By Thomas Scaria
Mangaluru, April 15, 2020: Apostolic Carmel nuns are among several Catholic religious communities in India involved in feeding those affected by the nationwide lockdown on account of Covid-19 pandemic.
Carmel sisters associated with St. Agnes College, led by their superior Sister Maria Roopa, now feed hundreds of hungry people in Mangaluru, a port town in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
Most beneficiaries are migrant laborers stranded without food because of the lockdown, which was initially announced until April 14, but now extended to May 3.
“The lockdown has specially affected the poor sections of society, especially the migrant laborers,” Sister Roopa told Matters India..
She said her people work closely with the government machineries and a couple of other congregation. Corporator Naveen D’ Souza takes the nuns around the city to distribute pre-packed food parcels at market places, railway station, and bus stations. They focus mostly on homeless migrant laborers, who are not part of government shelter homes.
Sister Roopa said her people feed at least 60 poor people daily. “Though our main apostolate is education of the girl children, the need of the hour is feeding the hungry and we are all involved in this task,” she added.
The superior also said all the sisters in the convent in cooking the food and two of them distribute it to the needy.
The other two congregations helping them in Mangaluru are the Bethany Sisters and Sisters of Mount Rosary, Mangalore based indigenous congregations.
“Their labor of love was amply rewarded by the blessings and the smiles given by these not so fortunate strata of society,” Sister Roopa added.
The Apostolic Carmel nuns work in Bahrain, Kenya, Kuwait, Pakistan, Rome and Sri Lanka, besides many places in India.
The congregation has six provinces and is centrally administered by the General Team from the General Motherhouse in Bengaluru.