Dents in the Dark
The aim of the Karuna Charitable Trust has always been to uplift the people of the leprosy affected community and bring them to the knowledge of Christ.
Knowing that education plays a major role in bringing about change in any community, we started putting a few of the children in good Christian residential schools where the medium of education would be English and would also be imparted with Christian principals.
During the midterm vocations I was surprised to receive a phone call from Akash, a 10 year old boy whom we had put in school in Goa in the last academic year . He spoke to me in quite good English. When I visited his house at the leprosy colony I felt so good to see the look of pride on the parents face as he conversed with me in English. His mother remarked
“ our son has changed , he is becoming just like you.”
I praised God, He had helped us to make a dent in the darkness.
Recently I visited the children we had entrusted to a marvelous couple David and Theresa,
who run the Gateway International Boarding in Bangalore and was mightily blessed.
All the 11 children came running ,hugging me, wishing me and talking to me in english , (though some of it was broken english) and were so excited. I was stunned for a moment and couldn’t believe the big change in the children, some of them had been here only since June this year. Wow, I said to myself, Praise God, another dent in the darkness.
The icing on the cake was when they got together singing and enacting two gospel songs for me in english.
The day is not far when these children will change the mindset of the community, something we have been unsuccessfully been trying for the last seven years.
I praise and thank the Lord Jesus for helping us to make a large dent in the darkness in the Gandhi Leprosy Colony,
A Pillar of the Community
Hanumantha, a dymanic young man is the on of leprosy affected parents. A self educated man , he now tireless works with us to help uplift the community. He is also the recipient of the President’s Gold Medal for the work he has done and is doing among the leprosy community.
In the last couple of years he has managed to give his community a wonderful gift, the title deed papers of the houses they are now staying in. All the 76 families in the Gandhi leprosy colony are now proud owners of their own houses and the 20×20 ft plot on which it stands. Thanks to this man they now own property. We have also helped residents of other leprosy colonies in Raichur and Bijapur in achieving the same.
Besides this major achievement, he has managed to get pensions for them from the government regularized.
Through contacts he has made in government offices he has also made for them ration cards, birth certificates and caste certificates etc.
Please pray for this man and his family that God would touch him mightily and use him for His Kingdom.
Uplifting the Community
In the last 3 months we have:
1. Attended to 225 patients in the daily clinics, dressing their wounds and ulcers.
2. 27 persons were taken to hospital for treatment of various ailments.
3. 7 persons were admitted to hospitals and aid given with medical expenses.
4. 15 youth and women are on the skills training proggramme.
5. Spectacles and footwear were given to 6 persons.
6. An average of 30 children and 5 nursing mothers were given nutrition daily.
7. One person was helped with clutches
We thank God for Mallinath (who finished the computer training from our skills training programme) who set up a cyber cafe in partnership with another boy from the leprosy colony.
Upcoming Christmas programme
Every year in the last week of December we have a programme for the people of the leprosy colony sharing the love of Jesus with them.
This year we are planning to have this programme on the 27th of December.
We will start with a cultural/gospel programme which will be followed by lunch.
After lunch will be fun and games for 150 children of the leprosy affected, rescued bonded labour children and orphans. Each child will also be given a gift hamper which will contain stationary and toiletries besides a small toy.
We welcome any of you to contribute and help us with funds for this cause. Given below is the breakup. Please prayerfully consider which part of the programme you would like to help with.
1. Lunch for nearly 400 persons—-Rs.9000. We have already received Rs. 8000/- towards this. Praise God.
2. 150 Gift hampers @ Rs. 100 per child—Rs.15000/- . You can sponsor even a few children.
3. Cultural/ Gospel programme setup cost Rs.7000/-
Contact Michael for details on 9900993581 or email at
karuna_compassion@yahoo.co.in
karuna123compassion@gmail.com.
Abundance Project (Closed down)
The Abundance Project was conceived with the aim of helping uplift the leprosy affected community in Gulbarga. At that time we felt strongly that this was from the Lord as we had been praying for a long time for something like this. It was a dream come true. We started with the purchase of 10 acres of agricultural land in October 2008, thanks to a donation from Vital Seed International.
Now, nearly 2 years later, things have not gone as expected and I believe we should terminate the project. The reasons for this are as follows:
Poor Water Supply
Before purchasing the land we consulted a geologist who assured us that we could get 2” of water at 3 different spots on the land. But when we drilled, two of the three points were dry. We did not attempt the third point. When we later got some water at these points, it was a miracle. Even though we drilled a third well later with some success, the water was never enough for irrigated farming. We realized belatedly that the land is only good for rain-fed crops.
All through 2009 we tried planting vegetables but none were cost effective. Contrary to what we were told, the jatropha plants also needed water and most could not survive the dry conditions. None came to a place of bearing fruit.
Excessive Rain
Just before the rains in June 2009 we planted a large number of fruit trees and some Jatropha but there was no rain right until 16th August, when the rains came. They were so heavy that there were floods and the combination of drought and floods cost us dearly as we lost about 80% of the trees and bushes. This did not deter us so we planted 7 acres of Toor Dhal before the rains in June, 2010 with expert advice and in partnership with another local farmer. Once again, excessive rain damaged the crop.
Labour problems
We had always assumed that we would be able to employ leprosy-affected people from the Gandhi Leprosy Colony. We tried many different people but none were committed to work at the Project. Many would not stay there because it was too far away. Others were happy to take a (good) salary but did not expect to do any work to earn it. When we tried getting other workers (not from the leprosy colony) we still found people would work a little and then disappear. This meant that I often ended up spending days and nights alone on the land.
Legal problems
We were initially advised that Karuna Charitable Society is not legally registered to purchase agricultural land and so we entered into an agreement for the purchase. An early indicator of problems was that the mutation of the land, which should have been given immediately after the registration, was delayed by nearly eight months for a technical reason that was no fault of ours. We later realized that we would have to spend almost Rs 2 lakhs for properly re-registering the land in the name of Karuna Charitable Society. The original legal advice we had received was wrong.
Difficulties with Goats
We took advice from a local agricultural officer about the goats required, but they were the wrong breed of goats. So the goat farming really never took off to our expectations, and the mortality rate was also very high.
Diversion of Energy
My vision and mission has always been for the leprosy affected community and I firmly believed that the Abundance Project would help them. However, as soon we started it, my time and attention was taken away from the leprosy colony to the Abundance Project. The work in the colony has continued with Hanumantha and others keeping things going, but I feel that my presence there would have been helpful as that is where the Lord originally called me. Even though the Abundance Project was conceived with aim of helping the Karuna Charitable Trust uplift the leprosy affected community, at the end of the day it was not really helping them but just taking my time.
Hearing the Lord
In September 2010, I was up at the Abundance Project checking the Toor Dhal we had sown. It had been raining heavily for about a week. For the first time since we bought the land, I looked around and felt totally depressed. I had just walked 3 Kms in sloshing mud to reach the project as no vehicles could come through. Grass and weeds had grown knee deep in the unploughed land, but what frustrated me most was that the area where the crop was sown was full of weeds. The crop was coming up but there were so many weeds that I had to look closely to even see the crop. Weeding could not do be done immediately as the ground was too wet. And even if we weeded it, it would cost us so much that there would be no nett returns from the crop. It was a total loss.
As I walked back to the vehicle, I was talking with a friend who had accompanied me. In the course of the conversation it suddenly struck me that my morning’s reading that day was from John 15 which said that you cut away the branch that does not bear fruit. I stopped in my tracks. Is this what the Lord was trying to tell me, that the Abundance Project was a non productive branch that had to be cut away? The more I thought about it the more I felt convinced within me that this is what the Lord wanted me to do, to terminate the project.
I discussed this with my wife, Michelle, who at first did not want to believe that this was what the Lord wanted us to do. As a family we had become very attached to the land and the project. How were we to explain it to the children? How to explain it to the people in the leprosy colony? As we sat down during the next couple of days praying and talking about the situation it became clear to us that we had to let it go. Once we accepted this, we were at peace and we knew it was the right thing. Even the leaders at the leprosy colony were glad in a way saying that now I would have more time for them. Much later when we told the children during their vacations, they calmly accepted it without any questions or sadness.
In conclusion accepting that the Lord knows what is best we have terminated the project and have put up the land for sale. The money from the sale will be returned to Vital Seed International.
Michael D’Costa
President
Karuna Charitable Trust
Prayer Points
1. That the three teenagers in Hospet undergoing vocational training would complete the training course.
2. That the children in schools would complete their studies and that some of them grow up to be doctors, engineers and other useful citizens of this country.
3. That the people of this colony would accept the Lord Jesus and would find Salvation.
4. That The Lord would provide for all our needs.
5. The Lord would provide all the necessary resources required for the Christmas programme.
6. The Lord would give Michael, Michelle and the team much wisdom to carry on the work.