When politicians undertake study tours, the end result is usually a wasteful jaunt with little or no useful purpose served. But when parishioners of Calangute decided to undertake a tour of Daman, they had a benevolent objective in mind.
They have decided to adopt the village of Chikalda in Daman.
Parishioners of Calangute interacted with the downtrodden sections of society and got a feel of the existing poverty in those areas, during their recent mission tour of the Union Territory of Daman.
“People from these villages are poor, with no proper food, clothing, houses, schools, etc. Moved by their plight, the parishioners felt that the people need their support,” said Fr Norbert Lobo, who accompanied parishioners on the tour.
“There is no church or chapel and people pray in the open. So, we thought it fit to support them financially and morally. The parishioners of Calangute were unanimous in their decision and the first step in the direction was to lay the foundation stone for a chapel by our Parish Priest Fr Cipriano D’Silva,” he said.
“A lot of things need to be done for the people in these mission areas and the generosity of the Calangute parishioners could come handy in changing the fortunes of the poor people from Chikalda,” said Fr Lobo.
When contacted, Fr D’Silva confirmed that the parishioners of Calangute had decided to support and adopt the village of Chikalda, as part of its mission programme in Daman.
“We will also help build the chapel for the people of Chikalda. The foundation stone for the chapel was laid in our presence, while we are working out the modalities to purchase 600 sq mtrs of land for the project,” explained Fr D’Silva.
“The generosity of our Calangute parishioners has made all this possible and we will also help the poor people of the mission areas by providing them financial assistance,” Fr D’Silva said.
“We will collect funds from the parishioners through Lenten collections, proceeds from the Lenten drama, etc.”
The parishioners who took part in the tour were clearly touched by the affection of the people from many villages in Daman.
“The people in the areas are very poor, but their love and care is unbelievable. We visited certain areas of Daman and though our visits were planned and scheduled in advance, there were periods of delay in reaching the places.
The people and their children patiently waited for hours with flowers in their hands to give us a warm welcome.
Though poor in riches, they are rich in their hearts. We need more and more people to come forward and support them morally and financially,” said a visibly moved parishioner from Calangute.
