Gertrude Lemmens
| Gertrude Lemmens | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 July 1914 Venray, Netherlands |
| Died | 27 October 2000 Karachi |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Other names | Truus |
| Occupation | religious sister |
| Years active | 1944 - 2000 |
| Organization | Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King |
| Known for | work with the mentally handicapped |
| Notable work | founder of Darul Sukun |
| Relatives | Salesius Lemmens (brother) |
| Awards | Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam |
Sister Gertrude (Truus) Lemmens (14 July 1914, Venray, Netherlands - 30 October 2000, Karachi, Pakistan), was a Dutch nun and founder of Darul Sukun, a home for the mentally handicapped in Karachi, Pakistan.
She was the sister of Fr. Salesius Lemmens OFM who served the city of Karachi from the mid-1930s until his death in 1942.
In October 1939, at the age of 25, Gertrude Lemmens, traveled from her hometown of Venray, the Netherlands, to visit her brother, Fr. Salesius Lemmens OFM, who was a missionary priest serving what, at that time, were the Sindh and Baluchistan provinces of India, but today are part of Pakistan. She arrived on November 1 of that year, and she accompanied him for a month on his rounds of social work in under-privileged communities. She came to be tremendously moved by how poor and needy the people were. After her return to her homeland, she felt compelled to live in a way which helped those in such poverty as she had come to know. She returned to India and joined the only indigenous religious institute of Sisters in the region, the Franciscan Missionaries Sisters of Christ the King.
She then made a commitment to the dispossessed of the country, touring the slums and reaching out with heart and mind to anybody who needed her help. She would teach at Christ the King School in Khudadad Colony in the morning and would go out to do social work in the slums of the city in the afternoons. She was particularly concerned with the treatment of the mentally retarded, the real victims in the vicious pecking order of society. Because of the outbreak of World War II, communication with her homeland had become difficult, and she was able to return for a visit only in 1957. It was an experience which strengthened her commitment to the suffering of the new nation of Pakistan.
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