Easter News 2004 Dear
Friends,
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.
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.
Last
August, we had provided sewing machines to 18 women and helped them to work and
earn money. Recently, on February 22nd 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.
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.
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 28th 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,
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