My participation in the work of the Charitable Community of the Orthodox Church in India was an intimate acquaintance with Sister Nectaria. She alone carries responsibilities that would otherwise require an army: she runs five schools – four in the countryside plus the English-speaking St. Ignatius High School in the Girls’ Orphanage – five medical clinics in remote villages, twelve churches, the clergy, the staff, the daily morning feeding program that provides milk and cookies to about 100 children. For some children, in fact, this is the only meal they will receive all day! He also runs the daily soup kitchen program, providing meals to 80 – 100 of the poorest of the poor, homeless, blind, disabled. And of course, he runs the “Theotokos” Girls’ Orphanage, which houses 80 girls, and the “St. Ignatius” Boys’ Orphanage with 50 boys. And after all this, he manages an endless list of daily tasks and the incredible paperwork involved.
Soul Transformations
The children in the orphanages are extremely beautiful, talented and intelligent. The sister offers them not only a shelter, but a home. More than lucky, they are blessed. They have hope and a dream. They have goals ahead of them and the drive they radiate is contagious. They have so much love to share, it knocks you out the moment you walk through the orphanage gates. Their smiles are permanent, spontaneous and genuine. I immediately felt very connected to them and became part of this extended family. Previously, these children never had anything, never went to school. They didn’t know how to hold a pencil or wear their clothes properly. Their transition from their old life of unimaginable poverty and suffering to the life of the orphanage, where they have food three times a day from 2-3 servings if they want it, and where no one hits them or yells at them, where they have a bed and a bathroom and walls and clean clothes and a thousand other good things, this transition can be difficult for them. It’s a whole new world, but you can see in them an immediate transformation. Modumita, whose mother was killed in an accident and whose father was not fit to care for her, came to the orphanage very young and is now 7 years old. Receiving an education at St. Ignatius School, she can now dream of becoming a teacher when she grows up! Ashim (Minas) is a sweet 12-year-old boy who is a fatherless boy and his mother is suffering from a terminal illness and cannot even take care of herself. He had never been to school until he came to the Orthodox orphanage 5 years ago. Now he attends the 3rd grade, not caring that everyone in his class is younger than him. Instead, he is grateful for this opportunity and tries hard. When he grows up, he wants to be a priest. On Sundays he leaves the orphanage first thing in the morning and goes to church to minister in the sanctuary. I found him in the sanctuary every Sunday at a quarter to seven!
Kalimera children
Sister Nectaria is blessed with so many talents. She speaks many languages. She acts as administrator, accountant, teacher, director, mother, spiritual guide. And she does all this charitable work in a country where Christianity, let alone Orthodoxy, has only a minimal and obscure presence. Her Christian devotion is eloquent in her actions as a selfless, loving minister of God. And yet, everything she does is met with suspicion. I am not writing all of this to praise her. I write them because through our efforts perhaps we can lighten the burden she has to carry and help the programs of the Charitable Fellowship of the Orthodox Church in India to continue to function. I hope to be able to see her again so that I can embrace her and her children, who are now my children as well. Kalimera sister, kalimera children. Elder Lisa Koo
San Jose, California
