The Ashram has reported that the Flower project, the
initial funding of which was helped by the Basilian Fathers, is progressing
well. Jasmines and roses are being sold at the market, but the profit
depends on the festival days, otherwise the selling cost is low and wages to
the women picking the flowers is relatively high. Further expenses may be
incurred in setting up light for workers in the hours before sunrise, as the
area contains poisonous snakes, and prices for early delivery of flowers at
the market is higher.

During the year the Ashram celebrate important cultural events and religious
festivals, and the children are involved in the festivities. At two of
these, Divali and Pongal, each of the children is given a new set of
clothes. This year the children participated in a Sports day, and were
encouraged to compete in friendship for prizes and certificates. During the
hot summer month of May the children who still have contact with their
families spent the month at the family home. The other children stayed at
the Ashram and were taken on some outings to local places of interest.
School recommenced in June, and Ashram officials seem satisfied with the
educational progress. Some staff training was given in the English
language, and a workshop held during the school holidays. Since July the
Indian Government has tightened up on fire precautions, and plans are being
made to install fire extinguishers. Otherwise the buildings were so planned
by the engineers that they meet the necessary regulations.

Regarding the sponsored children, the 3 girls in the nurse training program
have now completed the college courses and each is now employed as a nurse
in a hospital. The boy who was attending technical college has also
completed all his courses, passing with distinction, and has been hired by
the Wind Turbine engineering company. Another 5 of the children left the
Ashram this summer, one little boy was going to train as a vedic priest.
One very smart boy was going to enter business with an older partner, the
other 3 children were returning to their families to hopefully find work.
Two young newly admitted children are being substituted by the sponsors, and
two older girls and a boy of 18 who wish to enter higher educational
programs are being sponsored now.

Since June of this year donations from France of $1,800 each month have
ceased. Payment of the office staff, electricity bills, some support for the
school, cost of clearing up dry vegetation to prevent fire, all came from the French aid.

So there is a problem to meet these expenses from other sources.

There have been a couple of further unfortunate incidents. An agricultural
labourer tried to elicit control of the Berry Farm by breaking fence posts
and letting in cattle. Another man who was working as a house father was
found to be ill treating the children and demanding money from the parents
all poor and uneducated people, and on being dismissed tried to intimidate
the Ashram.

At Emmaus Farm part of the mango plantation is often leased out annually for a reasonable rent. This year's contractor generously gave a large donation of mangos and apples for distribution among the children. Last month a young deer chased by a dog jumped into the deep well at the farm, but was rescued by farm workers and forest officials and taken back to the forest. There seems to be an abundant harvest of mangos, bananas, jack fruit, egg plant, okra, etc. at Emmaus Farm.


This year the Ashram has been able to give free medical care to the children and weaker ones were given regular vitamins, like B complex, iron and calcium tablets. Vera, an orphaned child who was cared for at the Ashram since birth, has now completed her medical training and is the resident doctor looking after the needs of all at the Ashram.

Sri Kanyakumari Gurukula Ashram was founded in 1952 at Kanyakumari. The Ashram is a Society registered under the Societies Act. It has a currently valid tax exemption for donations under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. It is also privileged to be granted further tax exemption under Sec.IO(23C) (iv) of the Income Tax Act which is currently under renewal. It is learnt that this is the only institution in the district to be granted this exemption. The Ashram is registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India, under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, to receive overseas aid.

2. PROGRAMMES CONDUCTED. IN BRIEF: The ashram conducts Homes for Children in Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli Districts. The ashram also supports some women in need with work and residence and care for their children till they are rehabilitated. The Ashram conducts two day-care programmes for children below the age of 5 years--one in Kanyakumari and the other one in Palavoor in Tirunelveli district.

3. OTHER ACTIVITIES: The ashram has a small dairy at Sitharamapuram. It has dry land farms at Alamelupuram and Sitharamapuram. It has a small farm at Tirukurungudi village and dry lands with water potential at Veeravanallur village.

Detailed reports during the period from April 1, 2002 to March 31,2003, are given below.

4. ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS AT CHILDREN'S HOMES:

a) CHILDREN'S HOMES. KANYAKUMARI: The Children's Home in Kanyakumari District is located on the outskirts Kanyakumari town. There are 37 boys and girls of the age groups 5 to 18 years in this Home. A house mother takes care of the children. A cook prepares the food with the aid of an assistant. Breakfast, lunch, supper and snacks in the evenings, are served. Children in this Home attend public schools nearby. The

school year started on June 5, 2002 and ended on April 12, 2003. All but three children in this Home studied through Tamil medium. Thees three children--two boys and one girl-- from Ashram's English medium school, joined a higher secondary school nearby in June 2002, in Grade 11 (Std.XI). One boy among them stood first in his class and maintained it. Though there was severe water scarcity, this Home was connected to the municipal water supply and also has a tube well for ground water. So this Home was able to meet the needs for water.

b) CHILDREN'S HOME AT ALAMELUPURAM AND SITHARAMAPURAM:

The Children's Home in Tirunelveli District has two sections. The Boys' Home is located at Alamelupuram in Levenjipuram village which is 11 km north of Kanyakumari. The Girls' Home is located at Sitharamapuram in Terku Karunkulam village and is also known as Abbé Pierre Gardens. It is just 2 km further north of the boys' campus. There were 115 children--46 boys and 69 girls—between the ages of 5 and 18 at these two places. 8 more children - 3 boys and 5 girls were also cared for in this Home only with sponsorship support. Boys above the age of 10 years reside at Alamelupuram while younger boys and girls reside at Sitharamapuram. Children in these 2 locations resided in 6 cottages and were taken care of by house mothers in the 5 girls' cottages and by a house father in the boys' cottage. Women cooks and assistants helped. The house mothers and a lady teacher who was also staying on the girls' campus, helped the children with their studies in the mornings and in the evenings, before and after school hours. 65 children - 27 boys and 38 girls - from this children's home studied in the English medium school of the Ashram, while 58 children studied through Tamil medium in three different schools nearby.

c) CHILDREN'S HOME: GENERA1:

Children in these Homes enjoyed their stay. They celebrated several festivals and National holidays during the year. The major festivals were Sri Krishna Jeyanthi, Sri Ganesh Chathurthi, Navarathri, Deepavali and Pongal. For Deepavali and Pongal all children received new clothes. Children studied well and some held top ranks in their classes in their studies and some were good in extra curricular activities, games and sports. Many of them participated in their school competitions and won prizes. Some students were rank-holders in their schools. Some children took part in village games and won prizes. The health care of the children was attended to by the Resident Medical Officer, Dr. Vera. For leisure activities, the children enjoyed cultural activities, games, bicycling and TV programmes. Children were given vitamin supplements along with their food. Girls and boys learnt devotional songs called 'Thevaram' and 'Thirupugazh' every weekend. Girls also learnt tailoring on week ends.

d) WATER: Due to severe drought and missed or scanty monsoon rains in ashram areas, there has been acute water scarcity at the Alamelupuram and Sitharamapuram campuses for more than tree years. Till the end of December 2002, water was purchased and brought by ashram truck for the children's homes and for the plants. But, since January 2003, water could not be bought or transported. So ground water had to be found on the campuses. Tube wells more than 400 feet deep were drilled near the cottages during February and March 2003. Existing tube

wells were deepened. Support came from Emmaus, Toulouse, France and Stichting Vrienden Ashram, the Netherlands. This provided water to the children and to a part of the agricultural farm. Much of the planted areas had to be sadly abandoned.

5. DAIRY: The ashram has a small dairy of cows. 30 young children were given milk twice daily with support by Stichting Vrienden Ashram, the Netherlands. Curds (yogurt) was given to all the children every day. Excess milk was sold to maintain the dairy. Maize from Berry farm was fed to the cows. A tube well donated by Emmaus, Toulouse provided water for the dairy and vegetable farm.

6. AGRICULTURAL FARMS: Agricultural activities supported ashram programmes. The ashram has developed small farms on dry lands to support the needs of the children's homes. Due to severe and prolonged drought, the farms at Alamelupuram and Sitharamapuram lost more than 200 fruit trees and nut-bearing trees, teak and other valuable trees. Drought resistant trees like tamarind and neem survived. Yet, with supply of water from one tube well, some vegetables were raised and given to the children's homes. The work of maintaining water supply from the tube wells had to be attended to by one man since the motors had to work for long hours and needed frequent attention.

The ashram has a farm at Veeravanallur known as Berry Farm, since money for its purchase was bequeathed by Fleet Berry of Toronto, Canada, who met the Founder in 1968 and was a long-time supporter of the Ashram until his death. It also has agricultural land at Tirukurungudi; this farm is known as Emmaus Farm, since it was a gift of the Emmaus charity, in Toulouse, France. Emmaus farm survived the drought and supplied banana, mango, jack fruits and coconuts to the children's homes. At Berry farm, water from a public channel was available for 3 months from December 2002 and this helped in the cultivation of paddy. For the first time, 3 hectares of paddy were cultivated which was ready for harvest by the end of March 2003. Maize and vegetables were also cultivated. Mr. Peter Lakin and Mr. Robert NeIder of Canada initiated a project to provide a well for irrigation at Veeravanallur. Mr.Paul Lakin and the Rotary Club of Hamilton, Canada, funded a project to dig a well and build a pump house at Veeravanallur. The Basilian Fathers' Human Development Fund in Canada provided the initial funding for the Ashram. The Rotary Club of Tinneveli, sponsored it. With a matching grant from the Rotary International, the project was completed. Rotary Ex-Governor, Rtn. Rm. K. Viswanathan opened the well and the pump house to the Ashram on August 14, 2002 on behalf of the Rotary. With project support fom Action Children Aid, Denmark, given earlier, gooseberry was planted on one hectare. Drip system from the well was laid for the cultivation. More planting is to be done after summer.

7. COTTAGE OPENING: With support from Action Children Aid, Denmark, the ashram had been constructing a cottage for children at the girls' campus. During the year the work was completed. Mrs. Vibeke Harboe from Denmark and Mrs. and Mr. Cuganesan from Australia helped to meet the increased costs and complete the construction of the cottage. As a voluntary service Mr. Ravindranath, Architect from Tiruvananthapuram, provided the drawing and design while Mr. Augustin, Structural Engineer, who is also the President of the Ashram provided the structural engineering suggestions as a voluntary service. They also made visits to see the construction. The cottage was opened by Mr. T. W. Laursen on behalf of Action Children Aid. Mr. Knud Rehder lighted the sacred lamp in the cottage. The project met a pressing need for shelter for children.

8. CLINIC BUILDING:

Construction work on a general clinic building was done with support from Emmaus. Electrical work and floor tiling were completed in 2003. Work was continuing at the end of the year in March 2003.

9. SCHOOL

The English-medium Matriculation School had received approval from the State of Tamil Nadu in 2001. During the year, 65 children in the ashram--27 boys and 38 girls--were studying in this school. 86 children--53 boys and 33 girls--from nearby villages also studied at this school. Students on completion of Std. X (Grade 10), sat for the Matriculation Examinations in March 2003. One van was used to bring the local children to the school and take them back after school. As the fee and transportation costs at this school were relatively low, this was a valuable service to the poor, local communities, apart from the school being of immense value to the children at the ashram, who could not have otherwise afforded it. All the teachers were qualified and were doing commendable work. Parent-teacher meetings were held at regular intervals. School functions including School Day, literary and sports meets, etc., were conducted during the year. There was good parent and community co-operation.

From June 2002, some of the classes were conducted in the new block containing four new classrooms donated by Action Children Aid, Denmark, Emmaus, Toulouse, U.A.C.E France and Stichting Vrienden Ashram, the Netherlands. The Basilian Fathers Human Development Fund, Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, Alamelu Children's Homes Canada, and Mr.Cuganesan, Australia, gave support for staff training and courses and for school supplies.

10. FURTHER EDUCATION:

During the year, 4 girls- 3 from the ashram and one from a very poor family selected for help by the ashram--completed their second year of General Nursing course in a School of Nursing in Andhra. They were supported by ‘Teach International', U.S.A., Alamelu Children's Homes, Canada and the ashram. One boy from the ashram passed the second year of a three-year diploma course with first class marks in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in an Engineering college nearby. The cost of his engineering education was met by Mr .Raghunathan, Managing Director of Wescare India Ltd., situated near the Boys Home in Alamelupuram. Two boys from the ashram were studying the Vedas and Agamas at Thanjavur. One of them was in the fifth year and the other one was in the third year of the course. They were supported through donations and by their institution.

During the year under report (2002-2003) the strength was 24 children. But, prior to 2001, the strength was 90 children. The reason for the decline is obvious: in the earlier years, when the ashram was receiving a grant for giving mid-day meal to children, 90 children were coming to school daily. In 2001, the grant was discontinued and the ashram could not provide mid-day meals to children. So, during 2002-2003, only 24 young children attended this school. They were taken care of by a teacher and an assistant. Children were brought by their parents and taken back by them after school. The school did not receive any aid from any source.

14. FUNDS:

The children were supported with an annual grant from the Department of Education and the Directorate of Social Welfare of Tamil Nadu. To meet the total needs, the Ashram received sponsorship support from Action Children Aid, Denmark, Alamelu Children's Homes, Canada, general support from U.A.C.E. Paris and Emmaus, Toulouse, France, and Stichting Vrienden Ashram, the Netherlands and individual donations from India, the U.K., and the U.S.A. Malaysia and Austrtalia. Mrs. Kavitha Dalmia gave donations of cloth to all the children and workers Mr. Bhandari donated school stationery, Mrs. and Mr. Kissun donated chairs to the school and several donors made individual donations in cash and kind. Many experts in different fields gave voluntary services. Dr. A. Vera offered voluntary services for the health and medical care of children and adults.

15. VISITORS:

The ashram had the pleasure to receive visitors from India and abroad during the year. On April 14, 2002, Tamil New Year Day, Sri S.L. Bhandari from Chennai paid a visit to the Ashram. Mr. Peter Westerhoff and family from the Netherlands came and stayed at the ashram for several months during which Mrs. Elizabeth and Mr. Peter Westerhoff helped at the school. On April 23, 2002, the Assistant General Manager of the State Bank of India from Madurai, paid a visit along with the Manager of the State Bank of India at Nagercoil. They saw the clinic under construction. Devotees of Bagwan Sri Satya Sai Baba from Chennai led by (Retd.) Navy Cdr. P.K. Kutty paid a visit with Dr.and Mrs. Dr. Karnavar from Thiruvananthapuram. On January 2, 2003, Mr. Peter Lakin from Toronto, Canada, who has known the Ashram for more than 25 years, paid a visit and stayed for two weeks and saw the activities On January 9, 2003, Mr. Kissun and family from Australia who are friends of Mrs. and Mr. Cuganesan, all devotees of Bagwan Sri Satya Sai Baba, paid a visit. On January 18, 2003, Mr. Peter Vestergaard and Mrs. Christiana from Denmark paid a visit. On January 21, 2003, Mrs. and Mr. Karnnel Singh Charles, President of Teach International, U.S.A. and their friends paid a visit. In February 2003, Mr. T. W. Laursen and Mr. Knud Rehder paid a visit for a few days. They opened the new cottage donated by Action Children Aid. In February 2003, Mr. Neal Michael from Canada came. Mr. Peter Westerhoff paid a visit in March 2003 and helped at the school for two weeks. The ashram thanks all the visitors for their visits and for their interest and valuable support.

16. CONCLUSION:

With kind grants from the Department of Education and the Directorate of Social Welfare of the Government of Tamil Nadu, the kind and generous support from Action Children Aid, Denmark, Emmaus, Toulouse and U.A.C.E. Paris, France, Alamelu Children's Homes, Canada, Stichting Vrienden Ashram, the Netherlands, and individual donors in India, the U.K., the U.S.A., Malaysia and Australia, and donations in kind from donors within India, the Ashram was able to provide good care for needy and neglected children and women and develop supportive services. The services also gave job opportunities to local women and men.