Dear brothers in Christ, rejoice in the Lord always!
With your love and help I get strength and courage for the continuation of the missionary struggle. We strive to maintain the multifaceted charitable work:
- breakfast to the street children
- the lunch ration to homeless disabled people
- our 5 clinics and
- the 5 schools in remote poor villages.
But we were forced to close the clinic in Kolkata and the 3 that were operating in the Girls’ Orphanage. Unfortunately we had no other choice.
Despite India’s economic progress, poverty, ignorance and marginalisation through the caste system have led to the impoverishment of millions of Indians, who are literally living on the streets. On the roadsides, in shacks and even in the burrows of old Muslim cemeteries, thousands of children are born, suffering from starvation, lack of water and basic sanitation, hardship and disease. The daily gamble is survival…
Education is a distant dream, which dare not even creep into their sleep. And you may wonder if there is worse. But there is! Superstitions, the institution of dowry and the devaluation of women in India has for decades now – despite the Indian government’s diligent efforts – led to the killing of female embryos. If they are nevertheless born, these innocent souls are often faced with the possibility of abandonment, abuse and being forced into prostitution.
Fight for the salvation of orphans
But at the “Theotokos” Orphanage for Girls, since 1999, hundreds of little girls have been saved and blessed by the presence of the Greek Orthodox Church in India. Now saved biologically and morally, with their joyful voices and smiling faces, they are the living testimony of the Light in the gloomy darkness of ignorance, idolatry and superstition.
Ten years later, in November 2009, another dream came true: the establishment of the “St Ignatius” Orphanage for Boys. Our little boys, who also came from the poorest social classes, escaped from a martyr’s present and the bleak future that awaited them and in turn became witnesses of Christ’s blessing in their lives.
It is a real revolution – which we, taking it for granted, often forget – for the little boys and girls of the outcasts, the “unchurched” and “untouchables” (as the caste system classifies them) to learn that they are equal members, created in the image and likeness of God. What stereotype and establishment can stand before this revelation? What horizons are opened to the souls and minds of these tormented beings?
These children, girls and boys, now have the right to dream, to set goals for the future: the Mission, covering with your assistance all their basic needs, supports them in all their schooling: from the first grade of school to studies in higher educational institutions, which is a feat considering that education is not free.
Respecting every last euro of the supply that arrived from Greece to distant India, we always try to make as good a management as possible:
In order to reduce the cost of tuition fees we founded and operate the school “St Ignatius” to meet the educational needs of young children. The high level of education as well as the Christian education it provides is free for our orphans and affordable for a nominal fee for the poor children of the surrounding area.
Also, to reduce the cost of feeding our 150 or so children, we dreamed of creating a farm that would provide us with a large portion of our food. Unfortunately, the projects that were initiated for this purpose were left unfinished due to lack of funds.
The older girls willingly embrace and take care of the younger children, having now completed their studies they take over the teaching of some lessons for the younger ones and help with the school secretariat.
Immediate and real threat
The unprecedented economic crisis affecting our country has led to a dramatic reduction in donations. The charitable work of the Mission, which relies almost exclusively on the contributions of Greek donors, is threatened as never before. Everything that has been accomplished so far in this far-off country has been done thanks to your precious help; the widow’s mite has become shelter, food, water, clothing, medicine, books for the poorest of the poor, wherever and however possible.
The heart of all our charitable activities is the orphanages, we are struggling to maintain their operation, reducing the number of clinics, even reducing the rations in the soup kitchens for the homeless. If the orphanages are closed, these children, with absolutely no one in the world, are at risk of being back on the streets.
It is very difficult to reach out and ask for help from Greece, which is affected by the acute economic crisis. But at the same time as the Greek people, the work of the Mission is also being tested, since it is completely dependent on your help, as it is not subsidized by any official body.
The needs are huge and the pressure is suffocating. We are trying as economically as we can to meet the operational needs of all our charitable programs, orphanages and St. Ignatius School, but based on our budget, expenses and income, reasonably and mathematically, we will be able to operate for a very short time to come.
The school is also required by Indian law to have additional facilities (fire exit and outdoor toilets) in order to be accredited for the larger classes (sixth grade and above). The construction cost based on the lowest bid we have received is €23,000. This work is unavoidable, as without the certificate the above classes will not be allowed to operate. Consequently our orphans in this eventuality will have to be enrolled in external schools and we will have to cover the high education fees. Which is impossible.
You are their parents
It is strange how a Christian from Greece and an orphaned child in India are connected. Without knowing each other personally, they become interconnected links in a chain of solidarity. These children, who have not known paternal and maternal care, know how someone in this distant country called Greece cares for them and helps them. Each one of you becomes in the child’s mind a distant image of “father” and “mother”, the model of the true Christian who stirs where there is need. At a time when the “Greek” is vilified in civilized European countries, these children become daily witnesses of giving, of charity, of solidarity, of Christian witness of love. They become silent ambassadors of the real Greece, an experience that they will witness in the future and that already older children recognize and confess. In their daily prayers, young and old children alike sing thanksgiving to God for each of you, who with your contributions and your prayers meet their daily needs. You are an integral part of our daily prayers and we rely on yours as well. On behalf of all from far away India, I express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude and we send our warmest wishes for the approaching feast of Our Lady. May the Mother of the Christian Nation sustain us, cover us and deliver us all from visible and invisible enemies.
With honor, gratitude and much love in Christ
Ad. Nectaria
