Madeleine Herman, from Liège in Belgium , is a social worker. After her studies, despite health problems, she decided to spend a year in a poor country. She chose to go to Pondicherry, previously a French colony, South India. During a few months she worked in a maternity hospital called "Les soeurs de Cluny".
At the same time she was trying to find a way to be even more helpful. With the collaboration of young Indians from Pondicherry she tried to help people in the poorest suburbs. All she had was her bicycle with some medicine on her luggage-carrier.
Everywhere she goes Madeleine finds misery and physical suffering. She is very affected by the immense poverty of all the inhabitants of a southern suburb in Oupalam. It’s in Oupalam that her group decides to stop and act to help these very poor people. Soon some voluntaries from Europe or other countries come to assist them.
There are many problems and they are all dramatic, but the permanent contact between Madeleine’s group and all these Indians settles a relationship based on trust and friendship which makes the actions possible and long-lasting.
The first activities are: the people’s dispensary, the distribution of milk to the children to fight malnutrition, and helping the adults looking for regular jobs.
To help all these new activities Madeleine creates an Organization in her Belgian city: Liège, which for years will send condensed milk, medicine etc.