Visit the MGOCSM (Student Movement) website of our diocese to get an idea of where the youth of the Church is headed:- http://www.mgocsmamerica.com/ Visit the Sunday School website of our diocese to know about the programs for kids of our Diocese:- http://indianorthodoxsundayschool.org/ Visit the parish Sunday School website:- http://www.geocities.com/akt01/SPIOCA.html Read about the Martha Mariya Samajam (Women's League) in the Church:- http://malankaraorthodoxchurch.in/index.php?Itemid=339&id=46&option=com_content&task=view Read about the Youth wing of the Church:- http://www.orthodoxsyrianchurch.com/organizations/youth-movement-ocym What follows are some of the activities the members of the parish have been involved in the past:- St. Paul's Education Assistance Fund (SPEAF) This is a charity initiative formed by our dear Achan with all of the church members in 2010, to make a commitment to educate a deserving child using the St.Paul's Education Assistance Fund.(This is over and above all our existing charity initiatives). Our Charity Coordinator Mrs.Maria Thomas (Deepa) did the ground work for such a program and presented it on the 7th Perunnal day along with the help of Mr.John Paul(Mohan) and Mr. Mathew Samuel(Sunil). In short this is how the program works :- Once the deserving child is decided, we will collect the money ($5/month from each parish family,i.e, $60/year/family) and hand it over to the child's family via Sunny Achan(Rev. Fr. K.T. Jacob) of Grace Charities, Idukki, who will be recommending the children requiring educational assistance. Sunny Achan handles the REAP candidates from Idukki for ICON Charities. Sunny Achan will be sending in the requests with the letter containing the family details along with Photos to prove the integrity of the families needing assistance. We will encourage the child to contribute back to the fund partly (no compulsion) once the candidate gets settled in the work place (maybe a few years after education). This will help the fund and future candidates but will also help build the self esteem of the candidate who took help from us. Although this program represents specifically to our church, we whole heatedly welcome outsiders to join us in this initiative. If you are a member and would like to read the details of the children we assist using SPEAF, please visit here If you are an outsider and would like to help, please contact Webmaster at "webmaster@stpaulsalbany.com" REAP (Realizing Education Assistance Partially)
 One of our active Church members; Mr. Mathew Samuel (Sunil) has been involved with REAP(Realizing Education Assistance Partially) for several years now as part of ICON Charities which is a tax exempt organization in the US. It is an excellent program/charity helping needy and poor students in Kerala. It is focused on one of our most economically backward areas in Idukky Diocese - Kerala, India.
Donor's sponsor (partially) the education of the students in nursing and other field of studies. The coordinators ensure that 100% of the money donated reaches the candidates. you can track the progress of your contributions online. Every year, the money is disbursed in a small function in Idukky.
Both Christian and non-Christian students are included. In the year of 2011, about 120 students have been identified and about 55+ students have got full sponsorship so far. Contributions can be made in India Rupee or in US dollars (or other currencies, if applicable). Please note the details on the links below:
The parish has contributed to REAP in the past, but more help is needed. So, next time, when thinking about charity, please do consider REAP among your charity initiatives. May God Bless!!! Children's Ministry (Sunday School)
 Details of the Sunday School.
Number of kids, classes, number of recent graduates
In the Society
Social outreach from our Sunday School a few years ago - in alliance with a Orphanage near Calicut Kerala - at St. Thomas Ashram Attapadi - befriending two kids there - Sachu and Sneha.
AID India - Eureka SuperKidz
 Association for India's Development (AID) is a volunteer movement promoting sustainable, equitable and just development. AID supports grassroots organizations in India and initiates efforts in various interconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, natural resources including land, water and energy, agriculture, health, women's empowerment and social justice. AID has several projects and one of them is 'Eureka SuperKidz'
Eureka SuperKidz's mission is to "ensure quality education for every child" i.e, every child in every village should get the best education, achieve his/her full potential, and should be ready to face the world with confidence.For example, in Tamil Nadu, while 99.5% children in the age-group 6-10 go to school, more than 50% cannot read a simple story or subtract 2-digit numbers.'Eureka SuperKidz' work with the community, schools and parents to enable an understanding of these problems using simple tools, keeping in mind that the parents themselves may not have these skills.
Sensitizing the community to the problems in quality is only the first step. Poor parents must believe that changing this situation is possible, and that their children can attain and even surpass the learning levels of children from more affluent families.
Hence, 'Eureka Kidz' team setup an after-school education system with support and contribution from people around the world, which goes towards paying the teachers, cost of training teachers, buying, creating school materials etc...
Starting this project with Tamil Nadu, the 'Eureka SuperKidz' team took each district in Tamil Nadu and divided it into villages. Each village would have so many number of students and they will be assigned a teacher, who will be trained by the 'Eureka Kidz team'. The cost to train the teacher, to provide a classroom, to provide teaching materials etc... is a huge sum of money and that's were the sponsorships, contributions from around the world help.
One of our actively involved church member (name undisclosed), is a sponsor of one such village 'Nadhagoundanur' in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. This particular village has around 10 students being educated via 'Eureka Sperkidz' foundation.
More information about 'Eureka SuperKidz' can be found below:
http://www.eurekachild.org/about/ Please do keep in mind about AID, when considering your charity initiative. May God Bless!!! |
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