An Interim Report of the Children’s Home (Muttom) for the  

Academic Year 2009-10

I am happy to submit the interim report for the academic year 2009-10. I would like to thank all the friends and sponsors who support this noble cause of helping the poor children of our area. With all your prayers and generosity we have been able to run the children’s home in a better way.

A video of our Children's Home and Fr Joseph's message can be viewed by clicking n this link

To see photos of the Children's Home click on this link

Inauguration of the Academic Year (01.06.2009)

The academic year began with a Mass celebrated on 1^st June by Fr. Joseph B. Rosario the director and founder of the Children’s Homes, and concelebrated by Frs.Ubald and Soosai Antony, the members of the Board. Fr. Dominic spoke to the children on the aim and the functioning of the homes.  The children prayed for all the benefactors who support the children’s Homes. The children, the staff and the board members welcomed the new entrants to the homes, 11 boys and 15 girls.

The Total Strength of the Children’s Home

We are right now taking care of 118 children, both boys and girls. The break-up of the children class wise as follows:

Though we take care of all the 118 children, presently 38 Boys and 45 Girls (83) are staying in both the children’s home. The 11^th and 12^th Class children are staying with their parents and they continue to do their schooling from their homes. They are continually being taken care of with regard to their school fee, uniforms, books and stationeries. Special tuition classes are organized for them during the weekends and they all come and benefit from the special coaching classes on their subjects. Moreover they are invited once a month to the children’s home along with their parents to monitor their growth. They belong to the community and they take active participation in all the common functions and celebrations of the children’s homes such as the inauguration of the academic year program, the tour to water theme park and so on.

Our Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff 

To look after the Boys at St. Joseph’s Children’s Home we have two lay persons ( Teachers.) to look after the administration of the Boy’s Home and we have three more seminarians to animate the students, to look after the education of the boys and give them formation programmes. They all co-ordinate well with the board members and they are doing a wonderful job.

To look after St. Mary’s Girls Home we have three  animators. They take care of the education and formation of the girls. They are all dedicated and committed in their work.

Besides the teaching staff, we also have three cooks to cook  food for the children and 2 gardeners to make our campus a green one.

The following are some of the important events and happening of the children’s homes.

Summer Camp (May 2009)

During summer vacation the children of the Boys Home and Girls home had a camp for ten days in the first weeks of May 2009. The summer camp is conducted every year as a part of developing the skills of the individuals. The children were given training in Music and Spoken English. They also had classes on value education. The children participated in the programmes very actively and benefitted from the whole experience.

Tour to Madurai Water Theme Park (31.07.2009)

The children of the both homes were taken to Madurai, a city in Tamilnadu to a Water Theme Park as part of one of our annual programmes. They had a great time; fun and laughter the whole day.  Fr.Joseph B Rosario and the staff accompanied the children.

Mid-Term Examinations ( in August)

During the first week of August, the children wrote their mid term examinations. Most of the children scored good marks. The children who did well at the exams were appreciated and given sweets and prizes by the director Fr. Joseph B. Rosario. He also encouraged all the children to do well in the coming exams.

Independence Day Celebrations (15.08.2009)

The community celebrated India’s independence on 15^th August. We had the mass in the morning then followed by flag hoisting. We distributed sweets to the children. In the evening they had a small cultural programme, followed by a festive dinner. It was a fun filled day for the children.

Preparation for the Quarterly Exams

The children are presently preparing and writing their quarterly exams. They are serious with their studies now. After the exams they will have short holidays for a week. They all go to their respective homes for the short holiday and they would return to the Children’s  homes on 30^th September and begin their classes.

Community Day Celebrations to be held on 14.10.2009

We are planning to celebrate the community day on 14^th October. This is also the birthday of the founder and director Fr. Joseph B Rosario. On the same day, one of the Board members Fr.Dispin John also was born. It is a joyful co-incidence. He is presently working in Melbourne Arch-diocese and he is coming to India for 4 weeks holiday and he will be the chief guest for the community Day programmes.

 We will be having Sports and Games competition, Essay and Poetry competition, Singing and Dancing Competition. For this we have divided the community into 4 different groups to encourage group competition rather than individual competition among the children. This will enable the children to work in a group and learn from each others. The competition will start once the children come from homes after their short quarterly holidays.

We will be having a community mass in the evening where the whole community will remember all the friends and sponsors who support the children’s homes and they pray in a special way for all the sponsors and friends. The mass will be followed by a cultural evening where the prizes will be distributed to the winners and also prizes will be given those who stood first in each class. The community day celebration will end with a great dinner.

We have also planned to invite all the parents, well-wishers of our homes and specially the Rotary Club of Kanyakumari.

Our Future Project: English Medium School

We are planning to start an English Medium School at the earliest to help many more children so that they may be able to have a better future in this competitive world, where English language has become inevitably  important. First we intend to start the Kindergarten in November 2009 and slowly the full fledged school from 1^st to 5^th Class in June 2010, the next academic year. We are also negotiating with a religious congregation of the sisters to run the English Medium Schooland also to look after the Girls’ Home from November onwards.

With God’s blessing and your support, we have been able to run our homes in an efficient manner. I sincerely thank all the sponsors and friends. A special thanks to Mr. Mathew Von Brockdorff and all our friends from Rotary Club, Malta Red Cross  and also to the Rotary Club of La Valette, Malta.

With regards and prayers

Fr. Joseph B. Rosario.