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All of our benefactors are encouraged to visit and stay at St. Mary's School for the Handicapped, the Blind and the Deaf while staying in India. One such benefactor, Jack Byrnes of North Carolina, visited the orphanage in 1998, and has written an excellent article detailing his experiences and impressions. It was originally published in the April 12, 1998 edition of NC Catholic newspaper (serving the Diocese of Raleigh).
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A Visit to the Field: Wrightsville Beach Missionary Continues Report from India |
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I take you to Karuppur. The recent very heavy monsoon has completely washed out roads and destroyed the crops, leaving people without income for another year. I finally arrive at St. Mary's School for the Physically Handicapped, founded by Father Antony Xavier, known by many parishioners in southeastern North Carolina. He has, through his own strong will and determination, founded and built a special facility for his special children. These children and I shared so much I left there in tears. Have you ever played with or carried children who suffer from severe polio? The majority of the nearly 150 children are badly affected. Look at their legs-- withered toothpicks twisted like pretzels, functionless unless strapped into braces. Children with degenerated hips, children with hunchback spines, but children with wonderful smiles and eagerness to play. |
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With not enough braces, most crawl like spiders, pushing themselves up the many inclined concrete ramps of the many smooth concrete floors. The strength of their arms is used to propel themselves as they slither along the floor at great speed. They live on the floor. They eat on the floor. They learn schoolwork on the floor. They sleep on the floor. Their world is on the floor.
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No funds for braces, no funds for wheelchairs, no funds for most everything, but somehow they manage to provide these children with love and affection, nutritious meals, and a very fine education. Catholic Catechism and prayers are learned daily. Never have I seen children so convincingly learned in their Catholic Christian traditions. It seems that the only funds available are those personally raised by Father Antony. No Indian diocesan help, no mission help, no parental help-- most are orphans and permanent residents, or "inmates," as the Indian system will call them. Only through one man, Father Antony, is the entire operation working. |
The school is in the midst of a paddy field several miles from the city. Power outages are hourly. Daily trips to town are many. The school can't afford a car so Father Antony transports everything, including the children as necessary.
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What these children lack in physical ability they surely make up for in their devotion to Jesus. In India, the God that these various mission peoples bring to the lowly is all the hope that these forgotten dalits have. (Dalits are the low caste, very poor people living by their day to day earning. A day's wage for a man is less than two dollars and the woman's much less.) These missionaries that we have met and will continue to meet along our journey are indeed cradling the existence of these Indian souls instilling the Catholic traditions. They are very visible in their work, and I commend them highly. I would put them on par with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity; yet their works have been little exposed to the world's generosity. |
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Jack Byrnes with some of the children and faculty at St. Mary's School for the Physically Handicapped.
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This page was last updated 2/10/2008.