Maria Faßnacht, diocese of Speyer, Germany,
Chairperson of Catholic Council.
In November 2011, I travelled with a small delegation of the diocese of Speyer in Germany, to Calcutta in India. This trip took place in advance of the Lenten campaign of the Catholic relief organization “Misereor” which
was nationally launched in Speyer, in February 2012. The delegation included the Auxiliary Bishop of our diocese, full-time staff and volunteer people who are committed to global justice, and journalists. I participated in an honorary capacity as chairperson of the Catholic Council, the highest body of laity in our diocese. We were accompanied by representatives of Misereor. Read More
Tag: Testimonials
Sébastien Haye, Switzerland
I decided to discover India when I was 21 and I landed in Kolkata with eyes and ears wide open. I was welcomed by TSHED staff, who took me with them in their daily work and showed me the reality of millions of underprivileged childen, women and men thriving in Kolkata’s slums. It is hard to believe life can be so hard when you come from a well off family in a rich country. But what amazed me most was not the misrey they lived in, or death or diseases. What strikes you in Kolkata is the power of life, it is the energy TSHED staff and their beneficiaries are spending every day to improve this reality and help the next man.
Their countless efforts, stamina and motivation taught me the most important lesson of my life: there is always hope and there can always be a smile, even in the dullest places. It takes some courage and determination, probably beyond what most Europeans are able to deploy, but it works. These weeks I spent watching TSHED changed my life forever and I can never be grateful enough for the enrichment they brought into my existence. TSHED staff and all social workers in India and abroad deserve our praises and admiration.
Sébastien Haye, Switzerland. January-February 2003
Managing Consultant, E4Tech
Jeremy Seabrook – English author and journalist
I have known of the work of Tiljala SHED for many years, and I think I first met Mr Alamgir in the early 1990s. At that time, I was struck by the authenticity of Tiljala and the genuine closeness to the people of all who worked there. In 2010/11 I was privileged to collaborate more closely with the organisation, when with my colleague, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui (of the Telegraph newspaper in Kolkata), we prepared a book about the Muslim ghettoes of India, which drew largely on the achievements of Tiljala, and the experience of Mr Alamgir and his fellow-workers. I was impressed by three qualities in particular: firstly, that Alamgir had lost none of his easy intimacy and familiarity with the people, which had been there 20 years earlier. Read More