A Ray of Hope
I am Rosmita Senapati, from Gudika of Khandamal district. I was 18 years old when the communal violence broke out in Khandamal leaving us homeless and in despairing condition. I was privileged through the intervention of a priest to get enrolledin St. Joseph’s Sevasadan Community College, Bharatpur.
The Sisters gave me shelter, comfort and introduced me to other 45 young girls from Khandamal who were studying at the Community College. We were provided with food, accommodation, medication, counseling, spiritual help etc. Above all we were taught a trade according to our aptitude. I decided to learn tailoring as I was only a 10th standard student. I had only one goal in my life to be the life support to my family. I made every effort to learn all that I could like taking measurement, graph making, cutting and stitching and also maintenance of sewing machine . During this period of skill training, sisters dedicated their services to us and took extra care to teach us spoken English and life coping skills. We were also given EDP (Entrepreneurial Development Program), motivational training, awareness programs like HIV/ AIDS, Health and hygiene. 
My stay at the community college transformed me into a new person. I noticed slowly that I became a person of courage and self–confidence. I also learned how to adjust and cope with my life and work environment. After one year of training I returned to my little village to be self-employed in my own house. I could easily win the confidence of the people by my acquired skills in stitching and dress making. On an average I was able to earn per month Rs.3,500/- which made my family totally self-reliant.Recently I was selected and appointed as the Anganavadi teacher for the little children of our village which gives me an additional amount of Rs.1, 500/ per month. I am obligated to the Sisters of St. Joseph and also to the DONORS who support the education of the poor and the less privileged youth of the society. May God bless you all as you continue to be the RAY OF HOPE to other deserving youth!
The story of Biswajit Gouda
For a child born in a slum, life is a daily struggle and dull pain. The story of Biswajit Gouda who was fondly called Deepak by his loving parents and sisters gives us the insight into the life of children in the slum. His story is tragic but profound. He lost his father while he was small, leaving his sisters and him in the care of the mother who was illiterate and frail. The family was totally shattered as they did not have any source of income except the shanty to live in that was built by his father. Biswajit had just started his schooling and a number of questions began to arise in his mind. Undeterred by the tragic death of her husband, mother took up the entire burden of bringing up the children, providing them with food, clothing and meeting their day to day needs. All the seven days of the week she worked as a daily laborer, risking her own safety and health.
During these difficult and challenging times, she came to know about St. Joseph’s Oriya Medium School run by the Sisters of St. Joseph for the slum children. She enrolled her children with the generosity of the Sisters with a hope of seeing them educated, managing their own future.
The children are making significant progress in their academic and social life, while their mother continues to work as a daily laborer. Will Biswajit and his Sisters fulfill their mother’s dream by performing well in their life?
This is a true story of one family which illustrates the story of many others. About 95% of the parents/guardians of this school go through this type of painful situation.