LONG-TIME Bahrain resident and big-hearted philanthropist Florine Mathias, who has helped several distressed expats, particularly Indian nationals for years, is leaving the kingdom on Tuesday and will be missed by all the lives she had touched.
The 77-year-old mother-of-two will be moving to Tampa in the US state of Florida, with her husband Ignatius, a 91-year-old retired civil engineer from the Works Ministry Special Projects Directorate, to seek further medical treatment after suffering a fall in January last year.
“I broke my hip while holidaying at my son James’ home in the US,” Ms Mathias, a retired Housing Ministry executive secretary from Manama, told the GDN.
“I underwent a hip replacement surgery and had to stay there for a while.
“I returned to Bahrain in October last year, but now I will be going back with my husband for further treatment and will stay with 59-year-old James and his lovely family for some time.
“I am donating all that I have to the poor. I don’t know my destiny, but I do intend to settle in India.
“Bahrain has been my home for almost 60 years, I love the country and would wish to return at some point.”
Ms Mathias visited her belated brother Francis Machado, a social worker, in Awali around 1958. She moved to the kingdom in 1961 and married Ignatius.
It didn’t take her long to settle in and make a difference in people’s lives.
“I grew up studying in a convent and took care of orphans during my free time. So when I came to Bahrain, I started visiting the elderly, caring for them, talking to them and looking after them. I soon started working on projects with Sacred Heart Church Bahrain and more.”
Ms Mathias joined the Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) in 1964 and her involvement in community service grew from strength to strength. She started her outreach community work the same year, assisting visiting Indian embassy officials who came from Kuwait to offer Indians counsellor services. She used to take distressed labourers and maids into her Manama home until their cases were resolved.
Ms Mathias is also a founding member of the Migrant Workers Protection Society, through which she helped people from different nationalities. She has been president of the Indian Ladies Association, paying close attention to Sneha and the children there.
In 1993, Ms Mathias was recognised with the ‘Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice’ (meaning ‘For Church and Pope’) Papal Award, the highest accolade given by the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church to lay people and the clergy. The honour was presented by the then Pope’s representative.
Her most recent gift was a specially knitted shawl presented by Indian Ambassador Piyush Srivastava at the Indian Embassy, in the presence of ICRF executive team and Embassy second secretary Ravishankar Shukla, during her farewell ceremony.
The ICRF also honoured Ms Mathias during a farewell dinner at Ramee Grand Hotel and Spa in Seef District, where they praised her role as a ‘guide and mentor for younger volunteers and a fine example of selfless dedication’.
“We, at ICRF, will be losing a dedicated member and a selfless social worker who has been closely involved in every aspect of social service; be it arranging medical camps, providing medicine support to domestic workers, hosting traumatised house-helps at home, providing food support and so on,” said ICRF chairman Dr Babu Ramachandran.
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