This is how it all started…
During 1962, as the Indo-China War escalated and the once-quiet Himalayan foothills grew tense with military activity, Laurie and Dr. Elizabeth Baker decided to leave their home in Pithoragarh with their young children and elderly mother. They returned to Kerala, Elizabeth’s home state, in search of quieter ground and meaningful work. A chance encounter brought Laurie to Kurisumala Ashram in Vagamon, where he met Fr. Francis Acharya and Dom Bede Griffith. The monks spoke of the tribal families and tea plantation workers in the surrounding hills who had no access to healthcare, and encouraged the Bakers to settle nearby.
Taking their advice to heart in 1963, the Bakers moved to Vagamon and soon began treating patients informally. Word spread quickly, and their home became a place of healing. With help from the ashram, they found a nearby plot of land with a stream and set about constructing a small clinic, Laurie’s first architectural work in Kerala. Using local materials and simple methods, they built what would become the first buildings of Mitraniketan, meaning “Home of Friends.” Dr.Elizabeth ran the clinic, often with help from local women whom she trained as aides and midwives
By the late 1960s, the Bakers’ three young children were growing up, and the couple decided to move to the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram, for better schooling and broader work. The Bakers were determined to entrust their Vagamon mission to kindred spirits. It was around this time that Alina Cattani and Hildegard Sina, who had been seeking a more grassroots healthcare model, came into contact with the Bakers.
Alina Cattani and Dr. Hildegard Sina, both members of the Inter-Cultural Association, came to postcolonial India with a shared mission to serve the poor through healthcare. They played key roles in establishing the Pushpagiri Medical Mission Hospital in Thiruvalla, guided by deep compassion, their Catholic faith, and especially for Alina a strong social conscience shaped by witnessing injustice and fascism in her youth. Their growing discomfort with conventional, institution-centered medicine led them to seek a more community-based, human-centered model of care paving the way for the next chapter of their work. In 1968, Dr. Hildegard Sina and Ms. Alina Cattani took charge of Mitraniketan. The late Mariamma Ninan, a longtime member of the Mitraniketan family, was a quiet but steadfast pillar of strength for the Bakers, for Alina-Sina, and for all that this place came to stand for. It was under their stewardship that the Mitraniketan Social Service Society was formally registered (Reg. No. K360/1980) to oversee the hospital and its widening outreach.
Mitraniketan’s role quickly grew beyond clinical treatment. It became a lifeline for the hill communities around Vagamon, particularly for women and children. Extension clinics reached into nearby tribal hamlets and estate settlements. Maternity services became a central focus. For many in Vagamon and the surrounding 25-kilometre radius, Mitraniketan was the place they were born, their first breath taken in rooms built with stone, love, and rain. Dr. Sina and Ms. Alina built the Mitraniketan Club for local youth and established two grassroots organizations for men and women to foster community empowerment and collective growth.
But the years brought quiet change. After Alina’s passing, Dr. Sina kept Mitraniketan’s work alive almost single handedly. Yet, as time moved on, the world around her transformed. By the early 2000s, attracting young doctors to live and serve in this remote landscape became increasingly difficult. The steep roads, modest amenities, and the rhythm of life here asked for a special kind of commitment.
With local tea estates declining, development projects completing their cycles, and public health centres expanding through national and state programmes, the flow of patients began to ease. Gradually, Mitraniketan’s medical services transitioned from full-time inpatient care to more community-based outreach. The buildings remained open not in silence, but in new forms of service.
Today, the same grounds continue to welcome health and welfare initiatives in collaboration with the local body , carrying forward the spirit of care that Dr. Sina and Dr. Alina began. Mitraniketan’s work has since broadened across social, educational, environmental, Laurie Baker Heritage and cultural fields rooted in the same values of compassion, sustainability, and shared humanity.
