The Lambada Mission

On 30 October 2006, Fr Pratap Reddy MHM with a student, Anish Thengumpalli, on Missionary Experience Placement, arrived in the new mission of Nellikuduru. Coming under Warangal district, it is a sub-district headquarter. There is no shortage of schools there: there is a high-school and various private schools and even a pre-university college. The diocese has an office (LODI) run by a religious sister with four other members of the organisation. It aims to bring awareness to the uneducated and empowerment of women. Anish works with this group and goes with them on visitation to the various villages. He participates fully in the work for the betterment of those affected with AIDS.

The small Mill Hill community has rented two small houses in the centre of the town. With the addition of a student, Sagar, from the Basic Formation Programme, the number there has risen to three. Lately, the arrival of Fr. Josepoh Thangaraj MHM has boosted the strength of the group. This small community maintains good relationship with the local people who are mostly Hindus. There are some Christians but they are all Protestants.

The aim of this mission is to reach out to the Lambada tribe. People of the Lambada tribe lead peripheral lives in thandas (hamlets) sprinkled across Andhra Pradesh. Some of them still follow a nomadic lifestyle. But whether they are on the move or settled in a hamlet in the poverty-ridden Telengana region, life has always been harsh for them. The Lambadas hardly own anything in terms of land or property. Their culture is different from the mainstream cultures. Lambada rituals have nothing in common with the rituals of the plains people. Traditionally, Lambadas or Banjaras have moved in groups.

Since October, the Mill Hill group has been visiting the thandas. They soon discovered that many of the children do not go to school. They are either playing at home or caring for their younger siblings. Some work in the fields, looking after their sheep and cattle while others are bonded child labourers.

In response to this situation, the Mill Hill group decided to start a boarding home with the aim of tutoring the children while at the same time sending them to private schools. The response from the parents was overwhelming. Within two days, they had admitted fifty boys and girls. Just recently, they added another ten to the list of boarders, with many more on the waiting list. The main drawback is, of course, the lack of funds. A couple from the tribe has been employed to look after the boarders.