Kollangana - 1 Year On

ST JOSEPH’S AND ST ANDREW’S LENTEN APPEAL 2007 UPDATE

It is now just over a year since the St Joseph’s and St Andrew’s 2007 Lenten appeal was brought to a successful conclusion. Over £26,000 was raised towards the construction of an English Medium School in the small village of Kollangana, Kerala, India. With the school building now officially inaugurated and being put to use to educate the children, it was decided that it was time to share the good news.

The Lenten Appeal

The fund raising effort was championed by many people, fundraisers and donors alike, without whom the project could not have succeeded as it did. First Christine and Charles Blishen were approach by Fr Vincent, from Kollangana. Not knowing where to start they approached George Wysocki and Margaret O’Donnell who enlisted the help of John Williams from St Edward Confessor, who had experience of fund raising, and also the Knights of St Columba, who made a generous donation.

Father George then came to hear about the project and gave it his whole-hearted support. He incorporated it into the Diocesan “Live Simply” campaign, and the parish youth gave it their energetic support, including organising a fund raising lunch. Another major event was the art exhibition at Romsey Town Hall and Romsey Abbey by 18 year old artist and parishioner Tim Patrick, in aid of the project. There were many other generous contributions in terms of time, effort and money, which, whether relatively small or in some cases quite substantial, have really made a difference for the people of Kollangana.

They and we thank you all!

The Parish of St Thomas Apostle

The Parish of St Thomas Apostle, is situated in the small village of Kollangana, which is a few kilometres from the city of Kasaragod, which lies at the northern boundary of the state of Kerala, India - click here or on the map >
 

The Inauguration of the School

The St Thomas Apostle English Medium School was inaugurated in January 2008.

The new school building

Fr Vincent D'Souza welcomes Bishop D'Souza of Mangalore to the school inauguration ceremony

Bishop D'Souza blesses the school

Opening of a classroom

Dance performance by children as part of inauguration ceremony

The School Today

School children outside the partially finished school last year

There are currently 175 pupils, shown here whilst the school was being built; this figure set to rise to 200 in the next academic year. The pupils are aged between six and ten. A pre-kindergarten for children aged from two and a half years is also set to open in the next academic year. Whilst the majority of the children are from local Catholic families, there also some Muslim and Hindu children. The children travel distances of between 500 metres to 10 kilometres to get to school each day.
 

Opening of the computer room

The school has four classrooms, one computer lab, one staff room, an office, and toilets. Most lessons are in English, but the children also learn Hindi, Arabic, Malayalam (the state language of Kerala) and Kannada (the state language of neighbouring Karnataka State). Seven teachers teach a variety of subjects including computing, music and signing, and Karate. In the past, illiteracy has been a serious problem in the village, and has brought with it poverty and unemployment. For this reason the school is seen as an especially important way of building a better future for the community.

Most Rev. Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Bishop of Mangalore, India [left] presenting  a gift of fruit to Father Vincent D’Souza, Parish priest of Kollangana

Letter from Most Rev. Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Bishop of Mangalore:

To Fr George Lyons and Parishioners, England,
I am pleased to send this message expressing deep gratitude to the parish priest Fr George Lyons and his parishioners for the generosity shown to the Kollangana Parish School, dedicated to St Thomas, Apostle of India.
On 9th January 2008, the school was inaugurated and blessed by me, to the surprise of all present. It is a small place, surrounded by poor people. All felt extremely happy and at the same time deeply grateful for having made it possible to put up the building for the purpose of education.
I am grateful personally and thank you. May God bless you abundantly.
+Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Bishop of Mangalore.

We asked Fr Vincent D’Souza, Parish priest of Kollangana: “What do you consider will be the impact of the school on the parish community?”

Fr Vincent replied:

"First of all we would like to send our heartfelt thanks to Fr George Lyons, his parishioners and all who helped towards the building of our school.

In response to your question, I would foresee, gradually, over a period as long as fifty years, a slow and steady improvement in the culture, thinking, living style and standard of living of the people. The community has faced a number of interrelated problems: lack of education, unemployment and poverty resulting from this, and alcoholism due to lack of hope and of prospects. I believe that the process of education, made possible by the new school building, will give them hope for a brighter future. It will bring new opportunities to engage in activities such as computing, music and dance, and sports such as karate. It will improve prospects for employment and further education, and give an additional foundation to their spirituality, which is in many cases admirable.”

We hope to post more information here as and when we receive news.

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