In the early 1970’s an ex-FBI agent named Alan Ouimet began a small non-profit organization that focused its efforts in the environs of Alleppey, India — a small town on the southwest coast of India. The purpose of the Franciscan Family Apostolate (FFA) was to serve the destitute of all faiths in the region. My aunt, Mary Catherine Storms, was one of the first sponsors. Today there are about 900 sponsors helping 1200 families through monthly allotments and other community development projects.
I only learned about FFA after the death of my aunt. My father took on sponsorship of her Indian family and after my father's death, I found some papers about FFA among my father's things.
The organization intrigued me because it was small, focused upon helping a small geographic area, and because of its size, the connection between Indian families and their American sponsors was strong. Families in Alleppey wrote letters quarterly with the help of translators. With the coming of email, an American sponsor could be in regular contact with the FFA office in Alleppey and have questions about their family answered quickly.
What also attracted me to the program was its creative breadth. The main committment is still $20 - 25 a month, the majority of which goes to the family. Over the years though a number of optional projects have been developed. According to the needs of your specific family, you might contribute to a house, a cow, a loom, or educational training. Every thing was very specific to your family and so the ties with the family deepened.
The purpose of FFA is to move families towards self-sufficiency. Another intriguing and rewarding part of FFA is that some families do reach a point where they are independent. When I visited Alleppey in 2001, I met a number of families whom I had supported in the past 15 years and who were now thriving.
In December 2001, I joined the Board of FFA and I hope to be able to contribute to the organization. I encourage you to check out their website and my writings about my trip to India. If you are interested in lerning more, I would be glad to speak with you about FFA or put you in touch with Alan Ouimet.
To inspire you, here are two brief stories about the families of FFA:
Madonna and Child
Of all the families I visited on my trip in 2001, perhaps none haunts me more than one I met on the last day of our stay. Mariamma Joseph lived with her in-laws and
five-year-old paralyzed child in a ramshackle hut with a rusted through roof. Her husband had deserted them; her father was bedridden, paralyzed from a stroke. Her sole source of income was a few rupees from occasion coir work such as I described before. Mariamma had just received a sponsor to help her clothe and feed the four of them. Until then she and her family had subsisted on random gifts of food from neighbors. The photos I took of Mariamma remind me of a Madonna with Child. Again, her grace spoke more strongly of her plight than any woeful lamenting would have and stays with me to this day.
The Gift of Service
In 1996 I was asked to sponsor Omana. At the time she was living with her husband, Uthaman, who was too sick to work, and her three small children, all ill and suffering from malnutrition. Shortly after my sponsorship began their thatched hut collapsed in a monsoon leaving them homeless. Early photos I received depicted an intense, str
essed woman with a gentle plea in her eyes. Descriptions focused on her determination to provide for her family. For three years, her letters amazed and inspired me, as she became a living example of the phrase, "True power is energy flowing freely towards a purpose." Through the housing program she received a simple but sturdy house for her family. I bought her a goat. With other funds I sent, she began a firewood business. The small monthly allotment I sent enabled her to purchase food and medicines. Soon her husband was working, her children healing. As the family’s savings grew, Omana began another business, selling ready-made dresses in her village during their festival season. By 1999, she no longer needed monthly assistance from me. She and her family were self-supporting.
When I finally met Omana, her many ventures were thriving. Her husband wa
s building and selling furniture. She had purchased a sewing machine. Her children were bright-eyed and active. Her eyes gleamed, her smile was radiant as she showed me about their property and we shared stories about our children. Confidence and pride resonated in her every word and action. I was amazed to see she was less than 5 feet tall as, with a small amount of support, she had, in effect, moved mountains through simple intention to care for her family.
Our visit together was wonderful. It amazes me that this woman lives on the other side of the world and somehow, through a miracle, we have touched each other’s lives. She feels I have given her so much. In truth, she has given to my family and me. Her story has encouraged us; my children have grown up with a legacy of service and concrete examples of how they have helped others.