Bede Griffiths Charitable Trusts - Muttom

A Day in the Life of . . . .

Adrian and I have been in Muttom for one week. We are so very happy to be here with Sister Selvi and 29 children in the fabulous new St Adrian’ Reachout Centre, set in one acre of land with stunning views of the sea, palm trees and fishing boats. The building is cool and spacious and the children are so happy to be in such a special place. They run and play in the open spaces as though they can’t believe their good fortune.

I can’t really describe this wondrous experience. When we first arrived I cried with joy and amazement that the SARC building is ready just 21 months after the Tsunami hit Muttom and one year after we bought the land. Michael, the builder, has done such a superb job and we feel so very grateful to him And Sister Selvi has brought everything together with such skill, hard work and dedication. Nothing would happen without her energy and commitment a very big thank you to her!!

MAXSON

This is Maxson, he is 7 years old. His mother came to see Selvi last week to beg her to take two of her children, Maxson and his sister Mini aged 9. Selvi told her she could only take one as she is trying to keep to one child per family, so the mother sent her son. He is so thin and little for his age, but has settled in very well. Still, he looked so sad and nervous when he arrived at the St. Adrian's Reachout Centre.

Yesterday Maxson didn’t come home from school with the other children and we were worried about him. He turned up much later saying he couldn’t find his bus pass so he’d walked the kilometre from school alone with his heavy bag, barefoot. He has no shoes. Selvi told him to go home and fetch his mother. She came, told her story and cried to Selvi.

THE JONES CHILDREN

Jill,

It was an inspiration to bring the story of The St. Adrian's Reachout Centre to our house in Charing.

When I received your leaflets, I read out the information to my children, Liberty(8), Verity (6) and Leo(4).

They were fascinated by the individual stories, some of which are really hard to understand. I told them about the effects of the tsunami and the village children's way of life now. I also explained that you have a personal involvement with the children's project.

Verity ran off in haste and I thought that I had really upset her as she is very sensitive and thinks hard about others. However, she hastily appeared with her hands full of coins from her money-box and emptied all she had onto the table."I want to give all my money to the children. What can we
buy them?" she said.

With almost £2 she was happy to think she could provide rice for someone for 2 months. Being slightly less impulsive and needing a few definitive figures to go by, Liberty said, "Hang on, wait there, I can help too, I've got money from the tooth fairy!" She disappeared upstairs and returned with her £2.

They both continued to ask lots of questions about Muttom. I suggested giving a few toys, to which Leo has donated a few of his favourite cars. I hope they are suitable!

love,

Heather

Notes: Drawings by Liberty and Verity

Miracles in Muttom

Do you believe in miracles? Well I do. On 31 August, Sister Selvi and 25 children from Muttom moved into the new St. Adrian's Reachout Centre - just under eighteen months from the time the tsunami hit their fishing village.

Thanks to the wonderful generosity of so very many people, the Bede Griffiths Charitable Trust has been able to help Selvi and her trustees buy an acre of land overlooking the sea just outside the village. Michael -- a delightful person and excellent designer and builder -- has built a truly beautiful building to house the Centre. The children and Sister Selvi are so thrilled with their new accommodation, especially since they've spent the past year in a very small four roomed house that leaked! Plus, the rains have been very heavy this year.

2006 - 2007 Budget

The St. Adrian's Reachout Centre requires an operating budget of approximately 730,000 rupees -- less than £ 9000 - for the 2006-2007 financial year.

It costs just £ 700 per month for us to take care of 30 children. However that does not include annual expenses like school fees, school books and an audit of SARC's accounts. In addition, we need money to expand the facility.

Our Targets for 2007

Phase II Building 1st Floor £ 14,500
Accommodation of workers £ 2,000
Running costs £ 9,000

Please feel free to take a closer look at our budget by downloading one of the following files:

Excel spreadsheet | Word Document