In Salvador, Dona Laura started to live, exactly, in the neighborhood of Pau da Lima, where she founded, in 1990, the Hospital São Rafael

In the splendor of her 80s, exuding serenity and lucidity, Italian missionary Laura Ziller sees her relationship with Bahia in a very affectionate way. “Today I feel both Bahian and Italian”, she declares. Dona Laura arrived in Brazil in 1976, through the Italo-Brazilian Health Promotion Center, Monte Tabor, to carry out the evangelical mandate “Go, Teach and Heal” on Bahian soil. In Salvador he started to live, exactly, in the neighborhood of Pau da Lima, where he founded, in 1990, the Hospital São Rafael.

The capacity for devotion and love for others are issues intrinsic to Dona Laura’s nature. “I was born in harsh times of war, in a village in the Trentino region, in Italy. I lived my childhood and youth during the difficult period of physical and social reconstruction of the country, experiencing the values ​​of cooperation and solidarity, which marked not only my life, but the entire region, to which I have always remained attached. I come from a modest family, but with deep social and Catholic principles”, he reiterates.

President of Monte Tabor, Dona Laura says that meeting the founder of the work, D. Luigi Maria Verzé, in 1964, when she was just 20 years old, was fundamental for her to continue on the path of helping the elderly and children. “As a consecrated layperson of the Sigilli Association he established, I joined his dream of bringing assistance to the most needy in developing countries and in Brazil, in particular, to start the São Rafael hospital project, whose name means Medicine of God”, he highlights.

Monte Tabor, one of the largest institutions providing health and education services in Bahia, was founded 50 years ago and has continued, ever since, as ratified by the slogan of the campaign created for the fiftieth anniversary, “caring, educating and transforming”. As a non-profit, charitable and charitable association, the organization remains firm in its mission. For Dona Laura, this saga is the result of a lot of faith and vocation. “Believe and see in the needy the suffering Christ, to whom we owe everything. Like Christ, doctor of bodies and souls, pay attention and apply the possibilities of the intelligence that God gave us, to reduce the health, assistance and education needs of others and never give up”, he highlights.

Dona Laura Ziller, follower of D. Luigi’s path, with all her wisdom and white hair, still has plenty of energy to talk about dreams. “Dreaming is vital and always keeps desires alive. Today, Monte Tabor is dedicated entirely to social issues and has the potential to expand its operations. The growth of Monte Tabor’s activities is my greatest desire. Caring, educating, transforming, continuing the thought of the founder D. Luigi, and facing challenges with gentleness and patience, as strength comes from that and not from confrontation”, he attests.

D. Luigi’s journey towards the realization and consolidation of Monte Tabor in Bahian lands is extensive. Therefore, the faith of the priest, the Sigilli Community and all collaborators and partners over the years was largely responsible for this unique trajectory. “Everything is possible to those who believe”: this certainty is the way to continue writing the next 50 years of the history of this institution that bases its purposes on the practice of medicine as the promotion of life, with respect for human dignity, ethical principles and humanization of social relations.