Walking with the poor - notes from India

MISSION AWARENESS TRIP TO INDIA
Oct. 10 - 23, 2007

CFCA is here to stay

Children waiting to be sponsored at CFCA-Trichy.

Several thousand moms, dads, children, youth and aging were waiting for us on the campus of Auxilium College in Vellore, owned and operated by the Salesian Sisters. With a current enrollment of 2,300, this beautiful place takes girls from preschool to Ph.D. The sisters appreciate the 30 sponsored children and scholars we send them; so much that they hosted this large gathering on campus.

I found the children and families “electric” in their readiness to listen, learn and participate. The confidence of the performers and the insightfulness of the teens in their skit “Cyberslave” made the hours fly by. The temperature in the auditorium was high, and the speeches and artistic numbers were 28. Yet, the atmosphere was joyfully charged with the families’ deep-down knowledge that CFCA is for real and that we are here to stay and to walk with them personally into a brighter future. This was great preparation for tomorrow, which will transport us by road back to Chennai (Madras), air to Trichy and overnight train to Palay.

Blue saris and the power of hope

Sponsored mothers rally for empowerment.

We were met at about 5 a.m. by members of the Palay team. After breakfast we began a rally trek through Palay itself with 2,200 CFCA mothers in matching blue saris—spectacular enough to make the afternoon press. The theme of the rally today is women’s empowerment.

The walk ended in the Palay Municipal Hall—welcome shade after the open fields and streets. The performances by children and moms were great and the testimonials from current and former sponsored children very moving. Two are studying engineering and one girl is studying to be a radiologist. They themselves are committed to sponsoring children when they finish their studies.

The night is short, and again we find ourselves on the train heading this time for the subprojects of Madurai. Madurai was quite hot at midday. Despite my efforts to negotiate with the driver, we sped and honked the 18 kilometers from Madurai to the subproject. Three Sacred Heart Brothers (Jesuraj, Louis and Shiny) plus a postulant Bosco make up the religious community who manage the primary and secondary school serving this rural area. It always amazes me how 1,000 or so children can appear from behind hills that seem to house only herds of goats. Almost 300 children and 44 aging sponsored are here. The girls looking very sharp in their pink saris, last year’s CFCA Christmas gift. We had a substantial group for our outdoor theater.

Livelihood projects, talent and joy abound

CFCA mothers in India perform.

The mothers of Vanasthalipuram Parish (subproject VSP) seem to light up with pride. Both children and parents perform so very well… everything from classic to modern dance, karate to gymnastics and a formal speech from talented sponsored teen Manon Mani. We made it out to the Madurai airport where we flew in a small propeller craft to Chennai for a short night and on to Hyderabad in the morning.

We hit the Hyderabad scene at full stride. Now in the company of Father Jerry Morgan, a CFCA presenter, we visited the Jagadgiri Gutta (JGG) and Shapurnagar (SRP) subprojects. The 149 moms and 168 sponsored children in Jagadgiri Gutta, as well as the 175 children and families of Shapurnagar impressed us tremendously with their livelihood projects, talent and joy.

To witness the mothers’ spirit of community resulting in production of attractive and practical book bags and various kinds of school notebooks is really invigorating. Living in the neighborhood and forming intentional communities there, CFCA staff members are in a beautiful position to share these practical skills and a lot more. At these gatherings, each member of our group is invited to speak and, of course, to participate in dances. It was late when our team enjoyed a vegetarian supper to complete this inspiring day.

Hyderabad annual mothers gathering

An estimated 7,000 mothers gathered in the patio of St. Mary’s School for this most colorful and inspiring day. Sponsors do not tire in expressing the impact of these days on their lives. We were treated to excellent music by sponsored members and the multi-talented Depak and the CFCA Youth Chorus, spectacular folk dances, awards, certificates and new book bags for all performers followed by a nice lunch prepared by Sponsored Mothers’ Catering group, which I named the CFCA Ladybugs because of their red saris with black and red spots.

Heading home

Thank you for traveling by our side in India. It has been a tremendously energizing journey. Paul Pearce (CFCA director of international programs) and I calculate that we were invited to interact with some 15,000 people during these days—all directly related to CFCA.

God’s blessings.

Bob Hentzen
Hyderabad, India
Oct. 13, 2007

Sponsor a child in India

Read the notes from other mission awareness trips