Rayagada (India)
[May 2024]

Benedictine monks of Navajeevan for the foundation in Rayagada (India)

Project 3545: Buying a tractor

Navajeevan Monastery was founded in 1987 by Makkiyad Monastery (Kerala) in Andhra Pradesh. It is part of the Sylvestrine Congregation. The community includes around twenty-five monks. The priory is in charge of a parish comprising six villages, within a radius of 10 to 15 km.

The monks are engaged in running an English language school located about 5 km from the monastery. The students come from the village and the lowest strata of society. The monks have a ministry of preaching retreats and teaching. They distribute food to the poorest populations.

For several years, young men wishing to enter the monastery all come from the Odisha region. It seemed appropriate to the community to establish a permanent presence there by founding a monastery. The monks acquired a little about 20 acres in Rayagada district and built a monastery which accommodates fifteen young men studying in the neighboring town and four monks from Navajeevan.

Request

The brothers began to work the land: planting rice, fruit trees... The objective is that the community should feed on its own crops, share the products with neighboring poor families, and sell the surplus on the market in order to generate income. profits.

Currently, the community is forced to rent a tractor to plow the land, which is not profitable in terms of cost and work periods to buy a tractor that will provide enormous benefits for crop yields.

Financial assistance requested: 10,000 euros.

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