St. Paul's Lutheran church is actively involved in the Slum Ministry. The church has extended the ministry in a slum called "Vathuruthy", and a colony called "Karithalaparambu colony".
Our Methodology
Area Description
VATHURUTHY
Vathuruthy, a big slum is located in the Willingdon Island the city of Kochi ( known as queen of Arabian Sea) of Karalla. The area is thickly populated with 22,000 people of 2100 families (1500 Tamil families and 600 Malayalam families) packed like beehives. Natives have their own houses of various types with a few cents of land. All the migrant people are living in rented huts. A long shed is cut up into 30 to 40 square feet area thatched and mud or cement floored rooms which are rented out by natives .
KARITHALAPARAMBU COLONY
Adjacent to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation Bus stand, Ernakulam, at C.P.Ummer Road, there is a colony consists of 75 families hail from Hindu and Muslim community. They collect waste papers, iron rod etc. and sell them. All men are consuming alcohol and beating their wives and children. Children are not getting proper education.
Activities
Conducting medical camps
Medical camps are arranged with the assistants of the District Medical Officer and the Superintendent of General Hospital, Ernakulam. Before submitting the requests the consents from the doctors, nurses and the driver are taken. At the time of nonavailability of Government vehicle, Rotary Club members and other well wishers are approached for the same. In the medical camps leprosy patients are detected secretly, and confidently is kept.
Immunization camps are conducted with video on six killer disease and prizes are warded to the winners of the test. The Health Department of Kochi Corporation, assisted by the office of the District Medical Officer and the General Hospital, has been immunizing the community since 1991.
Eye camps and awareness camps are conducted with the help of Kerala Health Service and Lions Club.
Awareness and medical camps of Ayurveda are conducted with the help of Indian Systems of Medicine Department, Ernakulam
Homeo medical camps are conducted with the help of the Association of Homeo Medical staff of Kochi Corporation.
Availing of Medicine
Arrangements are made to avail medicine by presenting the visiting cards of the pastor and medicine prescription of the doctor from two medical stores. Opticals are also provided in the same line.
Facilitating Treatment
Patients from the slum are taken to the Government Hospital by transport bus for proper treatment. Pregnant women are also taken to the Govt. Hospital for antenatal clinic. The detected leprosy patients are confidently taken to the government hospital. The patients who do not go to hospital loosing their jobs are given their one-day wage through sponsoring.
Conducting Awareness classes
Awareness classes are conducted each month on various topics such as immunization, diarrhea, mother and child care., leprosy, AIDS & HIV, alcoholism ,drug addiction, personal hygiene etc
Each month classes on various topics like nurturing of children, breast-feeding, cooking etc are conducted with demonstration for the women with the help of the experts of each topic.
Facilitating Development
The authorities of Kochi Corporation neglected this area enlisting in the list of slum development project of British Overseas Development Agency. Constant communications were made with the corporation Mayor, District collector, British High Commissioner to visit the area and included in the priority list of slum development.
Distributing Freebies
Freebies such as soap, tooth paste, tooth brush, talcum powder, tea powder, curry powder, green peas, vermicelli, Basmati rice, Sugar free, pen, pencil, shoe polish etc are collected from the Times of India and distributed to the desired people of the slum.
Availing Loan
Neighbour Hood Groups (NHGs) having 10 women in each group are formulated. Every Saturday Rs 10/- per member are collected by the group leaders of each group and deposited in the bank. Loans for self employment are given from both the bank and Neighbour Hood Group deposit.
Supplying Dress
The used clothes collected from the quarters of Central Excise & Customs, Cochin Shipyard, Cochin Port trust, Cochin Refinery and Southern Railways are supplied to the community at Vathuruthy.
Contributing Food Materials
Food materials received from the well-wishers being their tithe contribution are given to the destitute families of widows.
Efficacy of the ministry
Educational support, health development programmes, awareness camps, rehabilitation programmes, programmes for the welfare of women and children are being carried out at Vathuruthy .
The ministry has embarked on another ambitious scheme for providing education and noon feeding to 500 odd students in Vathuruthy slum.
The story of Suseela a linguistically and physically handicapped girl is unique, pioneering an example for children of slums. She was the school topper in the CMS Higher Secondary School, Melukavu who scored high marks in the SSLC examination held in March 2001.
Social development
The following are the social development occurred in the slum through this ministry
(i) Migrant’s children are sent to schools. Some of them sent the children to Malayalam medium schools and others to Tamil medium in their native places.
(ii) A Tamil School has been started in the slum itself in the year of 2003.
(iii) The migrant population has realized of their being exploited and are resisting it.
(iv) Savings habit is developed among the population of both the natives and migrants
(v) The environment is made clean through this ministry, awareness programme and the fund channeled to the Corporation of Kochi from the British Overseas Development Agency (BODA) for development.
(vi) Renovation of houses and up gradation of the shelters of the slum dwellers are made using this Fund .
(vii) The children are provided proper cared with the help of Crèches, Day Care Centres and Anganawadies.
(viii) Water stagnation is reduced due to cement flooring of all the paths and pocket roads and maintenance of the drainage.
(ix) The hygienic environment has reduced the rate of epidemic diseases.
Even though this area is known as a slum and exists a social stigma, the appearance of a slum nature has gone away. Now it looks nice with new buildings, cement floored paths and pocket roads, covered drainages and small trees on roadside. The life situation of the community in this area is also changed.
