35th Anniversary message from Mumbai
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A 35th anniversary message from HAPC Mumbai chairman, Bishop Agnelo Gracias
“Children have a way of winning our love. A child melts even the hardest heart. No wonder God came to us in the form of a little, helpless child at Bethlehem. Every civilised society seeks to protect children and to ensure that they have a congenial atmosphere to grow. The future of society depends so much on the child of the present.
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- HAPC helping the street kids
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- The aged are not forgotten
A child needs protection, love, a sense of belonging and the wherewithal to meet its basic needs to grow into an adult. These needs include food, shelter and, particularly today, a right to education. So many children are deprived of these, especially in many parts of the ‘developing world’. That is where the vital role of organisations like HELP A POOR CHILD can make a difference.
One of the memorable things that HAPC did a few years ago, was to help a deaf girl from Goa, Steffi, to recover her hearing. HAPC brought Steffi, along with her mother, to England for treatment. Today, Steffi is on her feet and able to walk the path of life with a steady step and smile.
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- Bishop Agnelo Gracias giving his blessing at the inauguration ceremony of the HAPC hall at the Jan Kalyan Trust Centre
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- The plaque, serving as a lasting memory of HAPC’s contribution to the Jan Kalyan Trust Centre
HAPC’s link with Mumbai goes back to its inception, with that chance meeting between Derrick Pereira and Mother Colombiere in 1980. Then, in the 1990s, the branch was in touch with a dynamic priest, Fr. Leslie Ratus, Theresa Carrasco and a few others. It helped raise funds for a Franciscan Hospitaller nun, Sr. Rosita, who was working with slum children. Another of the HAPC Mumbai’s initiatives was a grant given to the Jan Kalyan Trust, which was working with poor tribes in Raigad District of Maharashtra. The plaque in one of the dormitory halls of the boarding school, set up by Jan Kalyan, stands as a lasting monument of HAPC’s legacy of reaching out to poor children.
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- Mother Colombiere and her team visit the slums to provide the poor with food and clothes
Years ago, Derrick and a few caring and dedicated individuals established HAPC. Now, the charity is celebrating its 35th anniversary. HAPC can surely look back with pride over its past; but it does not stop there. We look forward with renewed enthusiasm and dedication to the future.
God bless, HAPC!“
– Rev. Bishop Agnelo Gracias