OUR TARGET AREA

The history of the involvement of Presentation Sisters at Colachel dates back 39 years ago when basic health care was a crying need in this small fishing township, located some 22 km south-west of Nagercoil, the headquarters of Kanyakumari district, the southernmost tip of peninsular India. The area is well linked up by road with the district headquarters and other parts of the district and the nearby airport at Trivandrum is 60 km away

Colachel is meeting point of three living faiths: Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Mostly the Christians are fishers. Muslims and Hindus of the area are petty traders and others are agricultural laborers. There is also a group of people who engage in handloom weaving.

The people of the harbor area are fishers by occupation. Most of them are traditional or artisanal fisher workers and many are laborers in mechanized boats owned by a section of local people. The economic situation of the fisher people is precarious, as they are dependent on the vagaries of the fishing season. Often, women take to fish vending to supplement the income the family receives from fishing. The high amount paid in dowry system creates further tensions in the families. The seemingly hopeless situation also breeds alcoholism, which is rampant in the area.It is in such a situation and area that the Presentation Sisters were invited to minister in the year 1976.