Dear Friends,

It’s a great pleasure for me to write to you all and share some news about our work. I take this opportunity at the same time to extend to you my heartfelt Easter greetings. Easter is a time when we share the joy of the Risen Lord with others around us and that is truly meaningful if we have opened our eyes and ears first to the sufferings and difficulties that our neighbours have been going through. I know that all of you have been very sensitive to the suffering of the poor and constantly supporting this work for the poor and so the news in this letter will be definitely interesting to you. We have been able to do some new activities as well, which are described below.

Classes for rag pickers and street children

In my last letter, I had mentioned that we had started a special class for children who not have anyone to care for them. Among these we have found rag pickers and street children and even orphans. They do not have any food at home and so they cannot go to school. The number of this type of children has now increased to 50 and they come happily to our morning classes every day because they get some food to eat and some rice, bread, and pulses to take home. As soon as they come to our school they are helped to brush their teeth and take a bath. Then their clothes are washed and from time to time they are also provided with new clothes and sandals. Those who need medicines are also taken care of. This type of school is troublesome but very rewarding because we see a lot of change in these children for whom otherwise nobody would have cared.

The street children and vendors’ festivals

In October 2003 we had provided 18 footpath vendors with carts to sell things like vegetables, fruits, sweets and other types of eatables. Later on, I thought it good to hold festivals with the vendors and our street children, every Saturday. So we invited to these festivals those vendors who were selling different types of eatables. We set up different games at which the children could easily take part and also win easily some tickets with which they could buy from the vendors the types of eatables they liked. The vendors were paid by me according to the number of tickets they had. Soon these festivals began to attract a number of extremely poor children, in addition to the usual street children and so the number rose soon to about 400. They all needed some fun and some food to eat, which they easily found at these festivals and they had also enough eatables to carry home for their family members. Even the vendors found that their business was worth more than what they earned in the whole week. But in summer the hot sun will make it difficult for us to organize such festivals and so we will have to think of something different.

Sewing machines as a self-employment project

Last August, we had provided sewing machines to 18 women and helped them to work and earn money. Recently, on February 22^nd we provided 14 more women with sewing machines. All these are young girls who are not educated enough to get a well-paid job and they were desperately looking for some work. So far, in two years we have been able to help 44 girls or women with a machine each, which can bring them a little income and some dignity also.

Houses for the poor

From the year 2000 I had been trying to build low cost houses in the flood affected areas of Bengal. Although my plan was to build only 100 houses, now the number has crossed 150 and soon we will be able to reach 160. This was made possible because during my visit to Europe and the U.S.A in the summer of 2003, a number of people had given me help for the poor and most of which I was able to spare for building houses for those who had suffered from the floods of the year 2000. Although each house costs only about 500 Euros, it is a big gift for a poor family who in their life time will not be able to save that much money to build that kind of a house.

Kerosene stove for poor families

After talking to some of our school children, I came to know that the only type of fuel they used at home for cooking was firewood or dry cow dung, which of course create a lot of smoke and pollution. Some time ago, I had noticed that some families in the slums shared their kerosene stoves with the neighbours who could not buy one. So, finally I realized now that it was possible to help these poor families with kerosene stove and a litre of kerosene in a small container. As we began to identify such cases, we soon had a list of 150 families and many more began to make known their need for a stove. But we decided to help 150 of them now and the rest we put off to another date. So on 28^th February we held a special function at which we provided 150 families with kerosene stove and a litre of kerosene in a plastic container. This was a small gift when we look at the cost because it cost us only three Euros per family. But the significance of the gift is not small as we have given a little dignity to each of these families and at the same reduced the pollution around here in a small way.

I would like to say here a special word of thanks to those who have helped us for all the different described above. When I reflect over the need for a little fire in each family, I am inclined to think of the hope that Easter brings every year to each one of us by kindling in our hearts new sparks of hope that we, in turn, can carry to others and that I believe is what Easter stands for. As I conclude with this thought, I would like to thank you all for your constant encouragement and financial support. May the Risen Lord be with you all in your efforts to kindle a fire of hope in the poor and all those in need!

Sincerely,

Fr. Joseph Aymanathil, s.d.b

(Easter, 2004).

S.B. A/C. No 3296 Nitika Don Bosco

The Federal Bank, Tangra Branch

Kolkata 700 015