Alice Brauer: The nightingale of Ambur

Brauer, who passed away a few days ago, spent half a century dedicated to healthcare for those trapped in poverty in villages around Ambur.

Alice Brauer, known to the people she helped as “Missiyamma”, spent several decades working for the welfare of poor people in Tirupattur district. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

She was their only hope. When they suffered from chickenpox, cholera, and polio, she was their guardian angel. They believed the very sight of their “Missiyamma”, driving her jeep to their villages, would drive away the evil spirits that would cause them illnesses.  After half a century dedicated to social and healthcare for those trapped in poverty in Ambur town in Tirupattur district in Tamil Nadu, the India-born American doctor and missionary, Alice Brauer, passed away a few of days ago in Ambur at the age of 87.

When Alice arrived in India to serve the Indian Evangelical Lutheran Church’s hospital Bethathas in Ambur, the poverty and poor health of people living here shocked her. She chose her assignment as a doctor, commissioned by the US-based Missouri Missionary.

Hygiene was a major problem that led to disease. Preventable diseases, such as chickenpox and cholera were epidemics and pertussis (whooping cough) and polio were serious public health issues in these pockets then. Immunisation was at its nascent stage. 

Their sufferings and despair tormented Alice when she met them. She decided to help them. Her treatment of people was free. She first encouraged people to trust institutional deliveries thus eradicating the menace of quacks. She followed up with monitoring neonatal and postnatal mothers. She also instilled awareness about the importance of immunisation. 

Though initially, her initiatives encountered distrust and reluctance from locals, her commitment, and sustained outreach broke the taboo. Within five years, her endeavour yielded positive results. The Bethathas Hospital saw a steep hike in footprints. A small team of committed workers assisted her. 

Alice was struck by the scale of people’s suffering in villages around Ambur. This prompted her to help them. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

Alice Brauer had thus become “Missiyamma”. She did not return to the US. Alice was the fourth child of Richard Henry Brauer, who came to India from the US, by ship, in 1925 before settling down in Nagercoil for his missionary work. Born in 1938 in Nagercoil, Alice had her school education at Kodaikanal. The family returned to the US where she studied medicine. 

She then returned to India to serve the poor. With her father’s blessings, she flew down to India in 1968. To make an emotive connection with the locals she studied Tamil for a year in Madurai before coming to Ambur. She stayed at Ambur and drove a jeep to visit all the villages located around Ambur and treat the sick. Over a period of time, “Missiyamma” became the household name in the villages of Ambur. She continued her service from a wheelchair after a fall in 2017. 

Her love did not confine to the sick and needy alone. Once a nomad fetched a peahen’s egg for sale. She bought it and hatched it among the backyard hens. Indumathi, as the bird was named, fluttered around the campus of her home. She used to feed a pack of dogs and named each one. 

The 47-year-old John Gavaskar, who was her driver and personal assistant during her final days, told Frontline about how she used to be overwhelmingly affectionate to people around her. “It was God’s grace that I had the opportunity to serve her when she needed assistive care. She was an embodiment of love. Her death has left a vacuum in all our lives,” he said. 

Gavaskar, hailing from a nearby village, recalled how his parents would get fortified flour, which she used to distribute to poor mothers and children in his village. “She vaccinated many children including me in those days,” he said.

Emlin Chandra, who worked with Alice in 1972-74, in her condolence message, said she “lived a beautiful godly life, serving the poor and needy, children, sick, and dying. She left her own family and adopted every soul in Ambur,” she said.

Sharon Benny, a documentary filmmaker, told Frontline that many people in villages were unaware of her death. Benny, who is making a documentary about her, said that the works of missionaries in Tamil Nadu started in the mid-1800s. However, many, after completing their stints, returned to their countries. Only a few like Alice stayed back to serve the people. “No doubt, Alice has been their angel,” Benny said.