By M L Satyan

Bengaluru, July 22, 2022: Mother Teresa Rural Development Trust was started in 2011 with the main objective of serving aged women neglected by their families and society and orphan or semi-orphan.

The purpose of keeping both the women and children in the same campus is to create a “bond of love” between them. The aged women consider the children as their ‘grandchildren’ and the children consider the women as their grandmothers.

Maria Rethna, the trust’s founder, was born in 1972 at Kanniyakumari district and completed her studies in her village. In 1988 she joined a local congregation named Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She took her first vows in 1991 and the final vows in 1997. She served in various places in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Rethna held various responsibilities and accomplished her work successfully. Yet, she could not find fulfillment. There was an inner urge to move beyond. Her role model was Mother Teresa and she wanted to serve the poor and needy people like her. She was not given an opportunity by the congregation.

After prayerful discernment and due permission from her authorities, she left the congregation. She chose a remote village named Kalmanikapuram, stayed in a small hut and tried to serve the aged women in that village.

Her family and trust members and relatives helped her buy 3 acres of barren land in that village and build a home for the aged women in 2013. Today the home houses 25 aged women. Later, a shelter home for the children was started. It has now 10 children who now study in the nearby schools. Both the homes are registered under the state social welfare board.

Rethna continues to be a “secular nun” fully dedicated to the service of the needy people. Just like Mother Teresa and her sisters, she goes to the market and literally begs from vegetable shops and provision stores without inhibition. The shopkeepers give whatever she wants. When she gets some donation, she pays them. She also visits nearby villages and towns, going from house to house begging help from families for the trust.

The trust is being managed only with the local contributions. With the support of some philanthropists, she renovated the home for the aged, built a new kitchen and dining and the children’s home. Now, a small prayer hall is under construction. She has three staff to assist her. The local people have started appreciating her dynamism, commitment and spirit of selfless service.

On the occasions of birthdays, weddings, house-warming ceremonies, anniversaries the local people offer meals to the residents of the homes. Some people donate furniture, clothes, toilet items, kitchen utensils and stationery items to the Trust.

After the home for the aged was built, a rich man in that village instigated people and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and made false accusations that Rethna was converting the women to Christianity. They filed several complaints at the local police station. The instigated villagers threatened to demolish the home for the aged, chase Rethna from that place and kill her. She managed to face these challenges and obstacles with a lot of will-power.

The home provides food, clothes and shelter to the aged women. Through special care and counselling, the aged women are made to feel that they are wanted. They are helped to live with dignity. The women participate in activities like prayer, counselling, medical check-up and motivational sessions. Those who are active, help in household activities like house cleaning, cutting vegetables, cooking, washing utensils and garden work.

In Tamil “vidal” means “adolescent.” Presently 10 children reside here. The home gives ‘care and affection’ that they rarely got from their own families. They are trained in cultural activities like singing, music, dance and drama. They learn yoga and meditation. Every child’s birthday is celebrated. Picnics are organized at regular intervals.

They are also taught to imbibe values such as honesty, responsibility, cleanliness, self-confidence, respect for others especially elders, selfless love, spirit of service and self-discipline etc. For the children this is a “Home away from Home”.

The trust identifies the differently-abled children who are neglected by their families. It counsels, motivates the parents and helps them to show their parental love to such children. Required support is provided by the Trust to help the differently-abled persons live with self-respect and dignity.

In the past, Self-Help-Groups were formed for women from poverty-stricken families. They were helped to start small-scale income generation programs and savings in the bank. The women also attended tailoring classes and developed their stitching skill. An opportunity was given to them to earn money, become self-reliant and lead a respectable life in society.

Presently, the trust continues to run a tailoring center in the town where the women learn stitching and embroidery. They also come to the home for the aged to attend counselling sessions on a regular basis. They are given awareness on health and hygiene, HIV/AIDS, preventive measures, family life and communal harmony.

Traditional ceremonies are conducted for a pregnant woman and help her get reunited with her husband. With the support of lawyers and local police, an unwed mother is helped to marry the man who has abandoned her. Women with families are helped to get re-united with their families (children, husbands and relatives).