Brother Zimmer as was explained to me seemed like a good soul who believed the Katkharis could redeem themselves and their lives if given a chance... a chance which no one else seemed too keen to provide.
He was to have spent his life administering to the tribals who lived about 3 kilometres away from Kune Mission in a settlement now known as Kune Village. When I spent my days at Camp I often wondered why each room and wall was peppered with black boards built in and learnt that he ran training schools for the Kathkaris teaching them home and life skills, basic english, sewing, etc to make them employable while fighting the eveils of alcohol,unemployment and poverty.
The nuns from the convent looked after the medical needs of these people and helped them with food and medical supplies.
The Kune Chapel has 2 tombstones up front just before the Altar... Brother Zimmer and Fr. Idelfonso Cotta. It was obvious that both of them may have contributed much to the development of Kune but the most fascinating thing I found was that Bro. Zimmer died on the 15th January and Fr. Cotta was born on the 15th January... a date also shared by Fr. Robin and I. Fr. Robin dedicated his life to providing an exercise in good christian living to catholic families where children got a dose of adventure, music, prayer and sports. I for some inane reason chose to assist fr. Robin at the camps, developed a deep love for the place and head there even now at a drop of a hat.
This set me thinking that anyone deeply connected to Khandala and Kune was either born or died on the 15th January. Since I was born on 15th January theres a fair chance I wont die on that day!!!
Heres a link to an article I came across that mentions both Bro. Zimmer and Fr. Robin:
http://narbiindia.com/Br%20Leonard%20Zimmer.php
1 comment:
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