Father Mariano started a project almost 10 years ago to give at least one cup of milk to all the children of the Beatrix School and to all the babies living in the leper colony in Puri that he founded more than 30 years ago.

Now there are 570 children attending the school, many of whom were born in the leper colony. Unfortunately they are treated like outcasts, not like the challenged human beings that they are. Usually all the lepers are placed in hospitals where they are forgotten by all. In the Mercy Village, however, they have a normal life where they can work inside the community and have a family and children. Everyone is provided continual care by a doctor and has access to all the medicines they need from the village dispensary. The children are treated periodically so that they can grow to be perfectly healthy like all other children. They all go to school and study with much joy, to their own great benefit.

The community is formed by more than 500 families. They try to be self-sufficient, producing cloth and textiles sold in the local market; they have a chicken farm to sell eggs directly to the hotels of the town; they also grow many vegetables that are sold to different shops along with the coconuts of their plantation. Inside the community there is a kitchen which provides rice, dhal (lentil soup) and chapatti (Indian flatbread) to the most needy families.

Under these circumstances, it is very important to guarantee at least one cup of milk to all the babies and children who need a daily source of protein for healthy growth. The expenses to cover this project total about $360 per month for 500 children. In that single cup of milk can be found the future of all new generations of the village. One cup of milk costs only a few cents, but it gives these children the chance to become strong, healthy human beings. "It is the challenge of our future," as Father Marian always says.

To those who wish to help this project to build a society without leprosy, please contact us.