Annual Report 2016-2017

Deuteronomy 15:10
You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.

The Marthoma Charitable Society, Established in Oct 1994,  works to strengthen and empower the underprivileged in our Society. The society focuses on education of children and good health of a few hundred families in and around Kallukuttai. Kallukuttai is one of the largest slum areas in Perungudi, Chennai and is right next to our Charitable Society.

This year we introduced the MindFresh program to further improve the potential of the child, computer training and  conducted a musical program for fund raising. Additionally there were a lot more non-monetary participation by the members of the charitable society too. Special attention was also taken to convey activities about the society to the society members via the bi-monthly newsletter.

Education
A major activity by the society is supplementing the educational needs of 140 children from the nearby slum area. Mr. Samuel Gnansekaran (MSW, M Phil social work, MBA HR, Diploma in Labour Law) leads a team of other four  teachers in educating the sponsored students.

The four teachers are:
Mrs. K Mahalakshmi BSc. Maths, Diploma in Teacher Education. (teacher in St. Antony’s)
Ms.  A Parameswari DTE (teacher in St. Antony’s)
Mrs. K Anandhi B Com., DTE (teacher in St. Antony’s)
Mrs. S J Chinnammai D.T.Ed

The students come to the society premises every weekday between 7 AM to 8:45 AM and between 4 PM to 6 PM. We also provide basic snacks or dinner based on sponsorships.

This year we paid the school fees of 36 children and stopped paying school fees for others as we wanted the parents to take an active role in the education of the child too. We instead spent the amount in other activities to improve the abilities of the child like the MindFresh Program.

Medical Clinic – Ten Years of Service
Dr. Abraham Joseph led weekly (Wednesday) medical clinic completed 10 Years of service for the poor and needy. Currently it is being ably supported by Mr. George Joseph (Regi - Adyar). The Society thanks  Dr. Abraham Joseph for the valuable service and Mr. George Joseph for his dedicated service.

Our sexton Mr. S N. Ravi and church member Mr. Joseph help in day to day operations of this activity.

MindFresh Program for Emotional Intelligence:
A total of 36 High School and 98 primary school children attended the  MindFresh program. Our sponsored children come from families affected by alcoholism, poverty, physical and mental torture and abuse. The sessions provided counseling for positive thinking, removing inferiority complex, avoiding comparison with others, empowering them to grab opportunities that come their way and memory techniques to prepare for exams.  There were a total of 3 sessions each for both primary and high school students.

House Visits :
August 15th saw a Flag Hoisting ceremony followed by House Visits by the members being split into 10 groups. Each group was joined by a student representative. The team visited all the students’ houses.

Active Participation by Members of Marthoma Charitable Society:

Computer Hardware and Basic Software Training:  A formal syllabus was chalked out and computer training was introduced by Mr Thomas John (Regi). Classes were conducted punctually every weekend. There were both theory and practical classes. Desktop computers were donated by Parish members and The Hindustan University and are being actively used for the training program.
Cool drinks Sale by children on Sept 10th, 2016  held after church led by children namely Richa, Shruthi, Neha, Niharika, Nuthan, Karun, and others fetched Rs 7500 towards sponsoring English Dictionaries and English grammar books for the high school children.

Christmas Gift by Sunday School and Prize Distribution Day was a first of its kind.
The prize distribution for various sports activities were organized and conducted by the Sunday School on Dec 11, 2016. In addition to their prizes, the children also got a surprise Christmas gift from the Sunday School. It was followed by the arrival of Santa Claus who gave sweets and taught a few songs to the sponsored children thereby giving them a taste of a Christmas celebration. It was a great experience for the Sunday School Students too.

Members Volunteer to teach students: 
We have 5 members of our parish who have volunteered to teach students of the charitable society. They come to church in the evenings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at around 5 PM. The fruits of their teaching are showing as some students started getting higher marks than usual. The society records special thanks to Mr. Mathew Kuruvilla, Mrs. Renjini, Mr. Babu Kurien, Mrs Elizabeth Kurien and Mr. John M. John.

Physical Development – Sports/ Arts Competitions
The annual Arts Competition for the students were held on August 27th, Saturday 2016.  It was made mandatory for all children to participate to see their performance in writing stories and other artistic activities. Additionally the Sports Day was conducted on Sept. 24th and saw excellent performance by the students.

Good Samaritan Day Program: 
By the grace of God, the Good Samaritan Day Program was held on Sunday Nov 27th.  The chief guest for the day was  Padma Shri Kurian John Melamparambil.  He besides being a humanitarian is an entrepreneur par excellence and is the founder and chief promoter of Melam group of Companies and Melam Foundation. After a brief meeting in the church, the sponsored children unleashed their talents in a cultural extravaganza in the Parish Hall. The talent display by the  children  included prayer and song in English, a unique welcome speech in the form of a “Villu Pattu”, group song, dance by the primary and high school students and a wonderful national integration themed dance number. Prizes for rank holders were distributed. The program was an eye opener on the real talent of the children.

Fund Raising Program - Musical Evening by St Louis Orchestra of the Blind:
The society had a major fund raising program by conducting a Musical Evening at the SPMC Hall, Velachery on  February 05, 2017 Sunday at 6 PM. The musical program was conducted by the St Louis Orchestra of the Blind, 16/19 G.S.T. Road, Pallavaram, Chennai 600 043. The orchestra consisted of 12 main musicians and Bro. Octavian. It was well received by the audience, sponsors and donors too. The society conveys special thanks to Mr. Gigi George, Mr. Sennie Varghese, all prayer group secretaries and organization secretaries for their efforts in fund raising and organizing the program. We convey special gratitude to The Hindustan Group of Institutions and Dr. Elizabeth Varghese, Mr. P. J. Mammen and Mr. Ajith Thanikal. We also thank Raj TV for covering the program.

House affected by Cyclone Vardah rebuilt:
This year saw another natural disaster affecting Chennai. December 13th, 2016  witnessed the Vardah Cyclone. Giriarasi’s (student of class VII) home was completely destroyed in the cyclone. The reconstruction was fully sponsored and monitored by a member of the Charitable Society and the family happily moved in to their new  home on March 12th 2017.

CONCLUSION
The year 2016-2017 was an eventful year for the Marthoma Charitable Society. By God’s grace, we had some memorable first time activities initiated and changes made for the betterment of the society.  On behalf of the society, we convey our special thanks to Rev. Thomas C. Alexander and Kochamma for their active support to the society.

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see - Mark Twain .
We would also like to place on record our special gratitude to Dr. Abraham Joseph for his untiring efforts. We also wish to express our gratitude to  our Social Organizer Mr. Samuel Gnanasekaran, Mrs. V Elizabeth Rani and the four teachers.

We pray and thank God for the volunteers, office bearers, members of Marthoma Charitable Society and all donors for their contributions, support and prayers.