Monsoons, Mosquitoes and Jesuits
Wimbledon College heard of the plight of the Dalits in India and decided to do something about it
Wimbledon College heard of the plight of the Dalits in India and decided to do something about it
Tim Byron SJ tells all
The Vision
Wimbledon College is one of the largest boys comprehensive schools in the country, with over 1500 pupils on the role. It has a large staff as well as a Jesuit Head, Fr Michael Holman, and three younger Jesuit scholastics working there. The link to India came from one of these scholastics who comes from the province of Karnataka in South India.
On my first day I gather my stethoscope and ask for a supply of Holy Oils. My superior has consulted with the bishop and local chaplain. The bishop and chaplain feel that I should not act as a priest inside the hospital boundary, but only as a doctor. Outside the hospital ‘doctor-priest OK’. I accept this cross often offered by those inside Church circles: it has ‘either-or’ carved on it. I know though that in hospital, doctors beat priests to the patients - especially the sickest ones - just as priests get priority to penitents in Church. After all, this is only my first day, so I wave the Holy Oils goodbye.
My bicycle ride to the National Hospital where I work takes ten minutes. There are no traffic lights on this Island and road signs can be counted with two hands. The roads have neither ‘hard shoulders or white lines’, but provide multiple encounters with pigs, piglets, hens and chickens, adults and small children. Large four-by-four vehicles from various United Nations Organisations are the most roadworthy of the vehicles and account for about thirty percent of traffic. They too weave their way on these roads and I sometimes wonder if I will reach the hospital as a doctor or patient.
The Karnataka Province is dedicated to alleviating the plight of the lowest caste called the Dalits - the Untouchables. One of their Jesuits, Fr Ambrose Pinto, is a world-famous advocate for their cause, and it was on a visit to London, when he came to meet British Government officials, that he was invited to give a school assembly. This small, quietly spoken man stood in a room of over 200 seventeen-year-old London boys.
He spoke with such passion and clarity about the injustice that the Dalits suffer that he bypassed their adolescent cynicism. Inspired by this, and wishing to respond in some way, the ‘Jesuit Southern India Project’ was born.
After a twelve month process of selection, leadership training, and fundraising over £26,000, an intrepid group of 19 pioneers travelled 5,000 miles to the south of India. They were off to work alongside the Jesuits of Karnataka on their social project with the Dalit people. The group, led by Tim Byron SJ, consisted of 13 sixth-formers, 2 old boys and 4 members of staff.
Dalits - the Untouchables
Fr Pinto is trying to put discrimination against the Dalits in the same category as the former apartheid in South Africa. Dalits, who were formerly called Untouchables, suffer from every conceivable form of discrimination. They cannot live with, marry, or drink the same water as high caste people. Since the caste system, and the institution of untouchability, continue to govern the social behaviour of high caste Hindus, it makes the enforcement of human rights difficult, if not impossible. The Dalits who are literally out-castes (outside the caste system) experience many forms of oppression. These include: being barred from temple entry, objection to them sitting among caste Hindus in public places, prohibition from entering into caste Hindu houses, hindering of marriage and processions through caste localities, prevention from drawing water from a public well or tap. They also experience acts of raiding, looting, torture, insult and the rape of Dalit women, threats against their contesting elections and the rigging of elections by force.
Our Project
We were able to contribute to the building of a student hostel in the Jesuit mission of Pannur. This will enable them to house 50 Dalit children, ensuring they receive an education - rather than spending the day minding cattle for a paltry £1 per week - and also ensuring that they have two good meals a day, thereby preventing malnutrition.
One of the highlights of the project was being able to buy the freedom from slavery for the last child in the village who was in bonded labour to the landlord. His sister had been married four years ago and as the family could not afford the wedding costs they had given their son to the landlord to work for 10 years without payment. The boy would arrive at Mass in the evening exhausted, looking malnourished, and falling asleep leaning against us. When we discovered his story, the Wimbledon College students insisted that we use some of the raised money to free him.
After wanting my signature on their shirts and prayer books, fourteen seminarians are given permission to accompany me to the airport. I am given an East Timorese shawl and cassette with songs and well wishes recorded by the men over the last few days. Mariano de Deus (a seminarian) says to me: ‘Father when you are gone, don’t forget me in your heart’. This letter to Jesuits and Friends is a reminder of just that.
The Future
We will be taking another group to India next summer and, at present, all pupils from year 7 to year 13 are raising money to sponsor the children that we will be working with. Each tutor group has been given the name of a child and asked to raise £100 to ensure that the local Jesuits can pay for their accommodation, food, uniform and equipment, so that they can be educated. One hundred pounds ensures their education for a year.
CAN YOU HELP US WITH THIS, OR ANY OTHER DONATIONS?
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP
- Playing international football against the Jesuit University College in Bangalore.
- Playing cricket against the village in which we were staying. This was reported in the local papers.
- A four-day induction process where we met local Indian students, listened to talks from Jesuits, political presenters, professors and politicians who introduced us to the many facets of Indian life.
- Visiting Hindu temples, Buddhist shrines and, of course, Catholic churches - especially attending Mass at the foot of the incorrupt body of St Francis Xavier.
- Being treated to a welcome and a farewell concert in the village of Pannur. The villagers garlanded us, giving speeches, and performing dances in our honour.
- The village paying for a group of drummers to parade in our honour before we left. This was done to the chagrin of the higher caste, as it is an honour usually reserved to the Hindu gods.
The Vision
Wimbledon College is one of the largest boys comprehensive schools in the country, with over 1500 pupils on the role. It has a large staff as well as a Jesuit Head, Fr Michael Holman, and three younger Jesuit scholastics working there. The link to India came from one of these scholastics who comes from the province of Karnataka in South India.
On my first day I gather my stethoscope and ask for a supply of Holy Oils. My superior has consulted with the bishop and local chaplain. The bishop and chaplain feel that I should not act as a priest inside the hospital boundary, but only as a doctor. Outside the hospital ‘doctor-priest OK’. I accept this cross often offered by those inside Church circles: it has ‘either-or’ carved on it. I know though that in hospital, doctors beat priests to the patients - especially the sickest ones - just as priests get priority to penitents in Church. After all, this is only my first day, so I wave the Holy Oils goodbye.
My bicycle ride to the National Hospital where I work takes ten minutes. There are no traffic lights on this Island and road signs can be counted with two hands. The roads have neither ‘hard shoulders or white lines’, but provide multiple encounters with pigs, piglets, hens and chickens, adults and small children. Large four-by-four vehicles from various United Nations Organisations are the most roadworthy of the vehicles and account for about thirty percent of traffic. They too weave their way on these roads and I sometimes wonder if I will reach the hospital as a doctor or patient.
The Karnataka Province is dedicated to alleviating the plight of the lowest caste called the Dalits - the Untouchables. One of their Jesuits, Fr Ambrose Pinto, is a world-famous advocate for their cause, and it was on a visit to London, when he came to meet British Government officials, that he was invited to give a school assembly. This small, quietly spoken man stood in a room of over 200 seventeen-year-old London boys.
He spoke with such passion and clarity about the injustice that the Dalits suffer that he bypassed their adolescent cynicism. Inspired by this, and wishing to respond in some way, the ‘Jesuit Southern India Project’ was born.
After a twelve month process of selection, leadership training, and fundraising over £26,000, an intrepid group of 19 pioneers travelled 5,000 miles to the south of India. They were off to work alongside the Jesuits of Karnataka on their social project with the Dalit people. The group, led by Tim Byron SJ, consisted of 13 sixth-formers, 2 old boys and 4 members of staff.
Dalits - the Untouchables
Fr Pinto is trying to put discrimination against the Dalits in the same category as the former apartheid in South Africa. Dalits, who were formerly called Untouchables, suffer from every conceivable form of discrimination. They cannot live with, marry, or drink the same water as high caste people. Since the caste system, and the institution of untouchability, continue to govern the social behaviour of high caste Hindus, it makes the enforcement of human rights difficult, if not impossible. The Dalits who are literally out-castes (outside the caste system) experience many forms of oppression. These include: being barred from temple entry, objection to them sitting among caste Hindus in public places, prohibition from entering into caste Hindu houses, hindering of marriage and processions through caste localities, prevention from drawing water from a public well or tap. They also experience acts of raiding, looting, torture, insult and the rape of Dalit women, threats against their contesting elections and the rigging of elections by force.
Our Project
We were able to contribute to the building of a student hostel in the Jesuit mission of Pannur. This will enable them to house 50 Dalit children, ensuring they receive an education - rather than spending the day minding cattle for a paltry £1 per week - and also ensuring that they have two good meals a day, thereby preventing malnutrition.
One of the highlights of the project was being able to buy the freedom from slavery for the last child in the village who was in bonded labour to the landlord. His sister had been married four years ago and as the family could not afford the wedding costs they had given their son to the landlord to work for 10 years without payment. The boy would arrive at Mass in the evening exhausted, looking malnourished, and falling asleep leaning against us. When we discovered his story, the Wimbledon College students insisted that we use some of the raised money to free him.
After wanting my signature on their shirts and prayer books, fourteen seminarians are given permission to accompany me to the airport. I am given an East Timorese shawl and cassette with songs and well wishes recorded by the men over the last few days. Mariano de Deus (a seminarian) says to me: ‘Father when you are gone, don’t forget me in your heart’. This letter to Jesuits and Friends is a reminder of just that.
The Future
We will be taking another group to India next summer and, at present, all pupils from year 7 to year 13 are raising money to sponsor the children that we will be working with. Each tutor group has been given the name of a child and asked to raise £100 to ensure that the local Jesuits can pay for their accommodation, food, uniform and equipment, so that they can be educated. One hundred pounds ensures their education for a year.
CAN YOU HELP US WITH THIS, OR ANY OTHER DONATIONS?
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP
- Playing international football against the Jesuit University College in Bangalore.
- Playing cricket against the village in which we were staying. This was reported in the local papers.
- A four-day induction process where we met local Indian students, listened to talks from Jesuits, political presenters, professors and politicians who introduced us to the many facets of Indian life.
- Visiting Hindu temples, Buddhist shrines and, of course, Catholic churches - especially attending Mass at the foot of the incorrupt body of St Francis Xavier.
- Being treated to a welcome and a farewell concert in the village of Pannur. The villagers garlanded us, giving speeches, and performing dances in our honour.
- The village paying for a group of drummers to parade in our honour before we left. This was done to the chagrin of the higher caste, as it is an honour usually reserved to the Hindu gods.