9 February 2006
A FURTHER REFLECTION ON KOLKATA
"Who ultimately did more for the plight of the poor, Don Bosco (1815-1888) the founder of the Salesians or Charles Dickens (1812-1870) the great English novelist?"
This rather surprising question was posed to me by the priest director of the Salesian program for 'platform children' in Kolkata during my visit as part of the recent ‘Flare Up Like a Flame’ Symposium.
I spent a day observing the program for children who after being abandoned or forced from home in many parts of India found their way to the vast Howrah station in Kolkata where they frequently proceeded to live on their wits by begging, thieving etc.
The Salesian program was a staged one where children were first offered somewhere safe to sleep at night and then if they chose to, were offered the chance of learning social skills to enable them to either enter mainstream schooling or avail of the opportunity to learn a skilled trade in the bakery, the tailor shop, the carpentry shop or other training program offered at the centre – all the time while living in one of the houses provided by the Salesians. Finally the young people who completed their education or training were assisted in finding employment and establishing a place of their own to live.
Hundreds of young people have been assisted through the program although it represents but a drop in the ocean of the need.
The work closely resembled that started by Don Bosco in Turin, Italy and thousands of Salesians continue that work today in many parts of the world. Of course similar work is being done by the Christian Brothers in India which again closely matchs that begun by Edmund Rice in Waterford in1802.
Clearly people like Don Bosco and Edmund Rice made a huge difference to the plight of the poor in their own time and their legacy continues to have an effect. However Charles Dickens, a contemporary of Don Bosco, through his skills as a writer and through the themes of his novels helped arouse the conscience of a nation in regard to the plight of the poor, particularly poor children, and that eventually led to the passage of laws that provided dignity and opportunity for all.
Who made the greater difference? It is impossible to measure and it does not matter, but the question suggests several things to me. Firstly, the struggle for justice needs to take place in many different ways and at many different levels. It also says to me that there is also something that each of us can do in our own way to promote justice within our own circles of influence.
This rather surprising question was posed to me by the priest director of the Salesian program for 'platform children' in Kolkata during my visit as part of the recent ‘Flare Up Like a Flame’ Symposium.
I spent a day observing the program for children who after being abandoned or forced from home in many parts of India found their way to the vast Howrah station in Kolkata where they frequently proceeded to live on their wits by begging, thieving etc.
The Salesian program was a staged one where children were first offered somewhere safe to sleep at night and then if they chose to, were offered the chance of learning social skills to enable them to either enter mainstream schooling or avail of the opportunity to learn a skilled trade in the bakery, the tailor shop, the carpentry shop or other training program offered at the centre – all the time while living in one of the houses provided by the Salesians. Finally the young people who completed their education or training were assisted in finding employment and establishing a place of their own to live.
Hundreds of young people have been assisted through the program although it represents but a drop in the ocean of the need.
The work closely resembled that started by Don Bosco in Turin, Italy and thousands of Salesians continue that work today in many parts of the world. Of course similar work is being done by the Christian Brothers in India which again closely matchs that begun by Edmund Rice in Waterford in1802.
Clearly people like Don Bosco and Edmund Rice made a huge difference to the plight of the poor in their own time and their legacy continues to have an effect. However Charles Dickens, a contemporary of Don Bosco, through his skills as a writer and through the themes of his novels helped arouse the conscience of a nation in regard to the plight of the poor, particularly poor children, and that eventually led to the passage of laws that provided dignity and opportunity for all.
Who made the greater difference? It is impossible to measure and it does not matter, but the question suggests several things to me. Firstly, the struggle for justice needs to take place in many different ways and at many different levels. It also says to me that there is also something that each of us can do in our own way to promote justice within our own circles of influence.
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