Programs funded by California institute offer hope after tsunami

Published: 2005-10-24

DALY CITY, Calif. (CNS) -- In Colachel, India, $7,000 builds a home to replace one destroyed in December's tsunami. Thanks to the Catholic-run Seton Institute in California, 20 new houses have been completed for families. The institute, which funds health care projects in impoverished countries, is also providing skill-building classes. But even more importantly, hope is rising in the tsunami-affected region, said Sister Flory Paranilam. She was in California to thank the institute, sponsored by Ascension Health, for raising $1 million in tsunami relief funds. "The world came together," said Sister Flory, a Sister of St. Anne whose order conducts educational programs in sewing and computer skills for widows, young girls and expectant mothers who lost everything to the sea. Although "recovery will take years," she said, "a beginning has been made."

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