A surprise announcement stated that the International Institute of Education & Management honoured Peter Paul Raj, founder of the Good Samaritan Mission in 1994, with the Asia Pacific Achiever Award.
Peter Paulwas conferred the award, namely a certificate of excellence, for his achievements in the field of charity towards the poor. The ceremony took place on October 28th, 2020 in Delhi remotely, i.e. via Zoom, due to the Covid-19 emergency.
The prestigious award came after years of activities and sacrifices, thirty years if we also consider the time spent by Peter Paul with Mother Teresa. A steady commitment in which the many happy moments have also been accompanied by difficult ones, not least this health emergency that calls for the missionary and his teenage boys to be in the front line to feed the poor who crowd the streets of Mumbai.
Despite the Covid-19 emergency and the subsequent lockdown, at Good Samaritan Mission life flows like a gentle yet rushing river. Former children are now achieving independence, and it is exciting to see them grow not only on each annual trip, but also through weekly video calls.
On November 26th, 2020 we celebrated the wedding of Pinky, a 22-year-old young woman who, after graduating from high school, found a job as a saleswoman in a clothes shop in a shopping centre. Against all odds,economic stability and her love for Ravi, a boy she met at school who is now employed in a company, accelerated the wedding right in the year of the pandemic.
I first met Pinky in December sixteen years ago. She was not even six years old. She came to the Good Samaritan Mission from the street with her father, the only two survivors of an unfortunate family. Her arrival in Vikhroli made me think of the last survivors after a catastrophe. This is a recurring image. The ailing father was housed in VJ Ashram, the home of the dying and mentally ill with no possessions and a faded past between station platforms. The little daughter, instead,was lodged in the almost adjacent Silvano Niwas – The Girls’ House. A blessing, the last act of love of a man who, by handing over his daughter into safe hands, had eventually succumbed to death.
In the GSM Pinky has built solid friendships and a deep relationship with Sangeeta and Peter Paul. A year and a half ago she left the Silvano Niwas to go live with Kalpana and her three sisters, a group of independent working girls who had grown up in the GSM and changed their destiny (another story that is worth being told soon). Pinky, unlike many other girls, did not celebrate an arranged marriage. On the contrary, she met, dated, and finally married Ravi with the blessing of Mami Sangeeta and Peter Paul. Her family is not wealthy but lives with dignity in the hope of a better future for their children, far from the hunger and misery of the slums.
We wish Pinky and Ravi all the best. Covid permitting, next year I will visit them too, bringing the best wishes of all my Italian friends. (Alessandro Leone)
Vibha, in divisa scolastica, all’entrata della scuola materna
Vibha, la più piccola ospite della Good Samaritan Mission, abbandonata in missione a soli due mesi il 15 ottobre del 2019 ha compiuto tre anni. Vera e propria mascotte dell’intera Silvano Niwas, adottata a tutti gli effetti da Mami Sangeeta, che da ventiquattro anni aiuta Peter Paul nella gestione delle case, Vibha ha indossato per la prima volta un’uniforme scolastica per frequentare ciò che in Italia corrisponde all’asilo. Come è possibile intravedere nella foto, i bambini la mattina entrano e prendono posti tra i banchi proprio come poi accade con il passaggio alla primaria.
Vibha è molto contenta della sua scuola, perché può fare attività pratiche, preparare piccole coreografie, giocare insieme ai coetanei, imparare la lingua ufficiale dello stato del Maharashtra, il marathi, oltre ad affinare l’hindi. Vibha apprende con grande facilità, agevolata da un ambiente dove vivono adulti e ragazze grandi. Riesce per questo ad esprime in inglese semplici concetti. Infatti sia Peter Paul che Sangeeta le parlano costantemente in questa lingua così importante in India, consapevoli che in adolescenza sarà fondamentale per il suo percorso di studi.
