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Volume 26 No. 2 | Winter 2016
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New hostel gives Indian children access to school and hope
for a brighter future
In the Indian village of Burgaon-Buzurg, on the side of
a highway in the Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh
stands a newly built hostel to house the young boys who
have come in from the surrounding farming communities
to attend school.
In the grounds of the hostel, a brass plaque gives thanks
to the Australian Province of the Divine Word Missionaries
who, with the help of their generous benefactors and
Partners in Mission, helped to fund the hostel building.
Fr Mathew Patani, the Parish Priest of Borgaon-Buzurg,
says the news that the mission project for the AUS
Province had been approved “brought us great happiness
and encouraged us with new vigour”.
Begun on November 25, 2013, the hostel was officially
opened on June 13, 2015, with a blessing and a great
celebration attended by the Bishop, AAS Durairaj, other
local dignitaries and many people from the village and
surrounding areas.
Borgaon-Buzurg is a village hamlet by the side of the state
highway, with a population of 12, 520.
“The major part of the village population is economically
poor, with 30 per cent of the population owning farmland
of the village and earning a living as small scale farmers,”
says Fr Mathew.
“The main occupation of the village people is agriculture-
related works. During the off season, a good number
of people migrate to other places to seek daily work to
support families.”
Fr Mathew says the need for the hostel was very great,
as up to now there had been little accommodation for
children who came into the village for schooling.
“Borgaon-Buzurg is easily accessible from all sides, as it
is situated on the highway,” he says. “The village has a
good higher secondary school run by St Anne’s Sisters,
Tiruchirappally (Tamilnadu).
“This is the only school in this area where quality and
standard education is offered at affordable fees.”
Fr Mathew says the school services up to 11 villages in the
vicinity of Borgaon-Buzurg.
“These are interior villages far away from any towns or
cities, with Burgaon-Buzurg being a connecting point,
where people from the villages come to work.
“The village has a Central Government Bank, Government
Health Centre, and other offices, thus people of these
villages seek to send their children to St Anne’s High
School. There are also other children from these faraway
villages who are studying in the Government high school
nearby.
“All these children need boarding and lodging at
inexpensive fees. The new hostel building will primarily
facilitate the education of such children who hail from
these nearby villages where no proper educational
facilities are available.
“Thus, the new hostel has become a centre of hope
for many who cannot afford to stay at Borgaon-Buzurg
otherwise, due to the poor economic condition of their
families.”