India Update 05
A little information about the diocese in which Shanti Bhavan (S.B.) is located. Geographically it is immediately south (maybe 200 kilometers) of the state capital city of Bubanheswar. There are 70 priests in the diocese and 41 parishes. However, eight of those parishes are operated by non-diocesan priests (Jesuits, Marists, etc.). That means that there are many parishes that have the luxury of two priests. HOWEVER – remember what the typical parish, even in a town like Rayagada is made up of. Today is Ash Wednesday and this afternoon we are all going to the parish in our town. The seminarians also sing in this parish on the last Sunday of every month. Inside the parish grounds there is: the church; a rectory / business office building; a youth hostel where boys live in one building and girls in another (almost all parishes have youth hostels occupied by children from the street or that are given to the parish for care because of strife in the family or because the family has disintegrated); a catechism building or part of a building is dedicated to catechism classrooms (in the U.S. we used to teach catechism, then CCD and now its another word – I like “catechism” and so do the IndiansJ); a storage facility that houses stores of food and supplies; a “garden” that has fruit trees such as banana –mango- plantain (small banana)-crab apple – etc. Also yams, a kind of potato, other veggies; and of course a few milk cows. I asked the parish priest who pays for the parish operation and he said less than 10% of his operating costs come from the collection basket.
The entire parish operation needs to be largely self sufficient because there is not much help from the diocese – and understandably so. Where does a diocese located in the poorest state of India get its money? Certainly not from the Sunday collection baskets from the various parishes. Some revenue comes from Rome, some comes from overseas sponsors, some comes from international civic organizations that will help fund the social services part of a parish operation, but not the religious part. Some comes from sale of the products from the parish garden and milk from the cows. A quart of milk from any Catholic parish or S.B. commands a high price. If Father Rush doesn’t agree with my suggestion for a chicken coop in the garage at St. A’s, maybe Father Kolla will agree to a cow barn on the parking lot at St. F’s. Maybe Father Perrault will agree to a grove of fruit trees planted in his “lower 40” parking lot. Maybe they will tell me to go back to India J. I have lots of pictures of these parish operations.
The area where the riots took place during late December is only 60+ miles to the west of S.B (for those who are unaware, simply Google “India, Orissa, riots” – 650 Catholic homes burned, 12 churches, one seminary, multiple hostels, etc. Sadly, there were a number of martyrs for their faith.). However, the entire diocese was very tense at that time. Although one town in that area was 80% Catholic and another was 40% Catholic, the country of India is only 2% Christian. It seems that whenever too many non-Hindu or non-Muslim Christian communities spring up, they become targets of opportunity. It is a continual “tug of war”.
On to more happier subjects such as life in Shanti Bhavan (S.B.). As I have mentioned in earlier “Updates”, early in my visit I was given the additional duty of hearing the seminarians recitation of their following day scripture readings. That meant that three brothers would visit my room before or after dinner to read and I would make corrections to their pronunciation. That process led to simple stop in visits to discuss American culture, music, Ocean City in the summer, etc. It became quite a parade in the evening until I had to limit the time for “cultural exchanges” to 30 minutes. The brothers are certainly eager to learn anything about the U.S. and they are wise enough not to trust much of what is portrayed in the mass media.
I am happy to report that the inaugural computer class in Shanti Bhavan’s new Computer Laboratory was conducted on the evening of February 8th. The lab has three computers: Father Joseph’s old computer (fair condition and speed), a second computer that must be powered by a 486 CPU (very old and slow but good enough for basic Word, Excell and Power Point), and a third computer with an unknown CPU that is only an automatic typewriter – after you shut it down it forgets every thing. The seminarians are like sponges – they soak up information immediately and days later can ask questions about minute details (some seminarians are “tribals” and they are used to verbal tribal histories and verbal stories, verbal learning, etc.). I will soon leave on a four day pilgrimage to a forested area called Dantoling. It is in the “interior area” and we will visit several churches. Many different tribal areas and other ethnic groups. India certainly is a patchwork of ethnic peoples. Dantoling is not on any map, just a wooded area with the local parish church. The parishioners live in a local village a few hundred meters down the road. Should be a great trip.
Not much else for Update #5. Just more classes and the introduction of the brothers to Computer Science. I teach every day Monday through Saturday from 0900 to 1200 (a 90 minute Beginners Class and then a 90 minute Advanced Class). Then in the afternoon I teach a General Class for all Brothers - about 50% English and 50% American culture or any other topic that they are interested in. On Sunday I teach only one class of 90 minutes - another General Class. Seven days a week everyone has tea in the afternoon. On the six weekdays (Saturday is just another weekday) immediately after the brothers finish their daily manual labor and tea is a “stand up” affair with tea and a heavy snack (they need lots of food because they work and play so hard). They usually eat yams that are steamed and drink tea from aluminum cups. I join them on occasion (just another chance to get to know them and talk about computers and the topics that interest them). The steamed yams are genuinely tasty and eating off aluminum plates and drinking from aluminum cups reminds me of my Army days. The priests take their tea in the dinning hall and drink tea from teacups and eat a few cookies and plaintan (a small banana). The day is really full of scheduled events so I try to improvise in order to spend as much time with the seminarians as possible. On Sunday, after a more relaxed tea (minimal manual labor on Sundays – however, when there are cows, dogs, ducks, chickens, etc. there is always some labor seven days a week), the brothers take a “Walk”. The “Walk” is a formal trek to some special location. I always try to go along with them. Once it was through the town market, to a railroad bridge over a large river. The bridge was at least 200 feet high and the brothers went out on a narrow walkway (which was the usual way pedestrians cross the span). I said I would wait for them on solid ground. Of course they harassed me and shamed me into joining them. I did. Yes I have pictures. Other Walks were to another area and by a mosque. The Islamic service was just letting out and we mingled groups as we walked by. Very interesting – have you ever felt like a “non-person”? I enjoyed the experience, especially surrounded by over 20 brothers who are all in excellent physical condition. Very, very interesting.
I will close this Update and get ready for Ash Wednesday Mass and the Dantoling pilgrimage. Life is good in Shanti Bhavan.
Bill
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