Yerevan /Mediamax/. Laureate of the 2017 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity Tom Catena said at the press conference after the ceremony that he will simply get back to work once the award events are over.

“I’m a pretty shy person. I told my patients nothing about this. I just said I was going to Armenia to participate in a ceremony. When I’m back, I’ll just tell them, let’s get to work. I don’t think I have much to say. I don’t need na hoopla. I just want to go back to work. But of course, I’m curious how they’ll meet me,” Tom Catena said.

Dr. Tom noted he will divide the USD 1m of the prize money between 3 organizations of his choosing to manage as they see fit.

“Of course, it’s great that the money will go to the organizations I named, but the value of Aurora Prize first is that it draws people’s attention to what is happening in Nuba Mountains of Sudan,” he noticed.

Touching on his share of the prize money, Dr. Tom said: “People tell me to spend some of it on traveling, but I think I’ll spend it on my patients. We need equipment, and we have lots of work to do.”

Tom Catena dreams that dedicated doctors would work in Nuba Mountains. He can leave Sudan only when he’s certain that the people of Nuba are in safe hands. He told that two young Nuba people are studying medicine and several others are on a re-training course in his hospital, assisting him.

“Doctors shouldn’t have any expectations when coming to Nuba. They won’t live in their own house and earn a lot. That’s why many doctors aren’t excited about the job. I hope that the Nuba people themselves will become doctors and work in their region,” Dr. Catena said.

Tom Catena said that now he’s working for black people in Africa, but who knows, perhaps, he would work in other place in the future, which won’t make him more or less dedicated. “We all are God’s children, regardless of the colour of our skin. I look at them and I don’t see them as different. They are my sisters and brothers,” the American missioner said.

Tom told about his work in Nuba Mountains and his feelings during the speech he gave at the ceremony:

“Sometimes people ask me, “What is the most difficult part of the job?” The most difficult part is to watch your patients die. Imagine you have three or four patients in a single day.”

Children dying from shelling or epidemics, cancer, pregnancy or childbirth-related deaths, gunshots, burns – this is how Dr. Tom’s day goes in the hospital.

“At that point [when people die] you feel that all the sadness and grief in the world are sitting on top of your head. They’re inside your chest, squeezing you, you can’t even breathe. And you sit down, and you think. One day I walked out, I looked up and I said, “Drop the bomb on top of me. This grief is too much.” But then you walk over there, you see a kid and he says, “Hey, doctor!” He just wants to play with you. Then an old grandmother says, “Doctor, thank you for being here.” An old man says, “Please, don’t leave us.” And you slowly get your senses back. You realize that we’re perfectionists. These people, who’ve been traumatized and oppressed for centuries, they don’t need perfection and they don’t expect us to do miracles. What they need is someone to sit there with them and suffer with them,” Tom Catena said after receiving the award.

This is how Tom Catena described his visit to Armenia: “I have never met such warm and hospitable people in my entire life. Here I feel like I’m home, in the kitchen, cooking meals with my family. Thank you for that.”

George Clooney, Academy Award-winning actor and Co-Chair of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee, commended Dr. Catena by stating, “As violence and war continue to threaten people’s spirits and perseverance, it is important to recognize, empower and celebrate people like Dr. Catena who are selflessly helping others to not only survive, but thrive. Dr. Catena is a role model to us all, and yet another example of people on the ground truly making a difference.” 

Dr. Catena will receive a $ 100,000 grant and the opportunity to continue the cycle of giving by donating the accompanying $ 1,000,000 award to organizations of his choice. Dr. Catena will donate the award to three organizations:

- African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), USA

- Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), USA

- Aktion Canchanabury, Germany

For the last nine years, Dr. Catena – known by locals as “Dr. Tom” – has been on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the Mother of Mercy Catholic Hospital to care for the more than 750,000 citizens of Nuba amidst ongoing civil war between the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement. Patients have been known to walk for up to seven days to receive treatment for injuries from bombing attacks and ailments varying from bone fractures to malnourishment and malaria. It is estimated that Dr. Catena treats 500 patients per day and performs more than one thousand operations each year.

“Dr. Catena embodies the spirit of the Aurora Prize, and we extend our deepest gratitude to him and the people and organizations around the world that support and inspire him to continue his noble work despite immensely challenging conditions. We are honored to share his story with the world to shed light on the goodwill that exists in the world so that helping others becomes part of our global culture”, said Ruben Vardanyan, co-founder of Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.