An Interview with Sister Nectaria |
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This is a condensed and paraphrased version of the original article by Natasha Pavlopoulou on 12-26-2021 published in NewsBomb.gr in Greek.
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The Greek nun, Sister Nektaria, personifies the spirit of humanity. Her love has been at the forefront of her fight against poverty, child exploitation, and illiteracy in India. The social inequality of that vast country exacerbates the seriousness of the current pandemic.
When Sister Nektaria's visa and passport expired, she was compelled to return to Greece to secure updated documents. Since leaving India, the borders temporarily closed because of Covid, necessitating long-distance directing of her orphanage and outreaches. This has been accomplished through online communications with the orphanage's oldest girls, now young adults.
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Children cared for by Sister at the Orphanage. |
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Orthodoxy and Hellenism in India |
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The first missionary of Christianity in India was the Holy Apostle Thomas, who preached the Gospel of Christ in Southern India, establishing The Church in that area. Unfortunately, that church was cut off from the Orthodox Patriarchate in the 5th century AD. From then until the 20th century, there was no Orthodox Mission in India, although there was flourishing Hellenism in Kolkata. Greeks, primarily merchants, built a Doric style sanctuary, honoring the Transfiguration of the Savior, a small temple dedicated to the prophet Elias, and a Greek cemetery. In time, it fell into disuse and disrepair.
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In 1991, a charitable work was begun in Kolkata, which has flourished over time by the Grace of God. The Philanthropic Society of the Orthodox Church (PSOC) was established to fulfill legal requirements for a non-profit. Despite its tremendous growth and wealth, India has a sizeable poverty-stricken population. West Bengal, the area of the Kolkata church, is one of the poorest. Many homeless people are born and die on the sidewalks and in miserable camps.
Sister Nectaria noted that the work of the Orthodox church, imbued with the spirit of love, mercy, and offering tries in every way to alleviate human suffering and misery, having as its principle the command of the Lord: "Be kind; He is the Father of the merciful."
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The charity work of Sister Nektaria |
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Beginning in 1992, in the churchyard of the Greek Church in Kolkata, approximately 250 children from the streets and the slums gather from early morning and wait for a cup of milk, a biscuit and vitamins. For many of these hungry children, this breakfast is probably the only meal of the day. Unwashed and almost naked, they beg for another biscuit or a little more milk. They often show various wounds and cuts on their bodies which, at the end of the morning, are cleaned and treated.
Where do these children live? They live on the sidewalk or in the neighboring Muslim cemetery where they camp. They sleep in the underground tombs and small tin lean-tos where whole families might huddle.
Humans, mice, mud, rubbish, and stench surround children who try to survive without prospects or expectations for a better life. They are forgotten by all, regardless of whether they live or die. Human life, under these conditions has absolutely no value.
"For the Christian heart, every human being is precious because he is an image of God and one for whom Christ shed His blood. It is therefore impossible for us to remain indifferent to such misery."
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Food and necessities are distributed to the neediest families, the destitute, and the elderly widows. Every Monday, more than 100 families, many of whom come from miles away, come to get the food of the week. Each Monday, the immensity of human pain and misery unfold before Sister and her helpers. Shocking images move their hearts and dominate their consciousness. People have waited patiently from dawn, in a row that covers the entire sidewalk outside the Orthodox Mission church. They wait in rags, like skeletons, some blind, some lepers, and many severely disabled.
Since 2006, a cooked food meal has been served at noon daily, and yet, Sister still feels that whatever is offered to these suffering human beings is but a small drop in the ocean of their suffering.
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Medical assistance and education |
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Another concern of the PSOC is the free medical care of needy patients, so five general practice clinics have been established in remote villages. Indian doctors and nurses have been hired for these establishments, thus contributing to the local job market.
Special care and emphasis are given to education. Illiteracy is almost the norm in West Bengal. The Mission built five primary schools to meet the educational needs of rural children. Local teachers have been hired, and students are provided with textbooks, stationery, and whatever else is necessary to get an education.
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Sister Nectaria said, "Children are and will always be the hope and future of a county." The Mission takes care of the orphaned, unprotected, often abandoned souls from the city's garbage dumps regardless of their race, color, or creed. The freedom and individuality of each child are respected. "They are all creatures of the same God and can find a warm home and love to help heal the wounds of their orphan hood or abuse. "
The Girls' Orphanage was established in November of 1999. Since then, hundreds of orphaned girls have been raised, educated, rehabilitated, and saved from the streets. In 2010, the Boys' Orphanage opened in a nearby area and now houses fifty children and teenagers.
A good education in a good private school is costly in India. Traditionally, this was supported by sources in Greece. However, with the economic crisis in that country in recent years, donations could not meet the needs of the children for tuition, so the decision was made to establish the Saint Ignatius English school. Sister Nectaria knows that a good education and higher learning are the keys to a secure future for the children.
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- Continuation of all existing outreaches
- Regular visits to villages to distribute clothing, food, medicine, and school supplies
- Drilling to ensure clean drinking water to avoid many of the diseases that plague the area
- Repairs of damaged houses or free provision of tiny homes for needy families
- Financial support for widows, poverty-stricken, and elderly
- Assistance with expenses for surgeries and medicines
- Purchase of wheelchairs, tricycles, sewing machines, cows, etc. to the poor to help them establish a livelihood.
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We asked Sister what are the worse and what are the best moments she has experienced in this journey. |
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"The worst moments of my life in Kolkata were seeing the exploitation of children. Little ones work in construction and do heavy adult work for a plate of rice instead of going to school, playing, and enjoying their childhood. Their handlers compel them to beg and beat them if they do not bring in enough money. Homeless girls are exploited by passers-by at night and have children by unknown fathers and those children, in turn, meet the same fate. Your heart tightens see so much misery. These were the reasons for establishing the orphanages. We do not think we are changing the entire situation, but we are doing what we can, even if it is only as a small drop in the ocean."
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As Mother Theresa of Kolkata used to say, "We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love, and it does not matter how many things we did but how much love we put into each of our actions." And, as I once heard our Ecumenical Patriarch say, "Sacrificing and unconditional love is the key to the solution of every problem, but also the criterion of our own salvation."
"As for the best moments," she continued, "they are when one sees the smile blooming on aching faces and sees the joy in their beautiful dark eyes. They start dreaming about their future and saying what they want to study and do with their lives. We are there to help them fulfill their dreams. This is our reward and the joy that makes us forget the trouble, the difficulties, and the adversities as we continue our struggle for the glory of God."
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As this interview took place shortly before Christmas, Sister Nektaria closed with a wish for each of the readers to have a merry and blessed Christmas and the wish, "May His birth mark the end of the pandemic and the beginning of a better life full of truth and light, full of love and peace."
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Printed with permission of the author: Natasa Pavlopoulou and published initially at Newsbomb. gr. |
Sister Nectaria has been a returning guest speaker at the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Forums on Modern Slavery.
This 2018 photo was taken at the second forum entitled Old Problems in the New World held in Argentina.
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A DROP IN THE OCEAN CREATES A NEVER-ENDING RIPPLE
There is an ocean of need worldwide. Our featured project is to aid the extremely poor children in a village on the outskirts of Kolkata, India.
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FILI's Non Profit Partner in India |
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PSOC
Philanthropic Society of the Orthodox Church
This fund was established by local Indian Orthodox individuals from Kolkata to fund The Theotokos Girls and Boys Orphanage and the many outreach programs of the Orthodox Church of Kolkata.
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