Norman Wray

Norman Wray obtained his FSC from Saint Mary’s University, Minnesota, USA in 1946. He has given his life to missionary work in Sri Lanka, India, Guatemala, and Pakistan. There, he set up the St. Patrick's Technical School in Karachi and ran the program for 15 years. In 1982, he founded the Marie Adelaide Rehabilitation Center, a rehabilitation center where men with drug addictions seek professional help to rebuild their lives. When Brother Norman started the center, he worked with eight drug-dependent men; today the number has grown to over 120.^[1]

His mother was his role model for going out to the poor. During the depression in the 1930s his family saw kids eating out of the garbage and his mother would say, "that child could be you."

In 2003, Br. Norman celebrated his 80th birthday and the Diamond Jubilee of Religious life as a de La Salle brother. He has also established a Rehabilitation Centre for drug and substance abusers in Sinjoro in the Sindh Province.^[2] He is a member of the Governing board of this centre known as the House of Hope. The project includes a Halfway House in Catholic Colony in Karachi to help recovering addicts make the transition to a normal life.

Alarmed that HIV infection is rapidly increasing among drug users in Karachi and has reached 9% in 2004–5, Br. Norman has stepped up his work with the Marie Adelaide Rehabilitation Center, with drug users by introducing harm reduction programmes in Karachi. ^[3]

More recently a Drop-In Centre and a Mobile Clinic were also started by him to cater to the needs of those addicts who are on the streets because they don't have a place to stay.

The cost of running these programs is Rupees1 million per month for the Rehabilitation Centre in Sinjoro, the Half Way House, Drop-In Centre and Mobile Clinic in Karachi. Donations and patient fees cover around 50 percent of the expenses locally. The other 50 percent came from foreign donors.

Such is the influence of Brother Norman’s work that his spiritual and intellectual influence have been acknowledged even by staunch Muslims. ^[4]

References

1. ^ "Brother Norman Wray". http://www.smumn.edu/Resources/Images/17413.pdf. 
2. ^ "Br. Norman Wray". http://www.lasalle2.org/English/Events/2003/08jul03b.php. 
3. ^ "High risk behaviors of injection drug users". http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/4/1/7/abstract/. 
4. ^ Esack, Farid. On Being a Muslim. Oxford. UK: Oneworld Publications, 2002

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