Ormylia April 12th 2008
Dearest SAMM,
Please let me thank you form the depths of my heart for your generous offer to donate UpDate to our monastic surgery. It was an unexpected blessing for which I do not know how to thank you enough. Fr Ermolaos of course informed me of your generous offer and about your excellent new site SAMM.
I am greatly moved by your God loving desire to help the doctors of Mt Athos and other monasteries as they do have a great need as you mention for up to date knowledge bases and online access. Textbooks become out of date very quickly and medical knowledge and protocols are constantly changing. It is not easy for us to attend medical conferences and it is very easy to become out of touch with new medical knowledge.
We also need and would be very appreciative of colleague support with clinical advice from their own expertise and experience. Here in Ormylia we are 3 doctor nuns working basically as family practice physicians – one of the sisters is involved with our medical centre “our Lady the Lover of Mankind” (we run philanthropic screening projects for Cancer of the Breast and Cervix for the women of Halkidiki). We also have a new novice who has specialized in respiratory medicine.
I finished medicine in Sydney, Australia having worked 3 years as a hospital resident then a year as a General Practitioner before coming to the monastery in 1985. Sr Pansemni is the other physician who helps me look after our 120 sisters. She finished her medical training in England having done several months training in the field of palliative medicine. The third sister is Sr Thalallea who finished medicine here in Greece. She looks after the women who visit the Centre.
Again I thank you warmly for your generous and truly useful donation. We will be only too glad if ever you come to Greece to come and visit our monastery so that we can meet you personally together with all your family.
I will be looking forward to hearing from you soon,
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Sr Damiani