Kirkspire april 2007
St Andrew’s Church Village Project
visit to our rural project areas
Murdoch MacKenzie
In 1976 Rev M Azariah was a Presbyter attached to the Kirk and the following is part of the account which he wrote of the Independence Day visit to the Village Project.
‘15 adults, 10 young people, a dozen children and a dog travelled in the long green bus on wet roads, thanks to the heavy showers of the previous night. The rice-fields were emerald green as far as you could see as we reached Ponneri which is the hub of our Integrated Rural Development Project of some 26 villages. Our project workers, Mr and Mrs Subhan, and the local Ponneri church Pastor joined us there, together with the manager of the State Bank of India who was helping poor villagers get out of the clutch of moneylenders by providing bank loans.
Independence Day celebrations had been arranged at the two village schools of Kattavoor and Thirupalaivanam together with a ‘kolam’ competition for the local women. After a kilometre walk on a slushy cart-track we were welcomed by a jubilant bunch of children and girls and we accompanied the judges of the Rangoli competition. There was joyful entertainment by children and teachers with songs and drama. One item depicted the proclamation of the Emergency and the introduction of the 20 Point Programme.
We then visited the Harijan colony where people were not so jubilant but who were well-known to the local Pastor. As landless labourers they were on strike that day asking for an increase from the wages of Rs2.50 per head per day which they were being offered. But the caste-village employers would not budge and it seemed certain that to avoid the starvation of their families the Harijans would return to work for the same wages as before. Such are the complexities of rural problems we seek to tackle! It is clear that we cannot escape from constantly raising questions like ‘Whom are we serving?’ and ‘What are our priorities?’ in our project work.
At the next village school the national flag was hoisted and two neighbouring schools had joined the function. We presented 130 sets of plates and tumblers to the poorest children who were being fed with CARE midday meals. A transistor radio set was presented to the other school situated a mile away. You could feel the natural dignity of the villagers when the Headmaster explained that they were already collecting funds from the total village community to buy a T.V. set for which they were requesting a matching grant. A T.V. for this village is bound to make history!
After the National Anthem we moved on to enjoy our lunch packets and cool sea-breeze and serene shades in the Madras Christian College Zoological Lab premises at Pulicat. After lunch there was a game of football, a climb up the red and green capped Lighthouse beyond the river and some swimming in the waves. Some people strolled to the fish market, to the historic Dutch cemetery and to the nearby co-operative society to purchase fancy items of palm-leaf handicraft. The 12 hours since we had left the Kirk went by like so many minutes. Soon the bus was full again and we raced the setting sun and sang choruses, to join the birds to praise the Creator who brought us at last safe back home to Madras around 8.30 pm.’
Murdoch MacKenzie
In 1976 Rev M Azariah was a Presbyter attached to the Kirk and the following is part of the account which he wrote of the Independence Day visit to the Village Project.
‘15 adults, 10 young people, a dozen children and a dog travelled in the long green bus on wet roads, thanks to the heavy showers of the previous night. The rice-fields were emerald green as far as you could see as we reached Ponneri which is the hub of our Integrated Rural Development Project of some 26 villages. Our project workers, Mr and Mrs Subhan, and the local Ponneri church Pastor joined us there, together with the manager of the State Bank of India who was helping poor villagers get out of the clutch of moneylenders by providing bank loans.
Independence Day celebrations had been arranged at the two village schools of Kattavoor and Thirupalaivanam together with a ‘kolam’ competition for the local women. After a kilometre walk on a slushy cart-track we were welcomed by a jubilant bunch of children and girls and we accompanied the judges of the Rangoli competition. There was joyful entertainment by children and teachers with songs and drama. One item depicted the proclamation of the Emergency and the introduction of the 20 Point Programme.
We then visited the Harijan colony where people were not so jubilant but who were well-known to the local Pastor. As landless labourers they were on strike that day asking for an increase from the wages of Rs2.50 per head per day which they were being offered. But the caste-village employers would not budge and it seemed certain that to avoid the starvation of their families the Harijans would return to work for the same wages as before. Such are the complexities of rural problems we seek to tackle! It is clear that we cannot escape from constantly raising questions like ‘Whom are we serving?’ and ‘What are our priorities?’ in our project work.
At the next village school the national flag was hoisted and two neighbouring schools had joined the function. We presented 130 sets of plates and tumblers to the poorest children who were being fed with CARE midday meals. A transistor radio set was presented to the other school situated a mile away. You could feel the natural dignity of the villagers when the Headmaster explained that they were already collecting funds from the total village community to buy a T.V. set for which they were requesting a matching grant. A T.V. for this village is bound to make history!
After the National Anthem we moved on to enjoy our lunch packets and cool sea-breeze and serene shades in the Madras Christian College Zoological Lab premises at Pulicat. After lunch there was a game of football, a climb up the red and green capped Lighthouse beyond the river and some swimming in the waves. Some people strolled to the fish market, to the historic Dutch cemetery and to the nearby co-operative society to purchase fancy items of palm-leaf handicraft. The 12 hours since we had left the Kirk went by like so many minutes. Soon the bus was full again and we raced the setting sun and sang choruses, to join the birds to praise the Creator who brought us at last safe back home to Madras around 8.30 pm.’
Murdoch MacKenzie
