- St. Vincent de Paul
In the 17th century a French Roman Catholic priest named Vincent de Paul lived and worked in France.
His personal experience and encounters with the needy and the poor changed for ever not only his concept of devotion,
faith, service to God and vocation to priestly and religious life but also that of the Universal Church. He certainly
could have focused his attention on the countless churches, palaces, monuments and other fabulous sites for which Paris
was so rightly renowned. His keen eyesight unfailingly found what he was looking for, the face of God. He saw countless
poor people who were forgotten, marginalized and even despised and rejected by the world that surrounded them.
As Vincent De Paul walked through the streets of Paris, he saw homeless people, besieging beggers, hungry people,
children and elderly men and women who were neglected, sick people without health care, refugees from warfare and
people who were spiritually abandoned without hope. He realised his mission is to bring God to them and thus to bring them to God.
In these people he found what he had been looking for. He found Christ in them, and thus he served them. His fervent
zeal and zest for the poor still energize all of us to be enthusiastic in our mission.
Our commitment to the Society and our social ministry are guided by the vision of St. Vincent de Paul.
He taught us to seek the face of God in the poor and the needy. Vincentian Social Ministry aims at empowering
the less fortunate sections of the society to live a dignified life.
Four hundred years have passed, the poor are still remaining outside stretching their hands towards us seeking our
embrace in love and service. Let us allow ourself to be driven by the the spirit of St. Vincent, our holy founder
and make all our words and deeds an expression of our commitment to the poor. The province of South India has been
rendering innumerable service to the most neglected and marginalized from its very beginning and we will continue
serving them as our mission and priority...
St. Vincent De Paul, the man of 17th Century was known for his brilliant management of both human and material
resource for alleviating penury and deprivation. The poor always found consolation in the person of
St. Vincent because he had an answer for their felt need. St Vincent was driven by the inner voice
“Poor are Our Masters” and he firmly believed that it is in the suffering humanity we can see and experience the
crucified Jesus. St. Vincent De Paul founded the Congregation primarily to bring Jesus to the poor through divinely
motivated service to the vulnerable and abandoned. Our spirituality therefore is a spirituality of contemplation in
action. St. Vincent insisted that prayer must guide and inspire all our activities and our activities abundantly bear
fruit if they are emerging from a genuine prayer experience. St. Vincent envisioned a society that would stand always
with the poor and bring significant transformation in the lives of the people. Today, we are part of that society which
St. Vincent De Paul founded, and we are mandated by his powerful words and deeds to serve the poor with an undying spirit
of love and soaring enthusiasm.
The province of South India from its very inception has shown paramount importance in helping the poor with utmost care.
The victims of earthquake in Gujarat, tsunami victims in Kanyakumari, flood victims in Kerala and covid- 19 pandemic,
these were some of the major natural calamities and hazards that shattered the lives of thousands. Our intervention in
these destructive moments of time was incredible and extraordinary. We have left an undeletable and inerasable memory of
our service to the people who were gripped by the trauma of mass destruction and devastation. We need to augment our resources
in multiple ways to constructively respond to the suffering humanity and make the dictum of St. Vincent “Poor are Masters” a
binding reality. Let us continue to hold the poor so dear to us and reach out to them in the best way possible. This booklet
is my humble foray to update you with the social projects of our Province.
Pratheeksha social service centre was founded in the year 2010 by the CM fathers of Southern Indian Province of
the Congregation of the Mission. It is a voluntary, non- governmental and non-profit making organization aiming
at providing a matrix for the integral development of the children, youth and women who are victims of illiteracy,
exploitation, child labor and unemployment.
Presently the Society is catering its service to the three districts of Karnataka. The Society is registered under
the Karnataka Society Registration Act 1960 and it is located at Bannimanta, Mysore, Karnataka, India. Within the
short span of three years we have been able to establish ourselves in the three districts of Karnataka, namely,
Chamarajnagar, Mandya and Mysore.
With our out- reach programmes to the most vulnerable and socially neglected section of the society, we have won
the admiration and appreciation of the People. “Poor are our Masters” driven by the inspiring words of St. Vincent De Paul,
the patron of Pratheeksha, we continue to serve the marginalized and underprivileged with soaring enthusiasm and focused vision.
The Society is exempted from income-tax as its services are undoubtedly for the benefit of the poor and needy.
The South Indian Province has organized its social services under OASIS, a registered NGO.
The OASIS administrative headquarters is located in a former seminary house in the town of Enikepadu, 12 kilometers
southeast of the City of Vijayawada. Father Thomas Kottukappilly, C.M. the first director of OASIS established the
society in 2001 and he was at the helm of affairs of the society for two years. Father Sebastian Anthikad the second
director of the OASIS took charge on June 15, 2003. The mission of OASIS was to assist impoverished peoples through social,
educational, medical, and economic development programs in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharstra, Rajastan and
Tamil Nadu States in India. OASIS has also provided emergency relief and recovery programs for victims of calamities.
These included the earthquake in Gujarat State in 2001 (helping to rehabilitate the Billia Village in the District of Rajkot)
and the tsunami in 2004 (providing fishing craft to Kanyakumari Village in Tamil Nadu State to restore work for its residents,
construction of 50 houses for the most vulnerable families in Kanyakumari Village, conducting dispensary to take care of the sick
in the Kanyakumari Village, opened a kindergarten for 125 children , counseling centre for the
affected people, distribution of food materials for the victims, tailoring centre for the uneducated girls).
OASIS operated a community health care program from its headquarters in Enikepadu. OASIS established the program in
January of 2006 mostly in response to growing concerns over the spread of HIV-AIDS in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh State in India.
In designing the program OASIS consulted expert informants, especially the Community Care Center of St. Catald Hospital in Nuzvid,
Andhra Pradesh. For 6 months OASIS also visited and surveyed rural villages in proximity to Enikepadu and consulted with their
leaders to assess needs and determine the best manner to deliver health services.
OASIS began providing health care services to impoverished residents in June of 2006, initially focusing its efforts on the
Village of Velpur. OASIS has used the sacristy of the local parish church in the village as a dispensary and treatment center
for the program. OASIS also uses its meeting room in its headquarters in Enikepadu to provide health care and distribute food to
ill residents and their families. In January of 2007 OASIS obtained a used ambulance-jeep (manufactured in 1995) to mobilize its
services to include residents in 8 villages that range 3-23 kilometers in distance from Enikepadu. OASIS employs a licensed nurse
(who is also a religious sister), a health care worker, and a driver, and uses the administrative services of the director of OASIS
in operating the community health care program. Most of the program costs, including the purchase of the ambulance,
have been covered by the South Indian Province of the Congregation of the Mission and contributions from individual donors.
After consulting important medical providers in the region and conducting an on-site needs assessment,
OASIS decided to expand and relocate its community health care program to the Bapulapadu Mandal.
While continuing to provide care for its most needy patients (including 25 patients with HIV-AIDS),
OASIS launched the new program in the needier villages of the Bapulapadu Manda in 2010.
OASIS carries out the following programmes:
Medical mobile clinic
Dispensary
Awareness programme
Supply of monthly provisions to 50 AIDS patients.
Taking care of the education of the children of the AIDS patients and the poor children of the area.
Hostel for the female children of AIDS patients and destitute parents.
Hostel for the male children is under construction and would begin in June 2015.
The entire programme is carried out by the great help from VSO, Philadelphia and a donor agency which does not want to publish its name.
SONTHEM (Social Organization for Non formal and Technical, Healthcare, Eucation and Mission) is a purely charitable society that
has been established on 11th January 2011 to undertake developmental activities in Tamil Nadu. Rev.Fr.Saju Parappuram CM is
the Founder and the First Director of SONTHEM. And this society is formed purely to enlighten, empower and enhance the quality
of life among the poor especially in the most backward and rural areas where people are deprived of their basic needs.
Therefore the office of this society is based in one of the remote villages in Trichy District to enable poor oriented
developmental programmes. We have taken up various poor oriented and developmental programmes in various parts of Tamil Nadu.
1. Literacy Programme
The literacy situation of the people of various interior villages of Manapparai Taluk (Trichy), noticed that
the child's “Right to Education” has been neglected very badly in these areas. The poor economical condition and the
illiteracy of the parents really block the interest of the children to go to school. Drop out children are plenty and they
discontinue their studies on account of various reasons such as lack of financial assistance to purchase basic study
materials like school uniforms, text books, instrumental box, school bags and also reasons like taking care of the siblings,
cattle, cooking at home and helping parents in work in the field to share the financial burden of the family.
Therefore SONTHEM undertook various literacy measures:
(a) Evening School for the Poor Students.
(b) Distribution of Study Materials
(c) Financial Help/Scholarship
2. Tailoring Programme
People of locality are mostly agricultural labourers and have work only during the rainy season.
During the off season, they have no work and the family especially the children and the aged in the family suffers.
Therefore, we thought of starting tailoring section to help these women with some employment. We just began with 9
tailoring machine in one of the villages as an error and trial method to know the response of the people on 1st of
May 2012. It captured the attention of the poor women of these areas. Five batches (68 women) have completed their
tailoring course over these years and are really finding their livelihood through tailoring. We also provide them with
one each tailoring machines so that they can work as a unit or as individual in their own areas. It is also important
that we take initiative to start such programmes in other rural areas over here.
3. Rural Computer Education
It is a common fact that rural/poor students do not get ample opportunities to access to modern educational facilities
like computer education. Rural students from poor background do not have chance to study computer with a regular fee in
the school Therefore SONTHEM took initiative to provide rural computer education to poor students. Accordingly we
established a De Paul Computer Education Centre in one of the villages and now many rural students are benefiting out of
this coaching centre. Apart from these SONTHEM is also conducting summer Computer Courses for the poor students.
4. Housing Help
Line of thatched houses is common factor in various remote villages in Manapparai, Trichy and during our field study we
found that some of the reasons for getting various kinds of illness and sickness in these areas is due to poorly built
thatched houses and unhygienic surroundings along with it. Taking into consideration their genuine need and situation,
SONTHEM took initiative to repair some of the houses for the poor people.
5. Social and Health Awareness Programmes
We occasionally organize social awareness programme and seminars on need of education, need for savings,
self help programme like mushroom cultivation, chicken raring etc. Health awareness programmes on family planning,
child rearing, pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Asthma. We conducted blood donations, free eye checkups and blood
checkups etc. through the help of nearby hospital authorities on different occasions.
De Paul Apparels is a skill development unit designed to empower rural women through a professionally monitored training in
garment making. The women in the rural villages do not explore the possibility of developing their skill for a better living as
they are used to be living in a deplorable condition. It is in this context the Province of South India thought of starting a
skill training center exclusively for women who are fighting hard to find a job fitting to their socio-economic situation.
Today, we have a well-equipped training center for variety garment making at Mysore with electrically enabled sewing machines
and there are thirty-five girls from the states of Karnataka, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Mizoram and Uttar Pradesh being
trained under professional staff. After receiving one month guided training, they are given opportunity to work with a decent
salary and accommodation in the industry itself and those who wish to start a garment stitching unit in their own places,
they are given necessary support from the industry for the same purpose. De Paul Apparels welcomes any girl aspiring to learn
garment making skills and provides a matrix for innovative job facility. We are with a great note of satisfaction that the women
empowerment becomes a living realty through this humanitarian project. De Paul Apparels also is known for the commendable
service it is rendering to the poor in its vicinity and outside. During Covid1-19 pandemic De Paul Apparels helped the people
with precautionary measures like, providing masks, food materials, medicine, and dress. De Paul Apparels has a global
networking for its supply of garments and building a liaison with other organizations for its marketing and promotion.
This is in fact a systemic project of South Indian Province to equip the weaker section of the society technically and
professionally for a dignified living.
The Silver Jubilee Scholarship Program of South Indian Province is initiated to mark the twenty-five years of God's providential
care in its existence, growth, and manifold ministries. Through our educational institutions and hostels,
the South Indian Province has been striving to offer affordable quality education to middle and lower-middle class
students in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Kerala. Our schools have
provided fee concessions and free education to deserving students since their very inception. Besides this, in view of
providing free quality education to children in poverty, South Indian Province administers some of its schools and hostels
shouldering all their expenses, namely: school fees, school uniform, test books food and lodging and medical assistance.
These schools specially cater to the needs of students from impoverished economic backgrounds.
For the last twenty-five years, the South Indian province has focused on providing basic education (school level)
for students in poverty. The Silver Jubilee Scholarship Program aims at extending sustainable financial and professional
assistance to those catholic students who have the caliber and aspiration to pursue their higher education in professional
courses but do not have the financial resources to pursue their dreams due to their meager economic condition. As of now,
there are twenty-eight students from our own parishes doing their professional studies at different reputed colleges.
The Province of South India has been in the forefront to provide the necessities of human life.
People who lost their house and house belongings in the natural calamities were provided with charming shelter and
household appliances. Considering this as our mission, we have initiated housing projects in our Province.
Most of our domestic workers who had no house were supported in the recent past for the construction of house
and this project has been extended to all our places of ministry where we provide partial /full assistance to
build new houses. To reach this project to the most deserving people, we do recommend a field study and request
the fathers to identify the people with their socio-economic background and it is only after verification of the
collected data that the project gets sanctioned. To facilitate proper documentation and reporting of the housing project,
the beneficiaries are instructed to update the project coordinator with the progressive stages of the construction.
Drawing from Vincent de Paul's legacy of charity, our social
work ministry reaches out to the marginalized and suffering, providing compassionate care and
support, and advocating for justice and human dignity.
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