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Gypsies Self Help Project at Karai in Trichy District -1982.
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The Government of Tamilnadu assigned 88 acres of land to 45 Gypsy families during 1965. Since the Gypsies did not make proper use of lands thus assigned, the Tamilnad Christian Council stepped in and started working with these families since 1969. Initially loan assistance was given to dig wells and install motor pumpsets. As the needs of these Gypsy families could not be fully met, CASA was approached to provide assistance for digging more wells, installing wind mills, constructing houses, and constructing a Check Dam for water resource; providing infrastructure such as Day care Centre, Godown, Health Centre, and other needs. Loan assistance was proposed for chain making. The proposal was approved by CASA and implementation began from 1982.
The Gypsies have been organized to form a Society of their own. Work was carried out to dig eight wells. One wind mill was fabricated at RATC of this Council and installed in the common well for lifting water for drinking. A storage tank with taps was provided for drinking water.
A check Dam was constructed to control and store more water. A Day Care Centre was also constructed to give education for gypsy children.
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These gypsies were nomads moving from one place to another without proper dwelling places. By constructing 45 houses, 45 families were rehabilitated and thus their social status was enhanced.
Loans were arranged through Canara Bank @ Rs.1500/= each for chain making, under our Self-Employment programme. The repayments were regularly made.
The Field Officers visited the project area periodically to educate the Gypsies on cleanliness and co-operative living. Necessary help was given to them to cultivate their lands to induce interest in farming and make them settle permanently. A few of them also took loans to purchase animals for agricultural purposes.
It is gratifying that the gypsies were settled permanently and had shown considerable improvement in manners, social and health habits. Their children have started going to school. The transformation came gradually for better living and improved their economic status. This project continued till 1984. Through a recent visit, we found that some of the children of the gypsies are running Travel Agencies, traveling to Malaysia and Singapore.
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The Inter Denominational Leaders Conference.
It was held from 13th October to 16th October 1983 at Vellore. About 400 delegates from all over the state participated in it. The Participants were Lay Leaders, Pastors, Women and Youth from all the denominations of our Council. The Conference was sponsored by the Christian Dynamics, U.S.A., which had the motto “to train the nationals to reach the Nations”. The Conference sessions concentrated on the training aspects of evangelical work and sharing the experiences of the Participants in their Church/Dioceses, as also identifying unreached areas in Tamilnadu. Indeed it was a great occasion witnessing various denominations come together to hear the Word of God and share their experiences in group discussions on the witness of the Church.
In October 1983, a meeting was arranged by the Tamilnadu Catholic Bishops Conference at Madurai in which Church leaders from both the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches participated. The outcome of the Conference was the formation of “The Ecumenical Council for the Repatriates and Refugees from Sri Lanka –TECRAS”. The objective of TECRAS is to come together to commit ourselves to the common mission of Rehabilitation and Integration of Sri Lanka Repatriates and Refugees.
A book entitled “The Sri Lanka Refuges and Repatriates Problem – The Church’s Response” was published bringing out the details of the deliberations of this Regional Conference.
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