# Touch of His Hand, The

Sponsored by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, filmmaker Bill Deneen traveled three days by bullock cart to the remote leper colony run by Father Cesare Columbo in Kengtung (Kyiang Tong), Burma. Intended to be a film to be used for fundraising, the film is a fascinating documentary about a humanitarian effort that would soon be terminated by the Burmese government. The film is a precursor to 'Happy City'(also available on the Internet Archive), which Deneen made on Father Columbo's mission approximately five years later. The story of how this film was made is documented in Jean Maddern Pittrone’s 1970 book “The Touch of His Hand: Columbo, A Modern Day Damien in Burma,”pp. 85 - 105. In mid-2003 AFA director Geoff Alexander went to Kengtung, Burma, to see what had become of the hospital and programs. Here is his report: Kengtung (Kyiang Tong) is best accessed by air, as much of the surrounding area is essentially a war-zone, populated by armies from Burma, separatist movements, and drug traders. The city itself has no electricity for much of the day and night, and a cold beer is not to be found here. I took a motorcycle taxi to the Catholic mission, and asked for the person in charge, who happened to be, at the moment, Vicar Mario Matu. He was aware of Father Colombo, and offered to take me to Columbo’s hospital, which still has patients, and where a nun who had worked with Columbo still lived. The hospital in the film sits just outside the village of Naung Kan,…

- Kind: Educational
- Year: 1956
- Runtime: 45 min
- By: William Deneen Productions
- Genres: Education
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/touch_of_his_hand)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/touch_of_his_hand?play=1)