Outreach
programme
St Thomas Feast is being celebrated on 5th
July, 2015 in RK Puram Parish. As part
of the celebrations a team of parishioners with Fr Jesuraj, Assistant Parish
Priest went to Snehalaya, in Palam next to Mahavir Enclave. Last Sunday we took a second collection in
the church to give everyone a chance to contribute for this noble cause. We left at 9-30 AM from the church. Fr Jesuraj was very sure of the location but
had not gone there himself. I was happy
to have him in my car as there would be no problem reaching our destination.
2. Palam is not an easy place. From the T1 terminal junction we took the
road to Dwarka and the other vehicles were following us. The road climbed up the flyover crossing the
railway line and leading to Dwarka. We
however took the left fork and descended to the chaos of Palam/Mahavir
Enclave. Turned left and got lost in the
confusion of lanes. Directions from the well-wishers
were not of much use. Ultimately we
switched on the GPS/google maps and let the electronic voice guide us to our
destination. Sisters run the place for
the girls and fathers of Don Bosco run the place for the boys. Both are close to each other. There were 18 girls going to school from 2nd
standard upto 11th standard.
It is summer holidays for them.
They sang for us and we played a game with them. Tania, representing our youth, taught the
girls some action songs. Dr Daisy our
Parish Council Vice President had come with her twins. They became the centre of attraction for the
girls. All of them wanted to carry the
kids and surprisingly the kids did not object and rather enjoyed the crowed and
the attention.
3. We crossed to the boys’ home. They had more than 100 boys. Some were practicing music, some involved in
other activities. They all go to nearby
schools. The boys are divided into age
wise groups. Broadly they have those
upto 18 years of age and another group from 18 to 22 years. There was a small boy in tears and wanted to
go home, a home he was not sure off. He
tearfully wanted to meet his dadi at home.
Fr explained about the requirement of paperwork, the background of the
boys, the challenges that are required to be faced and how difficult it is to
manage. Lack of financial resources
itself may be a major challenge, but to take care of children, study, food
sickness, etc are all daily chores and needed to be attended to with love,
compassion and care. Children might have run away from homes,
lost, picked up from railway stations, children of jail inmates, abused,
shattered, dejected, suicidal,….. When
you meet them they radiate hope and happiness.
Wonderful job done by our sisters and fathers/brothers.
4. When we enjoy good things in life, may be a
loving family, a nice home, good food, loving friends we fail to be
thankful. A visit to such a place puts
everything in perspective. I would say
that such exposure is needed for us to bring us down to earth, to acknowledge
that there are people around, plenty of them, who are not as privileged. Then let’s appreciate the sacrifice that the
religious make. They too have a loving
family, they could also have enjoyed the material world, they could also have
gone for a movie or an evening bash at KFC or Dominoes. But, they left everything and have given that
hope and happiness to these children, God’s children.
5. Let’s remember these children and their
guardians, guardian angels in our prayers during this feast time and whenever
we are inclined to grumble when we could be or should be satisfied.
6. We then went to St John’s Church, Mahavir
Enclave. One of the cars took a wrong
turn and ended up on the flyover towards the airport and back to church. We went into the church. Parking is very difficult in the narrow front
lane of the church. Father gave us a
glass of cool drink and biscuits. Our
growling stomachs and parched throat welcomed the offer. Suddenly we realised that Dr Daisy’s kids
were in the car that has already left and mother Daisy was with us. We bade farewell and headed home, deeply
satisfied. Praise the Lord.
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