The mission hospital of Elat was founded in 1933 by the Roman Catholic congregation Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (FDNSC), Tilburg.  See Jan Willemsen, Van tentoonstelling naar wereldorganisatie,94. Next to the general hospital a leprosy institution was maintained. See Dutch Missionary Activities, 107-109. Interviews 48 en 50; KMM 258 en 306; Sister M.C. Jansen (sister Marcaria) had been working from  1936 to 1974 in health care, in hospitals on the Kei-islands  and Tanimbar, both in the bishopry of Amboina. She often had to act as a medical doctor and executed minor operations. People called her grandmother and that meant a deal in terms of influence.

Elat was situated on the Grand Kai islands,which were part of the department Amboina, Residency Moluccas. The Kai islands were a subdepartment with almost 51,000 inhabitants, of whom 70 Europeans and 170 Chinese. The main town was Tual (Gonggryp 1934, 605).