India: a new water well for a boarding school run by Italian sisters in the diocese of Eluru
The Daughters of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple are an Italian congregation, founded in the 19th century. Their particular mission is the care of children and young girls, and the congregation is present today in Italy, India, Djibouti and Somalia, running schools, boarding schools, orphanages and leprosy centres and also caring for the elderly.
In India for example, in the town of Dhabhagudam in the diocese of Eluru, the sisters run a boarding school where they teach between 140 and 150 children from the remote villages of the jungle region. For children such as these, this is the only way they can possibly attend school. The people of the region are extremely poor, often working as day labourers and living precariously from hand to mouth. Very few of them can even read or write, and alcohol abuse is widespread, causing devastation to the lives of many families. The children too would be condemned to an equally precarious existence but for the presence of the sisters, who have given them the opportunity to attend school and learn. The fruits of their apostolate are very evident, with falling illiteracy rates, less child labour and a decrease in the number of child marriages. All in all, the awareness is increasingly gaining ground among the people that education is the key to a better future, at least for their children.
The sisters had a problem, however. Their one and only water supply was being used not only by themselves and the boarding school but also by the surrounding population, and above all by elderly people from the neighbourhood who were dependent on the sisters‘ water supply, leading to a situation that was becoming increasingly problematic. Now, thanks to our generous benefactors, we were able to provide 7700 Euros to provide the sisters with an additional water supply. They send their heartfelt thanks to you all.
