Congratulations to former MMA President, Ruth Judd on her OAM

It is with great joy that Medical Mission Aid shares that our past President, Ruth Judd OAM, was recognised for her exceptional contribution to the international community through medical aid in the Australia Day Honours as a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia.

Ruth epitomises the values and history of Medical Mission Aid through her Christ-like example of caring for the marginalised and vulnerable, her empathy for others, her integrity, her commitment to sustainability in healthcare through training of local professionals and her belief that every human being is created in the image of God and therefore of equal value and worth.

This belief led Ruth to serve on the mission field with the Church Missionary Society (CMS) where she became the first Australian Nurse to work in Nepal. In Kathmandu, Ruth worked as Director of Nursing at the Shanta Barwan Hospital where she had a particular passion for training local nurses, thus increasing the capacity of the Nepali Health System.

After 30 years, changing lives and improving the health of the most vulnerable, Ruth returned from Nepal and served as President of MMA, a position she held for just shy of 20 years, retiring from the position when she was 85 years old!

I had the privilege of visiting Ruth to congratulate her on her achievement and OAM on the weekend. As always she was humble in her achievement!

I know that many of us who know Ruth will be delighted to hear she has been recognised in this way. Many thanks to former MMA Executive Director, Shanta Parker, former MMA Board members and members of Ruth’s family who collaborated to make Ruth’s OAM nomination successful.

Thank you for your support of MMA,

Barry Kelly
MMA Board Chair