By Verghese V Joseph –
In order to lessen the burden of migrants travelling to their villages and home towns in North-East India from across the country, a toll free helpline number — 1800 121 7119 – has been set up to coordinate, support and provide basic needs such as food, medicines and accommodation.
The toll free number operated by Hope Charitable Foundation (HCF), a registered NGO that carries out humanitarian services, has taken lead in this mission to provide succour to those travelling back home. Based in Dimapur in the state of Nagaland, HCF is headed by Rev. Abel Jacob, the founder and director.
The helpline venture is a collaborative undertaking of HCF and North East India Regional Bishops’ Council’s (NEIRBC). The Commission for Ecumenism is an office of the NEIRBC under the chairmanship of Most Rev. Thomas Bishop Pullopillil who is also the Bishop of Bongaigaon diocese in the State of Assam. NEIRBC has 15 Catholic dioceses in different states of North East India.
The helpline operates in six commonly spoken languages of North-East India. A group of 60 volunteers from different parts of North-East India systematically collect data through the helpline, comforts them, encourages them and then passes on the information to different churches in various parts of India like a Pastor, Priest, Sister or even an NGO. The local Christian partners connect with them with food, accommodation, and other needs as per the requirement.
During the last two weeks of the outreach, the helpline has benefitted hundreds of people.
In one of the volunteers meeting which is usually done on every day, Rev. Abel Jacob said, “We don’t know how many people we will be able to help but we make sincere efforts to as many as possible”.
“It does not matter who the people are and from which state of North East India they belong to. All that matters to us is that they are suffering and they are the face of Christ. This was the motivation behind the helpline launch,” he added.
According to Miss Bijoya Rongpipi, a helpline volunteer from Karbi Anglong district of Assam, “We are blessed to be of help to our people and to offer confidence”. None of the volunteers are paid or given any sort of remuneration, hence it’s indeed a laudable effort to be of assistance to the migrants who are suffering.
“During review meetings and interactions through online platforms, we share with our collaborators and volunteers the challenges and cases that are reviewed and addressed on priority,” another volunteer added.
What makes this ecumenical solidarity possible is the sharing of resources by different churches and Christians in different parts of India. The day-to-day functioning of the helpline is similar to a round table meeting, and good thing is that there is no hierarchy. The focus is only the suffering people.
On May 29 alone, a group of 20 persons from Assam working in the central state Madhya Pradesh (Ujjain) contacted the helpline. The collaborators in the area were able to reach out to them with assistance.
Similarly, another group of six from Chennai contacted the helpline and they are given assistance to take the train from Chennai to Assam. All of them were guided from the streets and were given accommodation at Jerusalem College, Chennai.
And the work goes on with the mind and heart of Jesus.