During half term Mrs Devine, Miss Woodward and I had the privilege of visiting our Year 11 charity, Reaching the Unreached in Tamil Nadu, South India. This is a grassroots charity started in 1974 by Brother James Kimpton, a De La Salle brother originally from Chester. The charity helps the poorest of the poor in southern rural India and aims to empower destitute and marginalised people. Since 1974 when Brother James opened a road side clinic to treat the medical needs of the people, the charity has built four children’s villages, nursery, primary and a secondary school, sunk 2,493 bore wells to provide clean water for people, built over 9,000 houses for people with no homes, and set up self-help groups for women who have no income. They feed over 2,000 adults and children a day and provide pensions for the elderly who receive no help from the government.

The extent of the work that Brother James started and that is now carried on by the people of the local area is immense, and hard to put into words; the work has simply transformed the lives of people who in reality have nothing. So this Lent, St Joseph’s are going to help the charity in a very real way. We want to build a house that would house a foster mother and eight children. The houses are simple but provide a home for children who do not have the privileges that so many others have. We are aiming to raise £12,000 by asking people to buy a brick for the house. Each brick costs £1 (less than some bars of chocolate), so instead of giving something up for Lent, give something to those in need. Please ask your friends and family to buy bricks because the more we sell, the quicker the house can be built.

Margaret Davies