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An Interview with
H.G. Augen Mar Dionysius
Metropolitan of the Idukki Diocese
Indian Orthodox Church
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Thirumeni, the purpose of this
interview is to create awareness about the challenges of Idukki diocese
among the people. In this regards, we would like to learn about the
challenges of Idukki diocese from you.
Q1. Thirumeni, can
you give us an introduction about Idukki diocese. We would particularly
be interested in its origin, its major milestones, and its geographical
challenges and so on.
A1. Idukki diocese was formed in 1982. Few of the churches that
were under the Kottayam diocese were separated to form the Idukki
diocese. Currently, we have 34 churches that are under Idukki diocese.
Idukki district spans across a very large geographical area. The 34
churches are scattered in different parts of Idukki. The distances
between churches are far away from each other. Some are even 50 to 100
kms apart. Out of 34 churches, only 13 churches have Holy Qurbana on
all 4 Sundays. Other churches have Holy Qurbana once or twice a month.
The main reason for not having Holy Qurbana during all Sundays is
mainly due to financial difficulties and the availability of priests.
In the beginning, priests belonging to the Kottayam diocese used to
render their service in Idukki. It is difficult for priests to
traveling long distance from their hometown to Idukki for celebrating
Holy Qurbana due to health reasons and other challenges of Idukki. In
many places, the lack of regular Holy Qurbana and churches, have made
many of our believers leave our church and have gone to other church
denominations.
The first Metropolitan of Idukki diocese was H.G Matthews Mar Barnabas.
He was the one who gave Idukki diocese a great start and a strong
foundation. He went through a lot of hardships. He traveled by bus and
climbed hills to visit all churches and homes of our members. Thirumeni
established a small aramana for the Idukki diocese at a place called
Nettithozhuthu. He established a medical mission hospital. Thirumeni
visited many churches, did repair works and helped lot of poor people.
Idukki diocese had a very good start at the hands of HG barnabas
thirumeni. After Thirumeni was transferred to America, there was no
permanent Metropolitan for Idukki diocese for a long time. Other
Bishops were given Idukki diocese as an additional charge. I have a
feeling that the lack of undivided attention has hindered with the
growth of Idukki diocese.
But now the greatest challenge of Idukki diocese is that majority of
the people are farmers or daily wage workers. Most of them make their
living through farming or working in the plantations. We have churches
in areas that are constituted with only plantations laborers. In these
areas, we used to get the support of plantation owners and officers of
these plantations. As the cost of produces has dropped, factories have
closed. Work in the plantations has stopped. The financially sound
people have moved out of Idukki. This has resulted in the churches not
getting the needed care and attention. Many of the churches are not
able to pay the diocese share, the salaries for the priests, nor even
sustain the day to day expenses of the church.
Currently, the salaries of the priests are paid by accumulating money
obtained from many places. Out of the 34 churches, only 9 of them are
in position to pay their minimum share towards the centralized salary
scheme. When the centralized scheme was implemented, it was intended to
cover the salaries for priests, salaries for priest of church who are
unable to pay the salary share, sustain the operational cost of the
diocesan office and aramana and the basic necessities of the
metropolitan.
Unfortunately, in Idukki it is only enough to pay for the salaries of
priests of the churches who make the contributions. It is not enough to
pay for even the salaries of priests of poor churches or the aramana
expenses.
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Q2. We say Idukki
is a backward place. For an outsider, Idukki is the land of Thekkady,
Munnar, Peermedu, tea estates. With all these, why is it a financially
backward place?
A2. The main reason is that the primary source of income comes from
agriculture. Take the example of tea leaves: the prices of tea went
down so much that the owners of the tea estates abandoned their
factories. Since they could not pay the workers, the owners partitioned
the plantation and have given ownership of a small portion of the crop
to the workers. Workers would pick these leaves and take it to the
neighboring factories to earn their living.
Q3. So we have a
situation where people migrated to Idukki during its good days and
later when prices of produces fell, they have a hard time making a
living.
A3.Yes, that’s the situation. Because of this situation, people have
committed suicides, many have moved out of Idukki, some live in hunger,
some cannot afford education for their kids and so on. The good news is
that they have started raising cattle. They sell the milk and are able
to at least meet their daily needs.
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Q4. Thirumeni, you
mentioned that only 9 churches are self sustained. Can you give us an
idea of how poor the other churches are? What would be their monthly
income etc?
A4. Out of the other churches, the biggest one might have 50 families
and interestingly all of them are equally poor. They are mostly daily
wage laborers and plantation workers. Currently, they don’t have
permanent jobs and hence whatever they earn, they need it to run their
household. We can’t expect them to pay church dues.
For many of the churches, all their expenses have to be met from the
diocese center. This includes the salary of the priest, day to day
expenses of the church.
Q5. Thirumeni, you
mentioned initially that the priests came from places like Kottayam, is
it still the case or do we currently have priests who belong to Idukki?
A5. At present in the Idukki diocese, we have 20 priests from the
Idukki area. They were ordained as priests after they graduated
from the seminary. In earlier days, pre-degree was the minimum
qualification required for the admission to the seminary. Now the
seminary has made degree as the minimum qualification. With this we are
not able to get students from Idukki to become priests because there
are not many who have degrees. There are no degree colleges in this
area. The poor students here cannot afford to go to Kottayam or
Ernakulam to do their studies. Our church does not have any educational
institutions in this area. Apart from the 20 priests, there are about
10 priests from outside of Idukki who come on Sundays to celebrate the
Holy Qurbana and go back to their home towns.
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Q6. Now that the
minimum qualification requirements have been raised and we do not have
enough degree holders, how will we get future priests from Idukki?
A6. We are finding and encouraging children by providing the necessary
help to send them to college. We are helping many such children
currently. We hope that some of the children will be interested to
attend the seminary after they complete their degree courses.
Q7. If a churches
is not able to pay the salary share for its priest, will the priest get
his salary?
A7. Yes, now every clergy is getting the salary as per the salary
scheme. We are getting help from the center in the form of subsidies
for priest salary. Some individuals are also supporting us for the
salaries. We are getting help from American Diocese for the last 2
years to support the salaries of priest. HG Barnabas thirumeni very
well knows the difficulty of these places and helps us with the priest
salaries. He hopes to increase the number of services we have in
churches that do not have services on all 4 sundays. We have increased
the number of services in many churches such as Pulikanan, Pambanar,
Peermedu, Pallikunnu, Thengakallu.
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Q8. Do we get
students from the Vaidhika seminary to come to Idukki and serve?
A8. Yes. We are getting students from the seminary during vacations.
They are doing parish missions and they are teaching children songs and
prayers. In the last week, in a place called valiathovala, 7 deacons
and seminary teachers came and rendered their service. Also, Idukki has
been selected as a place for field work and as part of their
curriculum; they spend time serving in Idukki.
Q9. So as we
understand, the main reason for not having services in all 4 weeks of a
month is mostly due to financial reasons and not due to the shortage of
priests?
A9. Apart from these reasons, there are transportation difficulties,
accommodation difficulties and health related difficulties.
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Q10. When you say
health related difficulties, can you help us understand these
difficulties. What kind of health difficulties are we talking?
A10. When you stay in Idukki for a long time, at least some people
start to get medical conditions such as asthma, isnofelia, etc. As they
get older, they have trouble with Arthritis. Many are not able to
endure the cold. So they are forced to leave Idukki.
Q11. As you said
the churches are in very remote places. Obviously, the priests have to
reach these remote places. Do the priests get any special allowance for
these?
A11. Currently we do not have any provision for allowances. I have
personally been very sensitive to their difficulties and have tried to
work with friends to arrange transport facilities for priest. We have
provided two wheelers to some priests who did not have any transport
facilities. Also I am trying to setup some allowance. It is very
difficult to reach such places. Typically such places would have only
one or two buses. If they wait for buses, it is likely that they
may loose an entire day.
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Q12. Thirumeni,
you mentioned that the distance between churches is far away. So when
the priests go to these remote places, do they have any facilities like
a parsonage to stay there?
A12. The churches that have the facility to stay are very rare. Most of
them do not have any such facilities. When the priests go there, they
stay in some neighboring houses. Even when I go to these churches, I
stay at one of the neighboring houses. Except for the main 5-6
churches, there are no facilities to stay at the church premise.
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Q13. We have heard
that there are many poor churches being reconstructed in Idukki. We are
glad to hear this. We have read in ICON that a church in Chicago is
helping to build a church in Idukki. Similarly some friends have
joined hands to help build a church in Anavilasam. Just like these
examples are there other churches that are being reconstructed.
A13. The first church we started work is at Uppukunu. It is an adivasi
colony. We had a mission center and a small chapel. They are currently
in a very decayed state and were unusable. With the help of some
individuals, we have done some maintenance and replaced the roofs and
all wooden structures. We have spent around 2-3 lakhs on the
renovations. Right now, it is usable and we are having Holy Qurbana
there.
St. George Church, Karimpan is being reconstructed currently. The
St.Peters prayer group of Kuwait has collected the needed funds for
completing the church construction.
Mar. Gregorios Church, Thankamani is being reconstructed with the
support from an individual. He has provided a major part of the
cost. The actual cost of construction exceeded our estimates. In
Hielyburia, we have bought land for building a new church. Here also,
the cost has exceeded our estimates. Two individuals helped us with
funding the church construction.
Many people have seen articles in ICON and they have supported us. All
the church construction projects are progressing because of all their
help. In Vazhavara, we have bought 1/2 acre land to build a new church.
In Annvilasam, we have bought 30 cents. It cost us around 5 lakhs. In
Kanjikuzhi, we have bought 50 cents land to build a new church. In
January, we plan to start Annavilasam and kanjikuzhi. Near the Aramana,
we are building the aramana chapel. Kunkiripetti St. Thomas cathedral
was started many years ago. It will be completed this year.
Similarly there are many other churches that must be reconstructed
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Q14. Glad to
hear that there are many church construction projects that are
currently in various stages. When we ventured into these church
constructions, what were the main challenges we faced. Did these
projects stay in our estimated budgets?
A14. The costs did not stay in the estimated cost. The cost of
materials exceeded our estimates, especially getting it to the site
makes it costly since it had to be brought from distant places. It is
difficult to get materials to these places. Due to the distance to
these places, it is hard to go to each of these places and supervise
these works directly. It is also difficult to get materials such as
wood. The local people have been very cooperative. Even though,
financially we won’t get any help from them, they have helped by
volunteering their labor towards the building of the church. We have to
give them daily wages since they would have to take care of their
family.
It is also difficult to go to all these places from the Aramana and
supervise these works. Since there are many constructions going in
parallel, it is challenging for the engineer to go to each place and
monitor the progress. Also, it is difficult to get skilled masons in
those places.
The greatest challenge is that the cost is exceeding more than our
expected budgets.
Q15. Thirumeni,
you mentioned lot of the challenges you faced. How are we overcoming
these challenges?
A15. Currently, say if a church wants to sponsor a construction project
and they are willing to donate 5 lakhs. If the cost becomes 7 lakhs,
the priest and committee are entrusted to find the remaining 2 lakhs by
collecting from churches in different parts of the Kerala.
We have appointed two people in the Aramana to work with the engineer
to coordinate all the work in different places.
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Q16. So do these
people who you have appointed to oversee the work go to all the
construction places? Do you think we can make sure there is no wastage?
A16. Yes, they go to these places and supervise the work. They interact
with the contractors and make sure things move smooth. We don’t think
there will be any waste. For sure, knowingly there is not going to be
any waste.
Q17. It is very
encouraging to know that the local parishioners of the church are
helping with the church construction. What type of help do the people
do? Is it skilled or unskilled labor?
A17. The people here are mainly daily wage laborers. They do not have
skilled labor; hence they help the mason with doing the unskilled
labor.
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Q18. So when they
come for this work, what happens to their work in the plantations?
A18. Currently there is not much work in the plantations.
Q19. You mentioned
that you have been getting help from many churches. When you went to
these different places, what has been the response of the people?
A19. I have gone to many places. I have tried to explain the uniqueness
and challenges of Idukki to people. The responses have been very
encouraging and people have been very receptive.
Q20. Other than
the churches that we have started, are we planning to start the
construction/reconstruction of other churches in the near future?
A20. Currently, there are places where we don’t have churches. Ex. a
place called Ramakalmedu, we have many of our people there, but we do
not have a church.
At Chellarcoil, we do not have a permanent setup for worship; we only
have a temporary structure. At Chettukuzhi, the church is literally
unusable for service. We have lot of people there. We want to
construct a new church in Chettukuzhi.
The church in Pulikanam is in a decayed state due to its age. We are
doing some maintenance work. The good news is that work in the tea
plantation has started recently in Pulikanam. We hope this will be a
good help for the church. So we are trying to renovate and make the
church usable for the people there.
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Q21. It is our
understanding that 40% of the mission Sunday collection goes to the
underdeveloped churches. Since Idukki diocese is the most backward
diocese, do we get any help from it?
A21. The 40% of the Mission Sunday collection is remitted to the
center. Every diocese gets a share of it. We also get a small
share of it. Each year, we get a small share for maintenance. We use
this (~10k, 20k INR) for the maintenance of one or two churches. But
that is not enough to do any church construction.
Q22. Ok. So that
would mean we must find funds specifically for the construction of
these churches.
A22. Exactly. We have to go and find money from different places for
the church construction.
Q23. The next
couple of questions are related to the mission activities of Idukki
diocese. We would like to know about the charitable initiatives of
Idukki diocese? Do we have any Orphanages or old age homes in Idukki?
A23. Right now, we have a mission hospital started by HG Barnabas
thirumeni. I cannot say that it is going very well, because it is very
difficult to get doctors to serve here. Doctors, who come here, do not
stay for a long time and it takes time to find a new doctor. It has
been operational, but has not seen much progress. I hope to focus some
attention on it and make it more progressive.
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Q24. So, does that
mean, we do not have any doctors from our church to serve in this
mission hospital?
A24. That is true. Unfortunately, no one from our church is coming
forward to serve here.
Q25. Are we trying
to get doctors to work for this hospital?
A25. Yes, we are trying to get doctors. All of them have difficulty
with adjusting to the climatic conditions and other challenges of
Idukki. Many have the concern that if they come to Idukki, it will be
difficult for the education of their children. In addition, many say
that they have spent lot of money towards their education, and it might
be difficult to get a payback.
Q26. Since our
church has medical colleges, don’t we get doctors from these colleges
to serve in our mission hospital?
A26. What I am hearing is that we will get doctors from our medical
colleges in another 2 years. We are expecting that the first batch will
come out of our medical colleges in 2 years. We are hoping for it based
on what the officials have informed us.
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Q27. So, is this
something like a bond for students who get admitted in our quota?
A27. Yes, we do have a similar setup. The officials have
told us that they will be able to provide us some help.
Q28.
Currently, do we have any orphanages or old age homes in Idukki?
A28. Currently we do not have any such institutions (orphanages or old
age homes) in Idukki.
We are planning to start an old age home in a place called
Nettithozhuthu for women who do not have any one to care for them. We
have acquired a land for this purpose. Currently, we are planning to
build a facility with the bare minimum needs for 20 inmates. This
includes rooms for the inmates, a small prayer room and a kitchen. The
estimated cost for this is 20 lakhs INR. We hope to start the work by
end of January.
Q29. Has anyone
voluntered to sponsor this project yet?
A29. No one has offered to sponsor this as of yet. Once we prepare a
detailed plan and estimate, I am thinking in my mind to approach some
people for this need. We are also planning to start the work in
parallel.
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Q30. Are we
thinking of any schemes such as a church or individuals sponsoring a
room and so on?
A30. Yes, we are thinking of a scheme similar to that.
Q31. As you said,
we do not have any orphanages or old age homes in Idukki. Our mission
society has done a wonderful job inside Kerala and outside Kerala by
establishing many such organizations n many places. Why do you think
they missed Idukki, especially given that Idukki is the most backward
diocese?
A31. I think it might be because of the climatic challenges and travel
difficulties. When you come and try to stay in Idukki from other
places, it might be difficult for people to adjust to the challenges of
Idukki.
Q32. Do you
think the challenges to get financial help to sustain such an
initiative could be one other reason? For example, if we start such an
organization in a place like Kottayam, there could be many people who
have gone abroad and might be financially sound to support and sustain
these projects?
A32. One of the unique characteristics of Idukki is that there are very
less people who have gone abroad. Last year when I went abroad, I could
rarely see anyone from Idukki in those places. Even recently, there are
just few people who have gone abroad. Recently when some of the clergy
from Idukki visited overseas, they had an uncomfortable time since they
could not see any one who they knew personally. There was no one they
knew beforehand who could receive them or they could stay with. This is
one of major drawbacks of Idukki.
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Q33. So, do you
think it might be a difficult to support an organization such as
orphanages for the same reason?
A33. Absolutely. It is difficult to support organizations such as
orphanages in Idukki. Currently, we are planning to start a Tailoring
School. The youth movement of the Doha church is planning to support
it.
Q34. Thirumeni,
Can you please give us some details about the tailoring school project?
A34. We plan to teach and train poor girls tailoring without collecting
any fees. Some of the things they can do are to create readymade
dresses, get orders for stitching uniforms for schools and create
embroidery work. The revenue that they get from these will be
used to support the people working there, their tutors and to sustain
the operational cost.
Q35. Where
are we planning to start the tailoring school?
A35. We are planning this school near the Aramana. We are planning to
rent a facility for running this project.
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Q36. In Idukki, we
have heard about Grace Charities. We are extremely happy to know that
they are doing a wonderful job. What is your vision for Grace
Charities? What do you think they will do in the next 5 years?
A36. Grace charity is a society started under the Idukki diocese. Even
before we started GRACE, there were similar societies in Idukki. Many
of our members are member of these existing societies. Hence it is
difficult for them to leave those and join ours. Due to this we have
not been able to form many self help groups (SHG). We want to increase
the number of SHG’s. If we have 300 self help groups, we can we get
loans at a very small interest rate from the government. We want to
start units in every church so that we increase the number of SHG.
Q37. When we talk
about SHG, what do they do? Do we give people cattle, loans?
A37. Last year, we helped them by providing loans to start small scale
occupation. We have given cattle, support for education, etc...
Recently, we had a meeting of the clergy of Idukki diocese to
revitalize the efforts of Grace. We have asked every church to start
units with 20-25 people in each group. If we can get around 300 SHGs,
we can get loans from the government at a very low interest. We are
trying for these.
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Q38. Do we get any
help for Grace Charities from the center?
A38. No. We do not get any external help for it.
Q39. What is your
vision for Idukki diocese? What are your top 10 priorities for Idukki
diocese?
A39. One of my greatest dreams for Idukki diocese is to establish
places of worship in every place that does not have a place of worship.
People must have at least the basic needs to worship. We would like to
achieve that before focusing on rest of the needs. We want to do the
needed maintenance and repair for churches that are currently in a
decayed state and then construct new churches in places where there are
no churches.
We must do everything to ensure that we do not loose people because
they do not have places of worship.
We need a good Aramana with a centralized office, a common chapel and a
meeting place. Currently we do not have the facilities in the Aramana
to conduct programs such as clergy meeting, spiritual organization
meetings or diocesan meetings. Currently we conduct these in the
churches. Since conducting these in churches adds additional costs to
the churches, churches are reluctant to provide the facilities for such
meeting.
One of the other top priorities is to make the running of the hospital
more smooth and efficient.
We also want to start one or two educational institutions. These are a
must to raise the standard of living of the people here. Our children
must have the opportunity to study in our schools.
For orphans and for children whom their parents are not able to care
for, we want to start a balabhavan.
We would like to start an Ashramam in Idukki. That is one of my big
dreams. We have bought a land for it. After we are done with the church
constructions, we will focus on these needs. We have started a convent.
We have bought 3 acres of land. There are few sisters staying there.
One of my biggest dreams is to raise the image of our church in Idukki.
Our church was the first to setup a diocese in Idukki. But
unfortunately, we did not have much growth and development. We have
lost people to other denominations. Many other denominations that have
entered Idukki much later have had substantial growth in Idukki. Other
denominations have setup churches for the people in many places.
They have helped lot of people by providing financial assistances. They
are trying to attract our people. That tendency is still prevalent in
Idukki.
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Q40. How do they
attract our people towards their denominations?
A40. They help children by supporting their education. They provide job
opportunities to the people. They build churches for them. Building a
church for them in a place where there are no churches is a great
relief for them. It is very difficult to go to long distances and
attend service as Idukki lacks transportation facilities. They have to
walk to these places. All churches are not accessible with even jeeps
and cars. They have to walk and climb hills to reach some places. So if
they have other denomination churches that are close to our beliefs,
they tend to join other churches.
Q41. In the
churches that we are constructing right now, have we lost many people
to other denominations?
A41. Yes. Absolutely. We have lost lot of people. In a place called
Thankamani, we had 60 families, now we currently have 14 families. Rest
of the families has gone to other denominations.
Q42. Do you think
we will get back some people back after the construction of the
churches is completed?
A42. We think we will get back at least some people. Now they won’t
come, because the church construction is continuing and they may not
have the resources to support the church constructions. But once the
construction is completed, they might join us.
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Q43. As we
understand, there are many projects being undertaken in Idukki Diocese.
We are sure Idukki diocese is going through a financial crunch. In such
a situation, how can people help with these projects? How can they get
involved with these projects?
A43. Currently, lots of people are coming forward to help us. Mainly,
many have helped children by supporting their education. What we trying
to do is to identify capable children and connect them to the people
who would like to help. We are not collecting money directly from the
donors. The donor directly gives it to the needy. We are even helping
students in Engineering. At least 2 students are being funded full
education assistance for engineering courses. We are supporting many
students for nursing courses. Also for house construction and marriage
assistance, we have received help from many. Instead of collecting
money and then distributing, we are connecting people so that they can
directly help the needy. Even for the church construction projects, we
send them all info (plans, estimates) and get feedback from them.
We call them and take them to the sites and show them. We try to create
a good relationship with them. We keep them updated of the progress by
sending photos and reports to the donors.
Q44. When you
talked about the progress, I had a chance to see Idukki diocese's
magazine 'Idukki Herald'. Since there are many churches outside India
that have helped Idukki, do we have an online version of it so that
more people can know about the projects here?
A44. No, we haven’t started an online version of the newsletter at this
time. 'Idukki Herald' is in its early days. We have not got full
registration for it. Once we get registration, we can circulate it
outside and send it to more people.
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Q45. When you
talked about education, we know our church has an engineering college
in Perumade. Do poor students have any consideration or preferences? Do
we have specific number of seats for such category?
A45. Students from Idukki diocese are given top priority in this
college. All students from Idukki, who have the needed merit, have been
given admission without any donations. We have provided concession in
fees to poor students. Yes. We do have some seats reserved.
Q46. Since there
are so many projects currently underway in Idukki, do we have a web
site for the diocese so that people can get more information?
A46. We do not have a website right now. It’s been just a year since
all these have started. There are many challenges that we have. Even in
the place where the Aramana is located, we don’t have continuous supply
of electricity and phone connections. But, we have collected the
information needed for the web site. We want to setup a website. Very
shortly we will be working on it.
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Q47. Even though I
have already asked you this question, I am asking this once more to get
more details. If people want to help Idukki, What are the projects that
need the most attention?
A47. Currently the greatest need right now is help with marriage
assistance. It is a real concern. There are many girls who are not able
to get married due to the financial crisis in their families. Second
need is the help with the shelter. Rain, severe cold and other issues
makes it difficult to live without a proper shelter.
These two are the needs that the people thirst for the most. They are
not very aware about need for education. If we say that we will support
the cost, they are willing to send their children to school. The
greatest need is marriage assistance and house construction.
Similarly, another need is the Medical emergencies; since they are
daily wage laborers, it can be extremely difficult for them to find the
resources for the medical treatment if they have some accidents. Many
of their jobs are prone to accidents. When they are in such situations
they run and come to us. We have helped many people. Even though we are
not able to do as much as the people want, we are doing lot of things
to help them.
Q48. Recently, we
heard about the accident of Rev. Daniel Achen from ICON postings. When
we have such situations, do we have any funds to support such needs?
A48. We currently do not have any funds like that for the diocese.
Although in the case of Rev. Daniel Achen, I have made all arrangements
to support the full cost of Achen's hospital expenses. Lot of people
has supported us for this need. He has not recovered completely since
his hand was hurt very badly. It will take some time to recover. But
financially, many people have helped him.
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Q49. Thirumeni,
you talked about the house construction and marriage assistance. Do we
have any plan that explains how much it would cost to do such projects?
A49. If we have 1 lakh INR, it is good enough for a house with minimum
needs. We are currently building with this estimate in couple of
places. For marriage assistance, they are happy if they get 50,000 INR.
We have provided 1 lakh to at least some of them. This year, we have at
least provided marriage assistance for 20 poor girls.
Q50. When you
talked about education, even though it is not a priority for them,
could one of the reason be that we do not have any of our schools in
Idukki.
A50. Definitely. It is mainly because of the lack of opportunity to
attend schools. If we sent them to other schools today, it is very
costly. Today, even for a small child, it would cost at least Rs.
500 per month and they can’t afford so much expense.
If we have our own institutions, we can give the students concessions
in the cost of education and we can work with the aim of raising their
living standards.
Q51. May be it is
still in planning stage, but what is the area that you think we need an
education institution. Ex. Is it Primary School, Nursing school...?
A51. Currently more than Nursing, I think the need is for a school that
has classes from 1 to plus 2. We must also have a facility for basic
degree courses.
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Q52. If we start a
school like that, rather than just being profit based, do we think we
can reach out to the poor children?
A52. Surely, we will be able to do that. We have to do it. If we
do not do it, there is no point in us starting such as a school. If
that is not our mission, they could as well go to other schools.
Q53. We thank you
for the time and effort that you spend to help us understand the
challenges of Idukki. We think this will be very useful in
creating awareness about Idukki. Once again thank you.
A53. To start all these projects, ICON has done a wonderful job in
creating awareness about these needs. Special thanks to Mr. Abraham for
visiting some of the churches. We remember this help with lot of
thanks. When I went to place, I have seen many homes that have posted
the articles related to Idukki. This awareness has resulted in many
people calling me and supporting me with small and big help. Thanks to
everyone.
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SUNDAYS:
Morning Prayer: 9:00 AM
Holy Qurbana : 9:30 AM
Sunday School: 11:30 AM
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