by Peter Collins

Kala’s story is very interesting, and it says more about Kala’s values and priorities than about the need to re-build her home. How did Kala, impoverished from birth, come to own a home in the first place?

Rewind 33+ years…..Kala was born in Kadayal, a little village in the extreme south of India.  She and her sister, Augustinal, lost their mother when they were two and seven years old.  They, along with their father, partially paralyzed due to a stroke, took shelter in the vestibule of the church.

One day a man visiting from America was at Mass, and Kala’s father put her into his arms.  This was the start of a relationship of more than 30 years.  The American used his own money to build a fine brick house for the family.  This was their home for 25 years until a neighbor’s tree fell on the house and destroyed it.  Now the house is a pile of bricks and rubble.

This American brother in Christ had also solicited funds from a generous donor so that a house could be built for Augustinal and her girls, Deepthi Michael and Ashika Mikey.

To this day he has made monthly remittances out of his own income, and he has found others who generously give to Kala and her extended family every month.  These funds provide food, shelter, the education of children, and health needs.

When she was a young woman, Kala became a postulant in the order of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters in India. When she contracted tuberculosis, she had to leave the sisterhood.  Kala then went to Anna University, graduating with an MBA degree, but found that her TB and weak immune system prevented working.  Kala is now married, and she and her husband Kannan have adopted Sany Michael.

Kala and her family live in Chennai, the largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu, because there are employment opportunities there for Kannan.  However, they have wanted for many months to rebuild their house in Kadayal.

Earlier this year, the government announced a housing assistance program that offered seed money and reimbursement of building expenses to people who could demonstrate clear title to land and wanted to build or improve their houses. The Indian government has many stipulations and regulations that Kala and Kannan are trying to meet, including the need to demonstrate consistent progress.  To date, they have spent $2,000 on the foundation, and they need another $10,000 to rebuild the walls and qualify for further government assistance.

Kala has reached out to Barnabas for help.  We raised over $1000 for this project, but Kala requested that we reappropriate the funds toward Catholic school tuition for her two nieces, Augustinal’s daughters. The donors to Barnabas agreed that education was a better use of the money than rebuilding the house.  For folks at the bottom of the economic ladder in India, education is the only path out of poverty, because with education jobs are open to them.

Kala’s remarkable trust in the Lord’s providence is an inspiration to all.  If Barnabas donors can respond soon, she and Kannan can qualify for money for house building before a government deadline of December 10.  Can you help Kala take the next steps to rebuild her home?