By Joy Prakash, OFM –
A little girl from a poor household cried aloud, “Amma, I am hungry!” This hunger pang of the little girl set friar Babu Jose thinking in terms of providing the likes of her with something to eat himself. The result was a project for the ‘New Poor’. The Kerala Government provides rice and dhal but nothing else to go with the ‘white rice’ day after day. One of his friar friends, seeing the poor handling of the Covid situation in the country, asked Babu if he needed any help. Babu thought of providing the poor with preventive measures by way of sanitizers, masks etc, and also providing sustenance measures by way of vegetables as the lockdowns kept on extending week after week.
Babu Jose purchased vegetables from Mysore at a wholesale rate: 17 types of vegetables plus powdered masallas as Kerala was under one of the toughest lockdowns (triple) in the country. Shops were not allowed to be opened, nor could people walk around in public. Within a day and a half we (friars and volunteers) managed to pack some 350 kits containing a variety of vegetables, each kit weighing 10 kilos to be given to each family in the vicinity and on the hills of Chembra. The volunteers were Catholic as well as Hindu individuals and their families.
In a recent Wednesday Audience the Pope said, “To bring God’s love to families and young people, we need the help of the families themselves, their concrete experience of life and communion. We need spouses alongside the pastors, to walk with other families, to help those who are weaker, to announce that, even in difficulties, Christ is present in the Sacrament of Marriage to give tenderness, patience and hope to all, in every situation of life.” This he said elaborating on Amoris Laetitia and inviting the Church to listen actively to families and involve them in pastoral care.
The friars in their habits, accompanied by volunteers, took the kits to the families who were literally surprised at the arrival of vegetables in such large quantity! Babu carried the packets to the adivasis living atop the hills that had no approach roads. The people’s joy knew no bounds!
The auto driver who accompanied Babu Jose and the volunteers to the different houses reported later what the households were talking in their workplaces, namely, the Tea Estates. “Aacha (Father), whoever sees me tells me that they have never received kits of this sort. My mother who works in a Tea Estate tells me of how the women were comforted by the largesse that clearly appeared heaven-sent. When I walk with you to the houses, carrying the kits, they associate me with you and I am very happy to be a participant in this great act of generosity. You must tell Father about our joy and our surprise.”
One of the families said, “We have been seeing only white rice (Kanji) day after day. Usually the Panchayat comes around collecting the land tax and that’s the end, nobody ever caring to reach out to us.” All people regardless of their religious affiliation received the kits with varieties of vegetables and powdered masallas, except one or two families who said, “We have work and so you could give the kit to a more deserving family.”
The Pope in his exhortation further said, “We pastors must let ourselves be enlightened by the Spirit, so that this salvific proclamation may be realized by married couples who are often there, ready, but not called upon,” the Pope said, adding, that just as “the masculine and feminine, in their complementarity, combine to make up the tapestry of the human family, so too the sacraments of Holy Orders and Matrimony are both indispensable to building up the Church as a family of families”.
Earlier, Babu Jose and Tom John were instrumental in repairing a collapsed bridge that connected two villages. The residents of the adjoining villages have put up a large hoarding at the bridge site enumerating the humanitarian help that provided them the relief of transportation and accessibility to the various parts of their Wards. The duo was also greatly instrumental in providing potable water in place of the muddied water that was hitherto available. Now so many Hindu, Muslim and Christian families breathe a sigh of relief at having potable water in such remote areas of Pakkalipallam. As a result, the confidence of these people has grown tremendously whereby they approach Babu very comfortably with their family disputes and quarrels.
The State of Kerala, with its large composition of upper and middle class families, suddenly found itself reduced to poverty and want as a result of the ravages of the floods and the effects of COVID-19, the loss of jobs at home and abroad adding to the destitution. In their present predicament, God seems to make His presence felt in the form of bread, vegetables and water.