Dr. Jemima (Mina) MacKenzie (MD 1904, LLD 1940) stopped at nothing when it came to helping the poor and sick of India. She prevented an outbreak of cholera after inoculating people night and day. She learned how to perform cataract surgery by correspondence. She once detonated dynamite to blast a well and supply a rural community with safe drinking water. She built hospitals, ran orphanages and adopted dozens of abandoned children.
Resourceful, determined, gutsy. These words seem like understatements when it comes to describing Jemima MacKenzie, who graduated from Dalhousie Medical School at the turn of the last century. The spinster daughter of a Pictou County, Canada farmer, Dr. MacKenzie spent more than 30 years of her life in India, where she worked tirelessly to positively impact the lives of thousands of poor and disadvantaged children, women, and men.
Dr. Mina felt that every person mattered, and ripples of the impact she made on the lives of others are still being felt today.
Mina's courage, persistence and resiliency guided her selfless service in India, but Dr. Mina first needed to overcome many obstacles, including earning her MD degree from Dalhousie University. Mina's work for over three decades earned the country's highest honour, the Kaisar-I-Hind medal from the Viceroy of India.
Resources
Dr. Mina MacKenzie Wikipedia article
Mina Fund Facebook page
Mina Fund Twitter page
Newsletters
Volume 5 - 2017 WinterVolume 4 - 2016 Fall
Volume 3 - 2016 Winter/Spring
Volume 2 - 2015 Fall
Volume 1 - 2015 Summer
Dr. Mina showed that getting actively involved in helping the poor and sick makes a positive and enduring difference. Mina's love and compassion made an indelible impression on the children she adopted.
The Dr. Mina Fund has changed the lives of hundreds of children and has brought hope to many who need support and motivation, so that they too can achieve what everyone hopes for - a better life.