The Heart of Nuba– Film, Panel Discussion about Only Doctor in Sudan Mother of Mercy Hospital

The Heart of Nuba is an inspiring film about the lone doctor in the war-torn South Sudan Nuban Mountains.  See it on Sunday February 12, at 2:00 PM at Rabb Hall in the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, Boston.  This event is free.

Imagine that you a doctor.  Imagine that you are a doctor in a 435-bed hospital.

Imagine that you are the only doctor in that hospital, and that you serve a population of 500,000.

Now imagine that hospital is in a remote part of the Sudan and that the Sudanese government regularly bombs your area.

That describes the life of Dr. Tom Catena, graduate of Brown University and Duke University School of Medicine.  Dr. Catena has dedicated his life to caring for the Nuban people of the South Sudan Nuban Mountains, where he single-handedly runs the Mother of Mercy Hospital.  He is the only doctor for people that deal, not only with ‘regular’ health issues of living in a remote mountain region, but also with the injuries that result from daily bombings ordered by Sudanese dictator President Omar al-Bashir. 

Dr. Catena is a Catholic missionary from New York.  With his credentials, he could have practiced medicine anywhere.  Yet he chooses--he sees it as a privilege-- to practice in the Nuban Mountains where the need is greatest.

The Heart of Nuba is an powerful and moving film about Dr. Catena and his work.  Dr. Catena was nominated for the 2016 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity,  a yearly international humanitarian award that acknowledges people and organizations that work on  preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes.  He was also highlighted in Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in 2015.
Following the movie there will be a Q&A with a panel including Producer Kenneth Carlson and  Aymen Korika from the Nuba Mountains.

The Heart of Nuba has been an official selection of several film festivals including the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and the Heartland Film Festival.  It has been shown internationally in the British Parliament House of Lords, the US Congress,  The Italian Senate, and The Hague.    

This event is sponsored by Amnesty International Group 133, Armenian Assembly of America, Bethel A. M. E. Church, Investors Against Genocide, Lexington Interfaith Clergy Association, Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur,  Old South Church in Boston, Physicians for Human Rights. Temple Emunah of Lexington, Temple Isaiah of Lexington, Temple Israel of Boston, Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord.