21.9.24. 10 pm IST
If you are a Roman Catholic and you r from Goa then we have a Religious ceremony called ” OUR LADY ” or ” SAIBIN ” where the Statue of Our Lady visits each catholic house for 24 hours.
Rewind 10 -15 years back and almost the entire vaddo in a village in Goa from all communities would be present for SAIBIN.
Prayers , Holy Rosary , then a small fellowship meal where BOILED GRAMS , cake & other goan sweets would be given to all who attended the SAIBIN.
But last 10 years a particular poor goan catholic family in TUEM consisting of elderly mother & her son with disabilities skipped bringing Our Lady Statue to their home.
Reason ?
Watch the video in the link attached to this post and leave your comments.
So what changed, that after 10 years , this elderly mother yesterday brought The Statue of Our Lady to her small and simple home ?
Well last 7 months our NGO volunteer
Mr Arturo Dsouza has been providing monthly dry ration & a small monthly allowance to this poor goan family at TUEM.
A local young Hindu man Mr Chandrashekar from TUEM Village has been keeping in touch with the family & our Volunteer Mr Arturo.
Mr Arturo visits the family once a month as a courtesy gesture for their ” KHOBOR ” which made the elderly lady belive that some one cares about them.
This small gesture every month was the turning point as the elderly mother believed That Mother Mary heard her prayers & as a sign of gratitude the elderly mother last month made up her mind to bring SAIBIN home.
Just imagine this, if you were in her place :
》You are 85 years old,
》No money, so expenses for SAIBIN who will pay,
》Your only son is person with disabilites,
》Stressed & disappointing at a bleak tomorrow,
》Rising inflation,
》Low morale,
》No motivation.
But then Mr Arturo pops in March 24 & keeps coming month after month.
Not to forget Mr Chandrashekar the local who is keeping an eye on them & helping them.
The elderly mother now feel :
》Some cares about her,
》Her living expenses are met ,
》Her motivation is back,
》It's time for Thanksgiving to Mother Mary.
Actually for me it's more of doing a little good to some elderly Mother who I never knew & never met.
One needs to see such elderly poor goan mothers with compassion as Mother Mary too would feel happy that a mother is comforted & at peace.
Remember:
The goodness you do to others, comes to you & to your family.
Rituals , traditions, ceremony to the poor and the last section of society means nothing because of poverty, isolation , despair , that sense of no one wants me , I don't belong to this society.
But now you can see in this video the :
Joy, peace & love on the face of the elderly mother.
All communications strictly through whatsapp messages only on 8380097564
God bless you all
Donald Fernandes
8380097564 / 7020314848