J

THE STORY OP LORETO

/ By

' The following story is written in the hope that the reader J·lill somehm share y gratitude to a small Asian village. There ' s a very strong reason for this need to say

11 thanJr you 11 • Few men can give themselves totally to a t ask and ,mllr mmy from the cene unscathed. Such ,ms t he comm itmen t of the .1 1 :ri ter to the village of Lo reto i n the deserts of 1\Test Pakistan o The story is therefore told with a deep reverence for a people I sincerely love. Prar God, it is told well o • •

11 Even if my tongue should cleave to the roof of m mouth , I will not forget theeo 11 •• ISAIAH

,, /. The Indus Ili ver, as it hurtles do,m from its feed bed in the ,. Himalay Mountains , continuously changes course on a two thousand' mile j ourney to the seao Over the centuries, this fanning movement across the plains has deposited one of the most fertile agricultural top soils i n the world,. The depth of t his alluvial oil is proxi mate to inexhaustible. I n this lies the wealth of West Padstan, and particularly of t he Punjab Province; Bo rdering the central stretches of the Indus River, on the east bank, i~ an area call ed the ThaJ Deserto Compared to the other arees of the Punj ab, it is a poor co1sin Extremes of torrid desert

he~t a 1 iminutive deer (similar in size to the medieval nicorn ) we re its only distinguishing features until the year 19~7. In that year, l arge grants in aid 1ere subscribed to the newly founp.ed nation of West Pakistan by the s8vera l members of the Co lombo Plan. This i nternational consortium established an organi­ zation for the reclamation and settlement of the Tha l Desert on the lines of the TVA in t he United Sta tes. The organization was appro­ priately called the "Thal Developm~nt Authority". The master planning of t his project, involving an area better t han. 5 illion acres of 1 nd, was a singular accomplishment. It took seven years from the conception to ctual allocation of l ands to settlers. During t his time all the legalities, the j urisdictional rights of various governing bo ies, the construction of irrigation c anal s for artif:i.cial water supply, and a network of roads was begun. They were bruta l years and portendqd greater difficulties than anyone i n their exuberance for the sc eme ha d at first envi"'a ged. Unless man has experienced the climatic .extreme of 130 degrees of heat i n t he Thal Desert, he will have difficulty understanding the strain

1 - upon men, the problems o.f machine maintenance, and the discourage­ ment upon failure to accomplish established goals. To encourage and begin settlement of this reclaimed desert, the government offered tracts of land at a minimum cost to a number of groups Pi thin the nation. These were former personnel from W1v II and the military services in general, minority religious sects, triba l units from the hills, and.refugees from the recent partition of Pakistan nd India. Not all of these groups accepted the government offer at the time, as the nation was not yet experi­ encing the., hunger for l and that was soon to be felt with the population explosion. On the other hand, the christian 1inority possessed little or no l and within the nation and took advantr,gc o{ this l and grant. They i mmediately began negotiations with the government for selection of settlers and a llocation of site in this new project area of T.D.A. Almost a year and a half later, in 19511, the Catholic christian minority village and its future inhabitants were decided upon.

1.I.1hese first allottees numbered about sixty and had been selected from almost all of the fifteen political districts of the Pun jab. Many of the character recommendations accompanying the land appli­ cations of these first allottees were of less than a complimentary character. With few exceptions , t ese christian settlers had come from the tenant farmer class, ,.,hie would in a decade be identified throug 10ut the nation with the· disreputable occupation of "sweeper".

But t hey came to the Thal, and they, st yed, when many other compa- rable groups deserted after the first several months of difficulties. The christians had t he aclv ntage of nexcelled leadership in the person of a middle aged Indian Catholic priest. This man was t horoughly

2 ' .

convei~sant i·ith the people , their language , and their cul·ture. His name was Fr. Thomas Concessao: a member of thP. Domini0.a11 OrilP.r= The first settlers came to the desert without their families. On an appointed day, they met Fr. Thomas at a rail1vay junction some eighteen iles distant f rom their newly assigned village. They t hen travelled this distance on foot and came across a scene as desolate as Death Valley. Ther e was only one scrub-like tree in their eighteen hundred acres of rolling sand dunes. Their day of arriva l was t he 11th of February 1954, a day whose memory the people still retain and hold in the same reverence as Americans do the I.1th of .July. In a very true senses this was the birthday of Lo reto Village. Fr. Thomas did the bacl~breaking work of settling individuals on their specific fifteen acre l and holdings as marked off by t he government 0 urveyors. He soon encountered the single physical hard­ ship of all desert dwellers -- water. 1vater for drinking, water for irrigation, water to wash the anime.ls and oneself, water for a hundred purposes -- water was the raeasure of survival in t he Thal Desert. It has been said that in the desert three things are most necessary: water, water, ·water; and in that order. Even at this early date, it was evident that the Thal Development Authority was too large a scheme to be i mp lemented with the availcble personnel and within t he resources of the new nati no

The brea

- 3 - by the transfer of Fr. Thomas. His replacemen t ·was a young American priest with only two weeks' residen~y in the nation, and he had neither lrnowle

t he l anguage and baffled by the ne,mess of the social structure 1·1here food, shelter, and clothing habits were foreign to me , I found the practice of medicine an undisguised blessing. I quic·ly learned and practiced the rudiments of medicine as needed in the village. The diagnoses came under the ma j or headings of malaria, typhoid , t rachoma, pneumonia, small pox, tuberculosis, and of course , malnutrition. Within two months I was assisting in delivering children, extracting teeth, and performing minor surgeryc At t he same time, every scheme . j ust short of r med robbery was eviscd to either acquire relief supplies from private agencies or government food stoc rn. Wedged into this broad range of medical service, relief supply

distribution, and social work, as well as my 0 1m parochial duties,

- 5 was the need to constantly seek out officialdom. Under the conditions r ampant in the Thal , this was hardly possible. Govern­ ment on all levels was either already too burdened, too scattered, or just plain absent, to be effective. Frustration and de termina­ tion in such a situa tion mus t be measured by t hei:ersonality of the man, and I was not about to give less than the best of mys elf to these people. Something akin to a fire of indignation drove me. My lack of skill i n the loca l dialect and ignorance of the culture gnawed my mind. I 1ms convinced t hat things would get better,.,_but then 1ihat? All authority res ided i n me. Government itself ha d invested me with . t he position of village "lomberdar", an office permi t·ting me to collect t axes and i n some cases adjudi­ c ate local disputes. It was obvious that the material condition of the. people was bad , but despite this condi tion, the people wouldn 't leave t he l ands , because for them there was no place els~ to go. They weren 't exactly en joying t heir pos ition in a welfar e program , nor were they enthused with any future prospects . For all practica l purposes , they were almost a defeated people. This attempt to settle them in the desert had all t he earmarks of potentia l f a ilure . The leadership was inexperienced , the people t liemselves had no great f arming traditions , and a number of neighbor­ i ng communities had left their l ands under the pressure of so many difficulties . The desert itself wasted no time i n comp ounding the burden. I n my first year t he sand storms ripped t he cotton off t he plants and l eft the wheat crop hardly worth the l abor for harvesting. i Still, t he people remained. It was 1iliile shari ng and experi encing t hese t r i als with t he people t hat I began to devise schemes to rectify t he situation.

- 6 - First of ~11, there was the Churche She had committed herself to the task of providing leadership for these people. The tr st they invested in that leadership, no matter at what l evel , had to be upheld. They deserved the best, and I was determined they'd have ·nothing less. Gradually, I became familiar 1'li th the basic problems of the village in terms of food, shelter, clot~ing, and education. Then the question of agriculture and economics arose. Too much relief was being poured into this area to continue much longer. Either the root.. problem of water supply was solved or the people ·would have to . be individually or by family uni ts resettled else1-1here. It just didn't make sense to continue following a path that was leading nowhere. Nothing in my education or training had adequately prepared me for the quality and type of leadership demanded. Too many decisions and too great a variety of activity was required in too many diverse fields for anyone to be completely prepared for the task. I was plugging the gaps as they arose with a hope proximate to a vision that the overall social distress would eventually • i mprove. This awareness of the leadership factor constantly dis­ turbed me, so I read extensively about local law and government , the lives of great leaders like Washington, Lincoln, the Federalist Papers , sections from Thoma s Aquinas, and especially DeTocqueville on Democr cy in the United Statese The latter became my guide and

norm for governing and government j_n Loreto village.

I The village people knew the inadequacies of their priest leader. Yet, they practiced a tolerance of his mistakes bordering on blind­ ness, because there just was no one else to lead them. At the same

- 7 - time, we began to share with one another a visj_on of the future

for the village that inspired us bot~. In order to accomplish

this, it was necessary to give the people in deed what I failed

to convey in faltering language . This I discovered was best

expr~ssed by a compassion for their least c are and an obvious desire to help them without restraint upon myself . This was not b eyond the realm o f t he possible, b ecause all the great and noble

i deals that animated my life c ame alive within the confines o f

this desert outpost.

Relationships b etween myself and my confreres perceptibly

deteriorated in this first year. The adverse effects would c olor

everything I did.for t he next decade. The diversity and multi­

plicity o f my experiences in the social order became a subject of

open complaint. The question was being freely discussed -- ,vha t

is t he role o f the priest in the missions? I t was part o f the

f undamental c onception of t he priesthood that today is strongly

c ontested in the Catholic Church. But at t hat time, the question

a s posed was almost rhetorical, b ecause on ly the standard approach

was a cceptable. The social order as a field for a priest ' s

activity was f rowned upon .

After a year , an additional priest, Fr. Terence, was assi gned

to Loreto village. Even b efo re his arriv~l, he was fully cognizant

of the mounting opposition to my activity in the social order.

Howe ver, i n less than a month , · he was a convert to action in the

social order. The consequence of his endorsement influenced the

outlook o f our religious Superior, Fr. Louis, and shielded me from

overt c riticism. We were able to act in the social order with little

or no i nterference, but suspicion of such worl( still remained.

8 About four years from the first entrance of settlers to Loreto village, a few noticeable and ma jor changes began to take place. The most dramatic was a full scale government investigation and follow-up of construction for water supply to _Loreto villag;e by t he irrigation authorities. It owed much to sheer frustration and confrontation with the highest .of irrigation officials i n the area rather than to any descriptive report through ordinary channels of bureaucratic procedure. Of t hese reports, we had written all too many without results .

The actual event took place some·wha t as follows o One day I boldly requested and received an i nterview with the most senior of i rrigation officers i n the Punj ab Province. I wasn't too controlled i n· my vehement denunciation of t:ie i rrigation department and proceeded to describe t he plight of t he people in Loreto village. This man patiently listened to my complaint and finally questioned my main obj ection about t he extreme conditions extant in the Thal Development Authority. I n confusion, because it ·was possible these conditions were not an isolated case within the nation, I challenged him to visit t he scene. Within two days, he did just that. The results can best be summed up in his own remarks after surveying the whole canal upposedly suppljing irriga tion water to Loreto village:

"Father, the condition of that canal is worse than you describedo 11 With t he i nfluence of his authority and the help of government resources , t he entire canal was expeditiously renovated. The village of Loreto had passed a milestone. This i ncrease of water supply for irrigation radically altered crop productivity. It also changed the focus of society within the village. Up till now, men existed for the most part on relief

9 supplies; now they had t he chance to exer cise their native ability working with the soil. This change alone a ccelerated t he need for loca l self-government. It seemed obvious tha t economic and politi­ cal pm-.re r would be contested once the crops started to i mprove . Those men who put t heir hands to t he plm'1 would have advantages over their less industr ious neighbors . I t wasn ' t as clea rly spelt out to me at the time , but tha t is almost exactly what happened. Until there was sufficient irriga tion supply of water to make farming profitable, there existed practica lly no visible political

structure··. in the village . Certain men appeared more powerful than others , but as l ong as existence depended upon relief supplies and I controlled thii source of life, there was little or no oppos ition . -I n the structure of village life, I enjoyed a dictator i a l power , benign. though it was. I also became acutely aware of t he changes t hat had to come about in the political order if this village ,vere t o survive and grm.,r. Fortuna tely, more from des i r e to divest myself of authority t han by studied des ign, I was able to work out an cceptable scheme for electing several village me n to cons titute a village council to handle all affairs pertaining to the control and administration of village affairs. The men eagerly accepted t his offer, and t he process of dives ting the lomberdar-priest of his temporary governmental author:i.ty had beguno It is i n teresting to note tha t the village council members upon being elected, began to make f ar too many laws concerni ng t he govern­ ment of the village. It was necessary to counsel t hem that a few simp le l aws obeyed is better than a multiplicity i gnored. We had open air meetings onc e a week in the beginning. At t hese meetings there was much shout ing and some harsh words were exchanged, hut on the whole it prove·d beneficial to · t he village. Before too long,

- 10 - _, especially once the crops began to radically i mprove , party

politics began to develop c It grew s :tronger in the ensuing years, and today a definitive t wo ·party system controls the political life of the village. · The struggles for supply of irrigation ,vater and the founding of some form of indigenuous government can be used to describe t he l andmarks of development in the first decade of the life of Loreto village. No undue excellence of i ntelligence was needed t o meet either situation. Rather, a sensitivity of conscience to t he basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and health was t he .•. paramount requirement. For a young priest, there is no goal too great for the effbrt, and no person less t han the ima ge of His Maker. Once a personal bond was established with the people, no matter how tenuous or unrelated to the overall condition of prob- ·1ems, it was possible to lead them with their full support into unexplored directions and to se£k unorthodox solutions for both t heir supply of water for irriga tion and their need for self­ government. The solution to both these never ending aspects of village l ife had begun and the effects boded ,ve ll for the develop­ ments that would come about in the future. Looking back from a vantage point of close to fifteen years and ten thousand miles distance, there are certain features of t his first residency in Loreto village that stand out more c learly than others. First of all, the emotional content probably seems excessive t o a westerner. And yet, even as I ,vri te, there is the conviction t hat unless we meet the east with an understanding of this emotiona l content, ,ve ,vill forever be faced with Rudyard Kipling ' s dictum,

- 11 - .. 11 East is ea.st, and Uest is west, anc1 never the twain shall meet. ". The people in Loreto village 1~en I first met them were almost totally illiterate; only three could read and one could write. They had lived their lives for the most part on the strictly sen­ sate· l evel; and they could, therefore, more· readily understand and accept a ctions of an emotional content. Their native i ntelligence had been sharply honed by this immersion in sense living and was utilized by myself in order to br ing them up to higher levels of consideration and action. I learned to know each one of t hem i ndi ­ viduall?:'.: , broke bread with them as they worked on t he canal or in the fields or in their homes , shared privations together , and above all, expressed a visible love for their children. This approach to· establishing a bond with them had the double advantage for me of being something natural to my character and partial compensation for l aclr of l anguage. They could read beyond my stumb ling attemp ts of speech and approximate an understanding of my motives and ideals

because of my Olttl reciprocal expressions of emotion. In t he year 1960, I was assigned to another village some hm hundred mi les away. The name of the village was Fatimapur. Shortly after t his assignment, Fr. Louis was consecrated Bishop and a ne1v r eligious Superior was appointed. The new religious Superior was Fr . Hyacinth. We were polar opposites in personality. His inves­ ture with the authority of religious Superior strained an already poor relationshipo I n retrospect , 1 e had been on a collision course from the beginning. It was rooted i n our unders t anding of the Dominican pr iesthood. By our vows we had renounced ownership of material goods and marital companionship. Instead , we took upon ourselves a vow of obedience to religious Superiors. The exercise

- 12 - of authority by a religious Superior can and often does become a sougl~t-for goal , an ideal for attainment , and a sign of success in religious life. It is the built-in hazard 0 1 religious ooedi­ ence and has a historical record of abuse. - I refused to acknowledge the possession of authority as t he desired end of religious life . The assignment to Fatimapur village made manifest this dormant antagonism between the religious Superior and myself. Fatimapur village had a ll t he problems previously encountered in Loreto; but this time , I cou l d j udge t hem from t he vantage point of experience . I soon began to see1::: solutions to tlle "Ocial s i t uati?n confrontj_ng me . Almost as quic;:ly , I was inf ormed by my new religious Sup.er:Lor, "Do nothing in the social order . Your wo rk i s to bring t he sacraments to t he people. 11 It was a most frustrat. ing injunction. Shortly after t his I pointedly i nquired from t he Bishop if there ,ms only one way o:i: doing worl1: in t he mission. He intervened f or me and at t he srune time s ought assis­ tance from agencies interested in social reclamatj_on scheme s. The next three and a half years were characterized by high degree of activity in the social 01:.der . It was accompanied by no table success in reclaiming Fatimapur and t he publication of an a ~ticle in the Readers ' Digest. The results of this publicity were highly beneft cial and gave me ready access to organizations financing social proj ects . It ,ms not long before a sizable grant in aid was allocated t o rcrJedy . the social disorder of Fatj_mapur village . As rapidly as Fatj_m apur changed' for t he better, my relati onship with t he relig·ous Superior changed for the worse. It was apparent in many ways , but I avoided "'nalyzing t he unC.erlying causes from a conviction of futility. The monthly budget for my expenses, as well as an occasional permission, were grudgingly approved. The situation became critical when I was refused basic financial sus­ tenance and accused of maladministration. A confrontation was inevitable . It was precipitated by a letter of calumny sent to the Bishop and charges by my religious Superior of financial irresponsibility. I was immediately removed from Fatimapur village and assigned to the house where my religious Superior was resiclent. No appeal was permitted, and the Bishop refused to intervene. I became like the proverbial leper to my fellow priests. It caused a profound depression, challenging the very sanity of my mind. Unless one has been exposed to a long and arduous indoctrina­ tion in obedience, it is difficult to convey the nature of the psychic upheaval that took place within me . To disobey was contrar to my deepest inclinations , and to obey seemed to be patently wrong. There was no one with whom I could confide, because judgment had already been passed. I was wrong. Period. Under these conditions, there was constant . tension while living ·with the religious Superior. It was ameliorated somew a t by conver­ sation with the Sisters, an irreverent joke by a sympathetic priest, or work with the people. Op en rebellion was prevented by training and anticipation of home leave within six months. By that time, I had decided to leave the priesthood. Once I left P kistan, the decision to l eave t he priesthood

became i noperative . It , as my w10 le life; w ere could I go? What would be the future for me ? Christ carried a cross , ,vh couldn't I? rr his quandary ,ms solved when Fr. Terence became the new religious

14 Superior. I returned to the mission field; and just after the war bet,-.,een Pakistan and India, in October 1965, I was again assigned, to Loreto village.

In the years of my absence, Loreto vi.llage had grown in popu­ lation and progressed in development. A satisfactory level of economi c activity had been achieved, additional settlers ha d been allotted land by government, and a number of buildings to mee t the people's social needs had been constructed. But, the most striking physical feature of the village was its housing. These had been so designed.. and constructed as to be a source of pride to everyone • Loreto .village was without a peer in the Thal Desert, and fast be­ coming reno·wned throughout the Punjab. She was alive with energy and bursting with possibilities. Potentially, she was the queen amongst the myriad of villages in the Thal Development Authority. It was now my privilege to pai ticipate in grooming her for that role. At this stage of the story of Loreto village, it is only just to briefly digress and make mention of the fine men and wonderful women who also contributed to the development of Loreto village. Fr. Terence, with his civil engineering degree, did much to design and build and govern the village for five years. Likewise, for over twelve years, three American Sisters had interested themselves in the village school, assumed responsibility for the village dispensary, and introduced adult education. They also co- ordinated a number of activities for women resulting- in a community center for professional sewing classes, health and hygiene courses, and helped balance an othen1ise masculine oriented societr. The many new immigrants into the Thal Developmen t Authority project area necessitated the ssignment of another priest to minister

15 to their needs. His name was Fr. Gregory Duher-L , . The He\· people had migrated from the other districts in the Punjab and settled in about one hundred and t wenty different villages of the T.D.A. area. Most of them had come from the fear engendered by the 1mr with India in 1965, _the esca lating popula tj_on pressures of their forme r villages, and a l ways with t ie hope of obtaining land by either governmen t grant or eventual lo1v cost purchase. The increased complexity of the scene in T.D.A. now faced by both Fr. Gregory and myself highlighted the need for long range policy to.. guide our efforts • We. had been discussing just such a policy for better than a year. I had establj_shed conta ct 1vi th a number of aid organi­ zations and had inves·tiga ted severa l sources of financial assistance. Fr. Gregory , on the other hand, was favorably received

· by the other priests, and his recommendation for an undertaking would find ready acceptance. Th e comb ina tion looked like a 1vinning

team. In theory he was to administer the 120 outer villages, and I would have jurisdiction in Loreto village. In practice it had a fatal flaw. He was appointed admini strator for both of us. This meant that he had authority over 1e, control of all finances, and the final word in any decision making process. It 1-ms not a sharing process but the continued adherence to a rigid authoritarian structure in a si tua tj_on demanding innovat:i.ve approaches. De spite occasional nnd i rritating clns1es , we presented a unlted front for the idea of planning. We compared our experiences, passed endless nights in conversation, and in unani mity chose the school as the cornerstone of our planning . It wasn ' t at all evident in the first years tha t the village school, with its crude mud walls

16 and total enrollment not exceeding fifty children for six grades, would become the central issue of any planning. Part of this was due to the 'dvent of boarding schools ttithin Loreto village. This in turn came about because government lacked schools in many of the outer villages where the ten.ant farm·ers lived. More often t han not though, there was a complete indifference to education on the part of most illiterate peasant parents. Unless lle could assume responsibility for boarding children in Loreto village, t here was scant chance that our minority group in the outer village~ would ever have an opportunity for education. We unhesitatingly assumed this responsibility despite the financial implications. The original facilities for the boys and separate on~s for the girls were primitive, but a start had been made. It would prove to be a bona fide investment. Another contributing factor calling for a policy of long range planning, was our own awareness of what was happening in this new nation. The government published its detailed census

in 1961. Ue studied it carefully and ba_lanced it with our 01m experience in the Thal Development Authority. By correllating

all our insights o:f this vast desert reclamation sc eme t "Ive were able to draw up the outlines of a future policy. We called the first dr ft the Loreto Master Plan, because Loreto village was, geographically nd by importance , the hub of the plan. It would l ay d01m the general lines of policy and specific programs for the nex t t1ven ty years. From t he first, the idea of a full scale policy for Loreto village and the area it serriced, grasped y imagination ~n

17 attendance at government and privately sponsored seminars, inter­ views and meetings with everybody who could possibly increase our - ' fund of workable l{no,vledge or verify our i deas, all these approaches were talrnn with the one object in mind of rnadng rational and fully feasible policy plan for our people in the Thal Development Authority. The opposition "Was quick in coming. Some called the idea delusions of grandeur, others laughed because of the seemingly prohibitive funding such a plan would require, and from most there was just plain doubt about the wisdom of attempting to execute a long range policy when the nation s a whole shmved such little sign of stability. In countering these objections , we merely re­ quested the necessary freedom to attempt to execute our policy, providing it did not interfere or trespass upon the programs or activities of other stations. There were no overt objc"tions to this request, but certaj_n suspicions lay do rmant . Almost concomitant with our decision to make a Master Plan, we were faced ,,;ith radical changes coming into agriculture. At . . first, it seemed like a major distraction from the bigger picture .we had in mind; but from concentrating on agriculture over a two year period of time, we were able to grasp more thoroughly the economics of v ·11age life. In addition, by introducing the new seeds and fertilizers and holding seminars for agricultural experts, we spearheaded the "green revolution" of our area in the Thalc We observed and had experts ma rn the s ame observation concerning the fact that only 20% of the christian community were farmers. The implication was that most of the people would soon be renting their l ands nd only reside in Loreto because of educational and other facilities. On another plmc·; it indicated to us that the future

18 of the chris tian ,ms the city and we should develop our Nus ter Plan wi th t hat in mind. Such deep i mmersion into many diverse disciplines demanded f or making the Master Plan sharpened my mind to an understanding of j ust what Lo reto as a village in microcosm meant as an ins ight into the 111hole Asian scene. I began to realize t hat to knm,r one village 1·ms to have a good grasp of what constituted most of the sub-continent. Asia, at the present time, is villages ; be it Pakistan, India, Ceylon, Burma , Thailand, or Viet Nam. The deliber8:te social changes 1·1e uere attempting to bring about in Loreto village will most surely occur throughout Asia sooner or l ater, and probably sooner rather than later. The main features of the Loreto :Master Plan as we developed it over a period of about t hree years, are as follows: 1 . A planned program and itemization of cost for the purchase of l and at strategic points of communi cation i n Tha l Development Authority area. 2 . Programs for electrification of Loreto village, construction of a road connecting Loreto village to t he rest of the Thal , and development of gricultural extension services in our .area. · 3. An educationally and architecturally sound expansion program for Loreto school facilities. 4. A detailed cost analysis and return benefit from such a program. Section 1 of the pr ogr m fell to Fr. Gregory because mos t of his parochia l l abors were in the greater Thal area. I was to pursue numbe r 2 and L1 i terns , with both of us . sharing number 3. The Master Plan for Lo reto village had a price tag of almost a million collars . The sum as expressed, exposed us to mockery, except that we were able to counter all arguments and establish

- 19 the to tal credibility of the plan. By comparing figures and esti~ating t he people's investmen t i n the village, we were able to come up with some fairly convincing observations .that i mpressed even t he most biased of our opponents. The need for an approach like our plan was further emphasized by t he escalation of village population to almost ten fold in a decade and an equal amount in the surrounding villages . The entire Thal area had seen a phenom­ enal growth due to t he nation ' s desire for l and and the proven · productivity of t he area. Funding.. such a l arge scale project would involve a number of private . sources, public organizations, foundations , and mu ch sales­ manship. 1ve knew t he 1rn rl{ and to convince others was less of a problem than anticipated. As one visiting organi zation officia l r emarlrnd: 11 The place sells its elf.". The firs t part of t he program resulted from our own lengthy discussions and experi enc es . We often traveled up and down the main roads of the Thal as well as in t he more remote areas. We had attended government auctions and could see t he changes comi ng about in the price of real estate. Everythi ng in t he Tha l was geared to agriculture at t he present, but it would not be long be,fore industry ·would enter the scene. Indus try would demand services and change the present demand for l abor , and this labor would settle in colonies . Both Fr. Gregory and I 1rnuld sit do1m in the evening and project our ideas about what industry rel ated to t he needs of t he nation and. which of these 1v0uld settle in Thal. We lacked t he finances to fully capitalize on this phase of our Master Plan, but our confidence was bolstered with the passage of time by the indus t rial changes t hat coinci ded with our 01m projec­

tions. 20 Item number 2 of the Master Plan was far more poli t:Lcal t han any of the other parts. It demanded extensive travel t hroughout, t he na tion to discover and somehow influence the mas ter planners of government. This in t urn meant mee ting t he people who were i nstrumental in executing foreign aid programs;because in the case of electrifica tion and road construction, the financia l sources were foreign aid. In the pr ocess, I acquired a broad acquaintance with a number of official and semi - officia l personnel in government. · Fo r the most part, they went out of t heir way to educate me in the l abyrinthian ways of bureaucracy o .•. The need for electr icity ·was twofold. The village and its neighbor ing communi ties we re badly affected by the condition of sub­ s·oil wa ter ca lled wa ter loggi ng . The governmen t had been executing a long range remedi a l pr ogram of installing tube-wells operated by

electricity ·Lo solve t his problem. It was my t ask to convince the government that t he problem of water loggi ng was serious enough in t he Loreto village area for the introduction of electricity. In addition, I could show t hem a need for electrical consumption within t he village, whet her it be in the school, the dispensary, or village i n'.lustry, t hat would more t han justify their investmen t. There i s some assurance that this part of the Mas ter Plan will be ex ecuted wi thin a year. The construction of n asphalt road contiguous with the boundary of Loreto village required more of an assistance from loca l government than electr ification. There was an over l apping of both these pr ograms because often I would be di s cusstng both i tems with t he same man . The re.al emphasis had to come from the people t hemselves and to do that I organized a ll t he l ocal villages

which would be se·rviced by a road. The men sho,'led great i!}terest , 21 and within a short while, I 1-ms able to arrange a public meeting between the people and the highest governmental officials in the, area . These officials were much i mpressed 1ilien I could show them a ba cklog of necessary preliminary work that made final s anction by themselves less difficult. This road can become a reality, but it should be pursued or it will die in the file system of some local bureaucrat. I feel tha t much of the development of Lo reto village will be negated if t his road i s not built within · five years ' time. The emphasis upon agriculture and agricultural extension services operating out of Lo reto village held mu ch promise. Negc­ tiations were undertaken for t1v0 young foreign experts to t ake up r·esidency in Lo reto ·village for three years. After t he termination of t heir contract, other such agricultural experts will come , until a program has been established that seeB all the foreign personnel replaced. We saw no i mmed iate difficulty with t his parf of t he Master Plan . No single aspect of t he plan took greater priority than item 3o Upon t his item was built the edi f ice tha t would j ustify our Master Plan , because it was so interlocked "1'1ith all t he other parts. Almo s t 75% of our finances , as being spent on education when the Master Plan was drawn up. This was necessary because illiteracy

was ex tremely highs about 88%0 Despite t he l arge number of govern­ ment primary schools being built, the nati on was becoming more illiterate percentage-,vise. One government official i nformed me that the c riterion for l iteracy in some districts for t he l ast

census 1,ras whether or not a man could read and WTi te his own nrui,e. It was the one area of national need for which we hacl highly quali-

22 fied personnel and available finances. Expansion meant going into t he big leagues because we intended to make the school t he c enter of community life, somewhat like a university is to a l arger community. The question arises, how did the vill~ge people of Lo~eto acc ept this radical change of emphasis from an agriculturally oriented c ommunity to that of an education center? No little part of the answer lies in the personality of one .lunerican t eaching Sister 1ho ,as hea dmistress during these years of i mplem~nting the Master Plan. Her name was Sister Catherine. She was uncommonly blessed with the talent to make people perform beyond their own judged capabilities. This ua s especially true

of the school sta ffs and proved contagious ,vi th the village people. Of most. i mport from a policy point of view, was her openness to dynamically new procedures. Sr. Catherine had nine years ' experience in Pakistan before coming to Loreto in the fall of 1967. Her response to our ideas for education in the Thal uas hopeful •. Before long, t he Loreto community of three Sisters and two Fathers were exchanging ideas, encouraging new pproaches, sharing insights, and achieving a rapport unequalled at any mi.ssion station in Pakistan. Such unity of outlook garnered results that becam e a cause for envy. A foreign comp any built a new wing on the school, a foundation sub­ sidized new teaching experiments, an id organization dona ted the 1v01nen ' s se,ving center, nd the school children surpa ssed all schools of the diocese in scholarchip. The list of accomp lishmen ts in a relatively short per iod of time i mpressed the most skeptical, but it also increased the growing antagonism of other priests.

23 The program as outlined in the Master Plan required addi­ tional school staff, and we quickly learned that such staff were in short supply throughout the nation. We.advertised, i nterviewed ·wherever and whenever anyone could be found , and t raveled endlessly to make our need known. After many fruitless weeks, 1ve began to build up a file system of teaching personnel i n t he Punj ab. Gradually a l arge number of teachers received favorable impressions of us . Slowly, we began to receive appli­ ca tions and eventually received one from a man in the highest r anks .o. f education. He came to Loreto village and is now the headmaster of the school. We decided to begin experimenting with people participation in the schools. This seemed the least attractive of our ideas, because it meant that we would be training the people for eventual take-over of all financial control. There was general disapprova l from outside by persons i n our profession interested i n Loreto village. But there were the signs of the times f or t hose who were attentive. The government had been making known for a number of years its displeasure with institutes managed solely by foreigners. We , . therefore, were regarded as an experi­ mental village and ·were at least tolerated by our peers . The actual program for participation of the people foll01ved t he social disturbance created in Lo reto village consequent upon t he introduction of education on a mass scale. The village was scoring about 95% literacy for everyone under twenty-one. A . number of these young men and women had been trained in teaching

ins ti tu tes or technical c-chools e rrheir first talce-home pay was more in one month than t heir fathers earned in three months from the land. The social prestige that went along with the centuries old idea of oi:ming land had undergone a radic"'l change. If the educated son of a village landless laborer could earn for his father an enviable salary, the possession of lan with its conco­ mitant endless toil and unlimited problems had to be revalued.

It was my 0 1m observation that the significance of education com­ bined with communication via the transistor radio on the feudal structure of village life in the east had yet to be t horoughly explored. Public meetings, well advertised to the people in advance, ,, were th.e first measure we employed to educate the people; men especially, were nlerted to our intentions concerning their school. The bulk of adults were illiterate, and such a social assist as a Parent-Teacher's Association j ust didn't exist. However , the response was most gratifying. This was particularly tr1e of the village shopkeepers. They grasped more quickly than the others what was in the balance with an· educational plant the size of the one 1.,re planned for Loreto village. They could foresee its i nfluence on t he surrounding villages and the magnet it 'i~ould become for business. P rt of every teacher I s monthly salary found its 'i'i'aY into their coffers. They were a l so ,;vell aware that many a l andless peasant 'ims paying his bills with money earned by an educated son or daughter 'ivOrdng elsewliere~ On the basis of our o,m plan for giving the school over to the village and the response of the village to this offer, we c1ose a school board for a trial period of time. This board 1-ms made up of literate village men and shop keepers. In the first month of t heir administration of school fee collections, they registered

25 about a 1% default; 1·hereas , we had never experienced less than 20% clefaul t ! rrhe school board has since informed us that school fees. can be trebled and all operatjng costs can be supplied by the people themselves . It is a goal we are quicldy seeking to implemen t and should coincide with full financial control being given to the school board. The final item of our Master Plan concerning a cost analysis and benefit return cannot be easily measured. We have been able to compile statistics on the value of i mmovable properties, such as l and ..and buildings, as well as movable properties like fodder cutting maphines , ox carts, and livestock. A detailed study of t he economi c returns from education is not yet available , and I m not at all sure any such figures would be a true yardstick of measuremen t for the Master Plan. More worl1: has to be done to give a better understanding of what planning and all its parts has meant for Loreto village . There lie two future possibilities for Loreto village . It could become a small city with its o-m1 manufacturing uni ts, raw material sources , storage facilities , and transport. The l abor , t he skilled artisans, and the necessary managerial sli:ills, as 1vell a s capital , are there. The Loreto Master Plan l aid the foundation for j ust such an eventuality; whether or not it is e xecuted 1vill depend in great measure upon t he intangible quality of l eadership coupled with vision. If the leadership of Loreto village should be just merely mediocre , it will still remain a solvent and produc­ tive agricultural entity with its educational facilities an attraction and source of benefit to the T.D.A. area; but it will have fallen short of its planned potential.

26 ,.-- My own future is more questionable. J returned home for a six­ month leave in early 19690 Instead af a vacation, I pursued the funding of a number of projects pertaining to the diocese. This ,rnrk entailed t ravel through Europe on the way home , consul t ation with organizational personnel of international and regional aid prograllls , as ,vell as much project and letter writing. It was a tiring schedule and strictly voluntary. The proposed projects included requests for t echnical personnel, funds for science equipment , social centers, construction, and teacher subsidies. Detailed letters of . all this activity were regularly sent to the Bishop. The former Bishop had died, and the new man was a class­ mate of mine. I · presumed he would share my enthusiasm for the reBults of t he labor·expended. Ten days after my return to the mission, the clash occurred that had al,vays been i mminent. While stoppiug off at the Bishop's residence, I was reprimanded by him, censured by my religious Superior, and criticized by a fellow priest -- all within the space of a half hour. The ostensible reason was t hat I had traveled the hundred-mile journey to the Bishop ' s residence in the company of two Sisters. The charges stunned me. Solicitude for the Sisters under the prevailing con.di tions ,vas a long standing custom in the diocese , accepted by all , and practiced by everyone. In my nger I asked for immediate return passage to t he United States. The Bi shop quickly retreated and tried to ameliorate what I considered a 'blatant injusticeo However, within a fe1v days, it vas obvious that my fellow priests were divided on my decision. I began to realize there were underlying causes no ·one could articulate. A letter was sent to my Provincial in the United States. Ile expressed his surprise at my iequest and s~ed mo to remain a 1iliile 27 longer. I remained for three months in order to terminate all pending projects. As I write this story now, one year after the date of decision to l eave the mission field, an underlying theme emerges. From the first, we had all been disadvantaged in our assignments to the mission field. A social situation demanding imaginative and c reative leadership had been thrust upon us. All of us were untr~ined for the work, new to the culture, and too inexperienced to realize I the uniqueness of the challenge. We resorted to knO"\m and practiced procedu;res, even though they were defunct. We substituted changes in the 'life style of the missionary for t he changes needed in the social order. We held to our training as theologians. A departure from this norm was considered recldessness. Anyone ,1ho dared diff,erently t hreatened the values and goals that supposedly banded us t ogether. The awareness needed for new approaches to encompass t he social order was ignored. The methods and procedures for accom­ modating ourselves to social chang~ were identified ,vi th one man, and he proved unacceptable . My continue.d presence in the mission would surely have wracced the diocese, just as surely as the repudi­ ation of my approac1 to the social order almost wrecked me. The story of Loreto village, as thus far told, could end here. The customs of the people, their dress, their habits and their views on the world have not been incl udecl. There are many fine boolrn written about such details. The purpose of t his story was to fulfill a course requirement, but in the process it has raised questions to the writer himself. \'/hat happened to him during all those months and years in the Thal, and his id.entity with the village of Lo reto ?

28 Poetic as it might appear, there is a'1 ans.-:cr. /',. small ivory camel 1-ms atta ched to a letter ... nd g · ~1en to me upon return ·to the Uni ted States. This is what it said :

11 Dear Rider , I thought I ' d make myself small and you coul d have me as a reminder. I symbolize a lot of t h ings. To be broad, I signify the expanse of t he desert with its tin rle of a camel bell or c ry of a j ackal or t hundering nighttime silence. 1ro be precise, I manifest Loreto and all t he other pla ces you' ve covered in the desert. Deser ts make men - t hey t rain 1ell. Yo u came as a youth , you return as a man. And now wh ile you are yet young and have your health and a deep faith, go to your nev world. Give it what you have given my s ands so ·· generously. / Let me symbolize the fact that you have made an oaijis in the desert - you have left your marlc as no other ·wi ll do - no other could do - because there is only one Lo r eto ·and. she has come of age. 11

F I N I S

., i

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I •, PflQJEQT PROPOSAL BY ~,..®J).R@ VJES~WATER MOLT aN DIOCESE,_ yt e f.AK...JST A1l

1. Applicant Cname, title, religious order, address) F'a-ther George Westwater O.P., Catholic Prie-st ·· Order ··or Friars Pre ache rs·· (Dominicans-) Fatimapur, Chak ?4, Firoza, Distt. RahimYar Khan, w.Pakistan...... ·- 2. Cam.try - United States of America, Born; West Pakistan, residing 3. Ecclesiastical District: Diocese of Multan Bishop: Most Reverend Lru.is ~. Scheerer O.P ., D.D. Bishop• s House ·- ·· Multan Cantt. file st Pakistan) 4. a) Exact and detailed degcription of the situation(if possible with s~.ati:tics, __Ph?.tos, ~ps, etc.) ror which the help is required. ·· Fatimapur has a populqtion of six hundred (600) people grubbing a··living frOD1 nine hundred -- l900) acres of poor grade soil. A.t the present rate of growth, this population will double 1n··r1ve ye 8rs time-. However, despite this pressing problem, the people do have permanent land rights to their twelv~ and a half (12f)acre land plots. The land in turn ts irrigated by canal water sufficient to return crops that can make a family economically··indepondent if the initial difficulties can be·­ averted by outside assistance~ This outside assistance is specifically in terms of the following~ ·- .. . .. b) Exact and detailed description of the help planned to remedy the situation described unde r 4 ao i!spensarY - The description of just ··one woman giving ··birth to a child these stinking hovels, with an ox as on-looker and a rat tripping across the straw roof for rhythm, would require a book. ... ·- -· .. . The government has sanctioned two (2) acres of land f'or 'this purpose, and UNICEF supplies the basic drugs. For supervision, wo have a tttlly qttalified mid-wife, qnd tho perrodic services of a priest-doctor at tbe main mission eighty l80) miles aWaY• ..... ·- ·- There ··is absolutely no proper medical trea-tment- beyo.rn "the govern­ ment hospital eighteen mile-s south of this vil:lage, and they are" undel'­ staffed, under p~id1 and l::ick the ··basic ·,nodical: supplies. Too man.r of··our poople pe-rish from improper medical treatment ··administered by local fakirs who operate solely on the profit motive, and are one degree removed from witchcrafto ·"The enclosed ··plans for a dispensary made fran fire-baked ttlay--brtck!J with a tile roof and wooden beams for sttpport was designed --·by a gr~dut4te civil engineer who has li-ved on the village --1eve~ for the past' fivET (5,­ yea-rs. His estimated tot~l cost including materials, labour, and carriage charges, is eighteen hundred doll~rs (i1800). .. . ·- ... ·- Fleur Grindi,ng Mac~ - The basic food for consumption in Fatimapur is wheat, in·-too many cases it 1s ··the- only··food. However, to have .. wheat ground, ra 8ny people- raust lose a daY' s labour to walk·-to the nearest mill three (3) miles aWaY, plus t he charges of money and a portion of thET ground nour. It is this combined economic ··loss that kflops the village wealth flowing out to othars. The cost of an eighteen horsepower C1a ~·hp) .-.. diesel unit with the necess~ry grinding stones;- belts, and deep frunda...­ tion support can be ··purchased 1n the city of Lahore, w. PRkistan, ror--a cost of three thousand two hundred dollars C# 3200) • The cost ot install• - 2 - l}-tion would be gratis ·-on the PR rt of the- people of this village, 1nsoi'ar as they could supply all the necess~ry labouro

Housing Subsidy - For almost ·-a decade now, my people have been living in hovels that would make barnyard life in ~merica seem like a Hilton Hotel in comparison. Dise-ase, ·111oral turpitude, and other multiple evil:s, are : . bred" unde-r such inA"dequRte ·-housing conditions. The government was petiticn­ ed and sanctioned a fifty acre (50) plot for housing reconstructiai. Through·-the joint·-efforts of myself and the people, we have been able to ere ate ··an enthusiasm for new housing;; However, the ·nece ssarY subsidy i'or overhead ... beams, doors, and skilled mason PaY, is ... lacking...... ·- Each of the enclosed designs for houses has been proved in actual practise. The minimum of wood (-the more aostly·-item in the --desert), with a full utility of sun-baked claY brick walls has been emphasized...... ·- - lt"1I1Rson is paid five (5) rupees, or one (i1) dol~ r per thousand brtcks lRid. The roofing ts pre-pared in five foot (5•} sections, with small slats 21 11 x 2t"", spaced about ten inches (10") apart connecting ·­ beam to be-am, or beam to Wallo This in turn is covered with a woven straw roofing capped with mudo ·- The cost of a two-room house of mud brick (supplied by the pa ople 's labour) is:

1+ Wains 9n x 12" x 12i' @ 35 Rs. 140 Rs. 2 be.ans 9" x 12" x 1oi @ 20 Rs. 40 130 Slqts 2i" x-~" x 5t' '@ 1t 195' One U) door 6j x Jti- @ 21:f ·24 35,000 bricks (sun baked claY)@ 5 per thousand) 175' mason cost ) rain spouts, straw for roofing, plastering 1-20 Totals 694 Rs. Each There is need for app~oximately ninety-five (95) rooms in this order: 17- single room houses 16 double room houses 10 tr±ple roorn houses 1+ quAdruple r oom houses (or two dupsxes) _Twe-lve (1 2) hand p~~inking water -- I\ recent U .N. re port of the plaguing problern of open wells and canal w::iter being used·-for drinking purposes, only unde-rlines what iS' obvious to ::inyone ·-who hAs visited or lived in Pakistano One such hand pump can ·-s::itisft:ictorily service four {4.) families., The breakdown of cost is as follows: Piping : 60t of 1i" pipe @ 1+ Rs~- per foot. 21+0 Rs. St !'t:iirrer: t5' of 1t11 copper strainer@ 15 per foot: 225 Pump ·-and handl-e: 120 InstallAti on ::ind boring fees: 1 Re. per foot __ J'[5__ ·• Totalr ~Rs. Each \

Two (2) ·-mi~LM,a9.t-;1..~ -· SUgar cane :1s called the "cash crop". I t is harvested in Novern"!::>er and sold or exchanged ··fer itoms of clothing, household utensils'- purchase of plowst and the like. However, the- existence of only two (2J such machines in -che- whole village no.v, me-::ins that ·-of neces-sity some cultivators a.-o not harvest their sugar­ cane til~ as r a te- as ~pril, f ive mont hs later. In such circumstancest the men are harrassed by loss due to theft, cold weather, or inability to sow ··the plot ±n time f or tho next plowing. The cost of one (1) such oachine is as follows : Grinding gears and mounting :· 1+00 Rs. Open pan for boiling raw sugar: 350 Rs• accessories (oxen yoke, strRiner, etc). 220 Total: - 3 -

(Two Cro s - Ammonium jab, but w rare excepttai, only the more prosperous ··farmers can afford to purchase it, even at the reduced governme-nt r~te of eight rupees (8 Rs) ··per hundred-weight bag. I r;e rsonally have witnes-sed the twofol:d increAse- of crops from one fifth the investment in a1n0onium sulphate chemical fertilizer, but } .. my people lack the wherewithal to buy · it. .... · ·- In the ·village at ··prcS'ent, ··there are 12o··acres of sugar cane ander cultivation·-that should have at least two (2) bags per acre. There are an additional 180 acres of wheat that could used cne (1) bag per acre. The breakdowp in cost is as follows: ...... ·- - 120 acres of sug~·r cane @ 16 Rs ·· per acre s 1920 Rs. 180 acres of wheat @ 8 Rs. per acre : ftl+O Rs. Total: 360 Rs. fcur-wheel drive LAndrover CEn lish Pick-u The basic impe ment to t e ··e:xecu ion of Any wor on e v lage level is the lack of proper oeans of transportation. ·-The mttltiple dentands put upon·· the- one who ·-takes on the burden of·village- loo®:rship calls for oons·tt-l'nt travel ovcrr loss than prir:r±tivo roads to the scat of goverru::ient--otf'ices for the canal authority land offices and civil hospital for major illnesses. At prErse-nt, t travel vta the one local train tha-t passes ·· three (3) miles away once a day, and even then it 1s several: hours late. The loss of time-, fatlure to sere the official concerned··because- of this 1nsuff'icient means, and the inability to execute more rapidly allY program for the people, is my own single biggest burden...... The cost of a four-whee-1 drive Lartdrover of English-make including 35% customs duty, sea freight, and insurance is 16500 hs. .. .. ·- ...... 4 c··): Please indicate the total cost of the project (in DM and in local currency) described under 4 b. Total cost in DM: 701'48 DM T·otal cost in rupees : 8?685 Rs. 4 d ): What effects will be realized from this project? A.n economic stability that is necessary-·for growth of the Chur~h in :terms of health; housing, education, and development of village leadership...... 4 e h What measures have alreadY been taken to reoedY the situation described under 4 b) By whom? What were the results? .. .. _ A Five {5) roOI:I school made from sun-·baked bricks with a student bodY of 120··students, and four (4) school teachers is in operation. ·· Teacher salaries are- paid by the diocese., School suppl:tes, ··books, slates, daily feeding program of CRS food supplies, etc., is··partiallY subsidized·· by ··the people, and the remainder by the priest-in-charge to the extent that he can. A village··dispensarY is maintained by the priest-in-charge under the direction of a village g:trl who Was sent ·-to Mid-Wifery schoo:t for·· that purpose. The work she has been able ·-to accomplish in the inadequate one room affair··built by the people;· is a ··cred1-t to her training. She dispenses tho basic- oedicines, and -also takes ··a refresher course ·-ror two (2) months at a mission hospital every year to becane familiar with the oore prevalent diseases of this country •. ... "' • .. In ··addition to the a bmre, a retired Agricultural Department employee was hire'd by myself to instruct the people in developing crop production. He has been working here for ..four (4) months, but his salary of ninety (90) rupees a nonth now poses a problem for mo. - 4 - With wliat succes~ has this program been carried out? Considering the destitute level we are working on, success will neve-r c0t10 1n tams that my western culture ··conceives. Nevertheless, the least we do is one hundred percent more than is being done,··In··short, we··can raise these people up to the level of two (2) meal~ a dlf'Y, comparative freedan from the more··plaguinghe&l.th problems, and adequate education; but they'll not possess a parlor set TV for sot1e generations to cane. 5' a)· What financial contribution can you oake to cover the total cost mentioned under 4 c?

The financial contribution··or A missionary is a very erratic st~tistic. Socetioes especiallY around Christmas, some one long since forgotten will.. send the sum of f:tfty (50) rupees or ten··dollars··Cd'IO). More often tha~ not, the dailY Mass stipend is the only additional source...... ·- The basic fact is that the mission dioceses of w. PakistAn in the Punjab cannot support thenselves on the al.J!ls or their poverty stricken pe oplo .- All: outside assistance not otherwise earcarked;· must be ··funnelled into maintaining the minimt:IO requi~nents of school teacherst catechists, Stster~, and priests. Social work on a larger scale·~s prohi itive ·-for lack or funds.~ do our best with what little we have, but frustrAtion ts a constAnt companion. ··When a nan with seven chtldren is ··diagnosed as advanced T .B., and approaches you ·-for assistance a-.nd y cxr havent-t even got train fare to return to your village, you understand what I I:l8an...... 5 b) What other contributions.. are available from other sources? ·· ~ neglible- anount fron letter writing; not ouch core than a thousand rupees a year() ; c) Vfuat is the sun you have asked frot:1 Misereor? 87,685' Rupees or DM 70148. - ...... 6 a )- What part of the assistance requested fr0t1. Misereor should be paid in cash? The Total aaount: ...... 6 b ) Wb~t part of the amount required is to oo used for the purchase of goods lwith the cooperation of MISEREOR)? Wi-th the exception··of the Land Rover fou~whe'el driver pick-up truck, the replacement of parts and ioport of other European manufactured ··good!J makers it ioprudent not to purchase them fr0t1 the local market, tr available. Local industry has a long WaY to go before achieving western standards, but they can fill ouch of the basic needs. Give an exact list and description of these goods. Three rooa dispensary s d1800 Flour grinding machines }200 Housing Subsidy: 6593 Hand Puops for drinking waters 1584 8ugar-cane ttachine s: ·- 388 Fertilizer {ammoniuo sulphate): 672 4-wheel drive pick up Land Rovers ·~~00 Totals- 11 37 _...... 7 ~ ) Of the sum requested under 5' a, PM ___ will be requested as a loan. I am unable to re"PaY a loan, nor can the Bishop of Multan. Thus the money is requested as a gift...... ·- .. 8 a ) When can you begin to repay the loan? ·· b ) When will you be able to complete repaynent of thf;L loan? .. _ ·- ...... I am unable to request a loan. - 5 -

9. . Would "the use of European staff be desirable? How meny persons and with what qualifications? The physicAl dtfficulties of living on ·--this 1-evel are rather staggering even for a priest. To properly quArter 8 ny European pe sonnel would invoive a burden of expense th?t would obviate thoir useful] ess. My own two-room bungalow WAS ··designed for the people, and is not much ' different in conveniences thAn a tent. 10. What legal person will be responsible for this project? ·- Juridical··responsibility·-would on necessity be with the Bishop of MultAn, but the administrative aspect of a?lY social program is included in my own assignation as tho priest-in-charge for the next three (3) to five (5) years. 11. Is it necessary to obtain approval of the government tor the ~execution of this project? HAve you already received this approval? Tho answer is to be distinguished: for land rights, yes. for actual constructiJn, not nccessal'Y• The people have been in possession of the '"land rights for ten (10) yeArs, and the Church has possession of school, and other social rights for five (5) years. 12e Give name And address of a qualified person who could give his opinion on this project.

In closing, it is hoped thAt the above infornA~ion is what ·was requested. Few men writing their doctorate thesis have concentrated or aspired to pass the test, as I have in writing these lines for oy beloved po ople.

Photographs and detailed plans were also attached to this Project Proposal•