They toil in soil to build Usgao Church A Herald Feature BY MELVYN MISQUITA PANJIM, FEB 23 -- While others may have plans to air-condition their prayer rooms, this group of parishioners did not even have the funds to re-build and extend their church building. But instead of resigning themselves to self-pity, determined parishioners of St Joseph church in Usgao, led by their parish priest Fr Felix Lobo, accomplished a rare task by literally taking matters into their own hands. They built their own church. The parishioners are full of pride as they succeeded -- at the cost of sweat and blood -- in renovating their church in time for the golden jubilee celebrations of their parish, which is to take place in April this year. �I am proud of my parishioners. Although 90 per cent of the workers are labourers in this industrial area and are financially very backward, they completed a project that initially almost seemed impossible. In fact, they are the true followers of their patron St Joseph, who incidentally is the patron saint of workers,� acknowledges a grateful parish priest Fr Felix Lobo, who spearheaded this project. Initially a chapel built over 100 years ago, the St Joseph chapel had been part of the Valpoi church, located some 20 kms away from Usgao. Due to a growth in the catholic population and the distance from Valpoi church, the St Joseph chapel was elevated to a church in 1955. However, the church comprising 54 square metres was barely enough to accomodate about 100 people. �Over the years, the catholic population in Usgao began to increase. A spurt in industries at Usgao prompted a large migrant population from Karnataka and Maharashtra to settle in Usgao,� Fr Lobo told Herald at the Usgao church. �With the increase in population, former Usgao parish priest late Fr Caetan Piedade Cardozo in 1974 felt the need to expand the church premises and began to collect funds for the project,� he added. The funds collected over the years were however insufficient to build the church and hence, the project was shelved for nearly three decades. Then came Fr Felix Lobo, the new parish priest posted to the Usgao church in 2000. �I realised that while we may have had less funds, we were blessed with abundant hands to help us build the new church building,� recalls Fr Lobo. But to check if the people were willing to soil their hands to build a new church, Fr Lobo invited the youth of Usgao for some manual work in 2000. �The response was encouraging and about 100 youth worked in the premises for two days. I then realised that the others too would offer their services as well,� said Fr Lobo. While this may have seemed a lofty exercise, it wasn�t unchartered territory for Fr Lobo. �I have had the experience of hand-mixing concrete during the RCC work when I was in the Korgao parish in Pernem. Before that, I built a community cum commercial centre at Parra-Bardez,� explains Fr Lobo. �I told my Usgao parishioners, �you have the hands and I have the experience. Together, we can build the Usgao church�, � he added. Persuaded by their parish priest, the enthusiastic Usgao parishioners took up the task of building their church in April 2002. �We had set ourselves a deadline. We were determined to have a new church building by 2005, the year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our parish. We did not want to celebrate the golden jubilee feast in the old church building,� said the Usgao parish priest. Work commenced in 2002, with about 25-30 dedicated people offering their services, which included excavation of the soil, construction of the plinth, pillars and beams. Most of the parishioners, on their return home from work, would proceed to the church for their second work shift. �Our work on the church building would begin at 4 pm and we would sometimes work right upto 3 am,� recalls Fr Lobo. For the first slab of the church building, Fr Lobo brought a cement mixer, while he along with the parishioners poured concrete into the slab. �Work on the first slab began at about 9 am,� explains Fr Lobo. �It so happened that many people were tired after a few hours of hard work and went home. Although we had only a few parishioners left at the site, we had no option but to complete the slab.� And to make matters worse, the Usgao �labourers� ran short of cement at night. �We rushed to the residence of a dealer and woke him up at night, as we needed around 30 cement bags,� Fr Lobo said. �We eventually completed the first slab 24 hours later, at about 9 am the next day.� �One Sunday morning, I told my parishioners that I had blood boils on my hands as a result of the 24-hour work at the site. After that, they were determined to work on the project till the completion of the new church building,� says Fr Lobo with a smile. Brick by brick, the church building slowly began to take shape, as parishioners refused to lose sight of their project. And just when their morale reached an all-time high, a mishap at the construction site nearly ended in a major tragedy. �As we were filling concrete on a portion of the top slab in 2002, the wooden supports gave way and the slab collapsed. Around 40 parishioners who were at work on top of the slab came crashing down and sustained minor injuries. There was total commotion and the news spread life wildfire all over the parish. Almost all our parishioners came rushing to the site,� said Fr Lobo. �Besides moving the injured people to the hospital, we had to clear the debris before the wet concrete could harden on the ground,� he added. The incident shook the parishioners of Usgao and work on the church project came to a grinding halt for the next eight months. �Determined to continue with the project,� says Fr Lobo, �I told my parishioners that since we had started this project all by ourselves, God would want us to complete it ourselves.� Fr Lobo�s persuasive request worked for the second time and parishioners slowly renewed their enthusiasm in the project. Work then began in the right earnest and the new church of St Joseph was eventually inaugurated on April 21, 2004. Spread across 600 sq mtrs, the new church building provides sitting arrangements for 350 people, but can accomodate upto 1,000 people. �I was delighted that the parishioners literally built their own church. We saved on labour, while the engineer, Joseph Silveira of Parra, offered his services free of charge. Once the parishioners saw their church completed, they even saved some of their earnings and donated the new church bell, benches, vestments, chalices, statues and other religious requirements of the church,� said Fr Lobo. Instead of resting on his laurels, Fr Lobo has set himself a new challenge, with the help of his loyal band of parishioners. �We now have plans to build our own school building. We don�t need any contractor, as we -- the people and I -- will undertake this project all by ourselves. If we could build our own church, we are confident of constructing our school building. We only hope the panchayat gives us the licence to start the school,� sums up Fr Lobo. - end - ______________________________________________ Melvyn S. Misquita, Asst Chief of News Bureau, Herald, Panjim, Goa - 403001 INDIA Ph 1 : +91-832-2224202 (extn 231) Ph 2 : +91-832-2224460 (extn 231) Cell : +91-9422064707 Mail 1 : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mail 2 : [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. 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