By Matters India Reporter
Kochi: A Catholic parish in Kerala has devised a novel way to help those affected by an unprecedented deluge that ravaged the southern Indian state.
Father John Puthuva, vicar of St. George Church in Thalayolparambu says the parish will set aside all offerings, including Sunday collections, it receives during August and September for the rehabilitation of people who have lost everything in the flood.
The parish, which is under the archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, hopes to raise at least 1.5 million rupees through the project code-named “Offering Boxes for Humanity.”
The parish will use the amount to renovate damaged houses as well as feed and educate the flood-affected people.
“It is a small gesture from us at a time when people around the world are extending all possible help to the victims of the devastating flood in Kerala,” the 51-year-old priest told Matters India.
The parish, which is some 35 km southwest of Kochi, has also decided to earmark a month’s donations for humanitarian activities every year. All the 1,300 families in the parish have supported “this noble venture,” the vicar added.
Floods and landslides caused by excessive Monsoon rains severely affected 12 of Kerala’s 14 districts, bringing an estimated loss of 200 billion rupees.