Mangalore: Generosity at its Best: Mary Rebello's Kind Act Inspires All
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Jan 29: Mary Rebello a resident of Bondel, a widow for the last 21 years always dreamt of building a house of her own for many years. For a widow like her, having the ponderous responsibility of taking care of two children, saving even a small amount all these years to have her dream home was a gigantic task. Undaunted by her bag of woes, which were always brimful she had collected Rs. 1 lakh with great difficulty to buy land at a faraway place where she was dreaming of building a small roof over her head.
But after her dream of having a home of her own got fulfilled, courtesy Eric Correa’s dream project Souharda Nagar, where Mary Rebello has been given a home, she did the most unthinkable and magnanimous act for a poor woman like her. She donated Rs one lakh she had saved all these years to Souharda Foundation and thus became the first donor to the foundation, an act which showed her kindness of giving whatever little she had for a cause. Despite her benevolent act Mary Rebello says “I am thankful to Eric Correa who helped me to have a home of my own. Once my need is fulfilled I felt I did not want this money I had saved and felt I would be happy to donate it to the Foundation”.
File Pic of Mary Rebello receiving the key of her house at Souharda Nagar
When she expressed her desire to contribute some money to the house Eric was constructing he dissuaded her saying he has decided to give the house free of cost. “I felt bad that when Eric was building so many houses on his own for so many people and I was also the beneficiary of his largesse. So I and wanted to contribute whatever little I had but he refused”, she confesses. Finally when she came to know that the second project of Souharda Foundation is on the roll she decided to donate the money to the Foundation. Though she has some outstanding loans she is happy donating her savings now that her main goal of having a home has been fulfilled.
Mary’s husband was a lineman with KEB and following his tragic death in 1991 due to the shock he received while on duty he fell from the electric pole and died after 18 days. He fell on the gates and his kidneys were damaged and he could not be save. With hardly any compensation coming up from the then KEB as he had newly joined there, she struggled running from pillar to post at least to get a job in lieu of compensation. Her prayers borne fruit and Mary got a job as an Attender in MESCOM where she has been working for the last 16 years.
In Bondel she has been living with her two sons in a small house in 1 ½ cents of akrmaa sakrama land. She says she was deceived into buying the land by some conman and she got into the trap due to her ignorance. Mary has studied only up to 7th standard and was betrayed into buying the land.
As this the land is now earmarked for Airport, she was in quandary not knowing what to do and applied for the house in Souharda Nagar when she came to know about the project. Since here present house is in government land Mary had lost all hopes of getting any compensation as she was advised to go away with her belongings including roof tiles. As her husband had died when the children were small she could not educate them properly as she was living in utter penury. Her elder son has studied up to 9th and is jobless at the moment. Younger son who has passed his SSLC has recently gone to gulf for a job.
By her gracious deed Mary Rebello has demonstrated her altruistic attitude and her good and generous nature. When we see so many people who are greedy and trying every trick up their sleeves to amass more wealth, it is heartening to see such rare gems like Mary Rebello surfacing once a while to make us all sit up and assay ourselves as to where we stand vis-à-vis the likes of Mary Rebellos.