The year was 1970. While working for the Chicago office of the FBI, Alan Ouimet received devastating personal news. His wife, Mary, found lumps on her breast.
“I did some praying,” Alan recalls. His message to God was, “You do this for me, and I will do for you.”
Subsequent tests showed the lumps were benign. God had come through. Alan took on his part of the bargain: he became a Secular Franciscan and, within the bounds of a busy professional career in law enforcement, dedicated himself to the poor.
So was born the Franciscan Family Apostolate, an effort that, over more than five decades, has generated $22 million in aid for the poor in the Indian states of Alleppey and Andhra Pradesh.
Alan eventually transferred to the New York FBI office, retired from the agency, and continued work in security consulting, until retiring two years ago. Now at 85, he continues to work on the project from his home in Madison, Connecticut. Begun as a way to assist struggling Secular Franciscan families in India, the Franciscan Family Apostolate has expanded its vision through the decades.
What started as $5 monthly scholarships have now been upped to $25. Thousands of sponsors from the U.S., Canada, and Australia, among other countries, have participated.
In Alleppey, the Apostolate sponsors families, and a vibrant two-way communication between benefactors and recipients has resulted in many cases.
Thomas F. Tartaron, a sponsor from the United States and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, visited a family he sponsored in India and was greeted with warmth and hospitality.
“The children told us about their education, the kinds of things they like to do, and what they hoped for in the future. I was humbled by two things about these families: their perseverance in the face of terrible hardships and their unshakable faith in God.”
Sponsored families are also helped through housing construction and repair. Many of the assisted families are homeless. They live in temporary shacks that are too dilapidated to withstand the winds of the annual monsoons.
A micro-credit program helps families start businesses selling rice, fish, or firewood or operate auto repair shops, enterprises that can generate wealth. A vocational training fund helps young people find work in the booming tourism business in Alleppey.
The Apostolate also assists families in Andhra Pradesh through programs operated in partnership with the Canossian Sisters. One program provides help for families affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly for abandoned widows and their children. The families live in remote areas off the east coast of India in tribal villages.
Other programs in the region assist the elderly and provide care for some 2,500 patients in the Jubo area. With the help of the Apostolate, the Sisters have been able to drop childhood deaths from malaria from 25 a year down to zero. The Sisters also regularly reach 14 villages with education programs on sanitation, hygiene, and programs for women.
Last year, Franciscan Family Apostolate celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Much has changed in those 50 years. India, once viewed as an economic basket case, is emerging as a world power. Single houses that once cost $1,000, now cost $35,000. In Alleppey, known as the Venice of India for its scenic canals, a large tourism industry has developed. Now, students are financially supported to attend training, confident that they will find employment upon graduation.
Alan has been to India numerous times. The administrative work of distributing funds is left to the dioceses and offices established in India. He makes the occasional visit to check on its work, and sends advice via email, confident that when he goes to sleep in Connecticut, any issues will be resolved in India as workers are beginning their day.
The stories abound of how the Apostolate has helped the local poor. One student was set to become a doctor after years of training, but she owed $17,500 in back tuition. Without help, her education would largely go to waste. Thanks to Franciscan Family Apostolate donors, her tuition was paid off and she is now a practicing physician.
Support in U.S. dollars can pay dividends. Just $3,000 a year pays for private school tuition. “If you are interested in caring for people, this is a good deal,” says Alan.
He knows something about a good deal. Feeling blessed that his wife was spared the ravages of breast cancer, Alan has made good on his promise to do what he could for the world’s poor through the continuing work of the Franciscan Family Apostolate. After five decades, the work is still going strong.
More information on the Apostolate can be obtained by going to their website at https://franciscanfamilyapostolate.org/.
