Pilgrims of charity: Presence in India
India is the original cradle of our Pilgrims of Charity's Association
It is here that the Providence guided Brother Francis-Mary to work at the service of the poorest of the poor people.
Every day, our mission perfects, our projects move forward and our power of action widens. Stage by stage, we set up new structures which come to complete the previous ones to offer a range of solutions always wider for the improvement of the life of these people in despair and suffering.
In Calcutta, hundreds of children survive on the platform of the railway station:
In Calcutta, hundreds of children survive on the platform of stations, most of the time, they are without root and without roof. Many come from Bihar, a State situated 500 km away from Calcutta, where the living conditions are very difficult. Not to starve, children land one day on the platform of the railway stations of Calcutta, thinking of finding a Promised Land there... The station where they arrive becomes then a place of survival. There, they live by begging, get back pieces of plastics or old cardboards which they resell to the black market, carry crates of vegetables to the market or carry some travellers' suitcases. Sometimes, they prostitute themselves, consume drugs (as early than the age of 10 years) or still sniff some glue which leads them to forget their hunger. They have no slightest safety and are exposed to all the dangers. The accidents of trains are unfortunately very frequent.
Pilgrims of charity humanise the place where deprived children are:
For your information: 41 % of the Indian population, that is 275 millions, are children. On this number, 188 millions work, among which 140 millions in rural areas and 40 millions in cities. 15 % of the victims of the S.T.D. (sexually transmitted diseases) are children under age 14. The children with whom we work are homeless and without the slightest medical care.
Working for more than 6 years now on the platform of the railway station of Sealdah (one of the two railway stations of Calcutta) with other Indian missionaries, Pilgrims of Charity's priority is to live with these deprived children: join them, look after them, to feed them where they are also by proposing them games and activities in the place where they are. In brief: humanize the place where they live. Then when it is possible, to place them... because humanely, they have no chance to come out there.
The Association of Pilgrims of Charity offers two solutions to the disadvantaged:
- The night shelter, where every evening we welcome between 10 and 20 disadvantaged children. This shelter is situated 15 minutes away from the station of Calcutta.
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The "Mela", a big party which takes place every month and where are gathered a large number of children coming mainly from railway stations: meals, games, television, but also care and prevention.
But on the platform of the railway stations, we meet many sick and handicapped children. There, it is harder and harder to find a place to welcome them. It is necessary to wait and meanwhile, the health of the child gets degraded.
The association The Pilgrims of Charity aims at helping the most deprived by the realization of urgent projects:
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2005: Assistance to the victims of the tsunami.
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2006: Construction of a park for children " The Garden of Happiness " allowing the centers of Nurpur which welcome more than 200 children and adults handicapped and deprived to have a space to let off steam.
Ashram - Gift of Life: School and night shelter
Ashram of the Gift of Life is an apartment situated at approximately 15 minutes of the station of Sealdah. It is at the same time our place of life, an informal school and a night shelter for the children of the railway station.
It is also here that the mother house of the Pilgrims of Charity is located in India.
Construction of a small dispensary
Projects for villages outside Calcutta are progressing. In a village in Jarkhand, the construction of a small dispensary is taking shape.
Some pictures of the River Gange and Calcutta
Didima
Didima has been on platform 5 of Calcutta station for 40 years!