woman had been rewarded for over 25 years of important charity work. In reality, her extraordinary journey began many years before when she was at school.
Sylvia began her life as a regular member of the Church of England in Horsforth, West Yorkshire. "We were studying Tudor history and inevitably covered the Reformation, the issues of which I was only vaguely aware. So I decided to attend Mass at St Anne's Cathedral to give me some idea of what was so important." In the decade before the Second Vatican Council the 11 am Iligh Mass was in the Tridentine rite, and sung in Latin, To begin with, Sylvia was unconvinced; "I sat right at the back of the church. My impression was one of noise, as opposed to the quieter Anglican services. People were whispering and talking, and there was a great ruckus when the collection plate went round. I was not impressed."
Yet as it went on, Sylvia soon felt that the Mass had set in motion a profound spiritual experience: "At the time of the elevation of the Host after the consecration, I fell a deep and overwhelming impression of the real presence. I cannot explain it, but it has remained with me always."
As she came out of the Mass she was determined to know more about being rel Catholic and went to the presbytery. She was informed about talks for nonCatholics and attended the next week "more out of curiosity that anything else". After a few months she was received into the Church.
From early on in her life as a Catholic Sylvia Wright began to feel a strong impulse to serve others. Aged just 18 she began training as a nurse, qualifying three years later at Leeds General Infirmary, But although she attended daily Mass and spent one to two hours in prayer every day, she felt a stronger call to the contemplative life.
To the horror of the senior matron at the hospital, Sylvia entered the Carmelite Order at a convent in Cambridge at the age of 23. But as a nun, Sylvia struggled. She didn't mind the life of prayer, or the solitude — it was the enclosure that unsettled her. "I kept telling the prioress that it felt like a prison to me." To the rest of the community she seemed happy, but when it came to making her simple vows, she knew that she could not keep up the façade, "I spent the night in prayer asking for guidance. At the end of the night I was convinced I had to leave. So I did — with tears all round."
So ended her life in the convent. But her other vocation — to serve others — continued. She became a midwife and began studying at universities in Leeds and Manchester, earning teaching qualifications at the same time. She was eventually offered a job by Leeds Polytechnic as a senior lecturer, which she accepted.
Increasingly, Christ's call to "sell all that you have, give to the poor and follow me", began to recur when Sylvia prayed or read from the Bible. After the death of her mother, when Sylvia was 42 years old, this call only became more insistent. She consulted her parish priest, who referred her to the higher authorities. Bishop Wheeler of Leeds responded positively to her. "He believed it was a genuine call from God and that 1 should respond."
Having worked as a nurse among immigrant communities, and studied world religions, Sylvia felt India might be the place to begin her new life. But the move would be drastic. "I was not at all keen at first — to give up my well paid job, my car, and home in the country with some land. It seemed like a harebrained idea."
Sensing that she needed some guidance Sylvia wrote to Mother Teresa (now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta), who at that time was synonymous with missionary work in India. The organisation had no room — Sylvia was still sure that the life of a nun was not for her, and the Missionaries of Charity made it clear that they could not support a lay woman of her age.
Then came the news of a small order of nuns run by Mother Mary Carson who worked in a town in south India called Tiruvannamalai.
In 1981 Sylvia Wright went out to India for the first time. She saw that there was work to be done, though these nuns would not lake on a lay woman either.
"I returned to England and handed in my notice, sold all of my possessions, house and land, drew out my savings and pension contributions and set out for India, arriving there on January 6 1982."
Sylvia soon found that her money went a long way in Tamil Nadu. "I bought a van, equipped it and employed five people — a driver, an interpreter, and two girls who I trained as nurses." Under Sylvia's direction the small group started clinics in six villages, keeping to strict timetables so that the villagers knew when they would arrive each week. They sometimes worked until midnight, treating up to 400 people a day.
It is from these clinics that the Sylvia Wright Trust emerged. A hospital was built on land provided by Mother Mary Garson's nuns in 1985 to which was added a new, larger hospital six years ago. In the new hospital the intensive care unit, two operating theatres, and clinics for TB and antenatal care provide high-quality medical care in an area where it is difficult for most people to find it.
Tony Allinson, the chairman of the Sylvia Wright Trust, follows the developments from Leeds, where he continues, . along with several Catholic schools, to raise money for the charity: "The Trust has recently funded a new outpatient block, an echo heart machine and treadmill, laundry equipment and the refurbishment of the kitchens and the operating theatres. Additional kidney dialysis machines and other equipment have been funded locally."
This year Sylvia's other big project is in urgent need of donations. Her school for profoundly deaf children — set up in 1996 — cares for 230 children aged three to 18. Education and accommodation is free, but 90 children remain unsponsored, and the current financial climate is not helping matters, despite the fact that care for one child costs just £15 a month, The level of work means the daily Masses are not possible, but Sylvia's Catholic faith remains strong. "I pray for God's guidance and have great trust in Him. l try to leave all in God's hands and respond and go where he leads. Nothing is easy."
To find out more about sponsoring a child in Sylvia Wright's school please contact Angela Clark, SWT Sponsorship, 3 Eddison Walk, East Causeway, Leeds 1,516 89A. Tel: 0113 2677660 or 0773 6364581