Oklahomans Send Support For Tsunami Victims With Priest on His Visit Home

By Ray Dyer
The Sooner Catholic

GUYMON — They’re not wealthy people. Many of them came to the Oklahoma Panhandle because it offered far greater opportunity than the dirt-poor villages they left behind in their native Mexico. But when disaster struck on the other side of the world, like so many, they wanted to help.                                           Father Kumar with the people helped by the generosity of the residents of the                                                                       Oklahoma Panhandle.

Father Maria Kumar, a mission priest to Oklahoma and associate pastor at St. Peter Church in Guymon, said many residents of the Panhandle, many of them Catholics and many of them Hispanics contributed more than $10,000 to victims of the devastating tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean basin in late December.

Father Kumar had been planning to visit his family in India for several months. But when the devastation occurred his trip turned from one of pleasure and relaxation to doing what a priest does best- helping God’s children.

Father Kumar said it was Father Steven Hamilton, pastor at Saint Peter, who encouraged him to accept the generosity of the parishioners and the many others who wanted to help those victimized by the tsunami.

“He said the people want to help so we must help them to do this,” Father Kumar said. The Hispanic community at Saint Peter organized a dinner with all the proceeds going to help the people of two villages that were damaged by the tsunami. Father Kumar had worked with the people in these villages for four years before coming to Oklahoma so he knew them well.

The villages where Father Kumar worked lost 15 people to the tsunami. While the loss of life was not as great as other areas hit by the massive wave, the economic fallout has been substantial.

He said the main industry is fishing and the storm destroyed all the fishing boats and nets used by the fishermen in these villages. The donations from the Panhandle helped replace virtually all fishing nets.  Father Kumar said it might take several months before the fishermen feel they can trust the ocean enough to return to their way of life.

“Right now, they do not trust the sea,” Father Kumar said. “It’s too soon.”

Father Kumar also visited a leper colony in the area where he used to minister to the people. He also participated in the blessing and dedication of a memorial he helped build in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

Father Kumar said thanks to the generosity of the residents of the Oklahoma panhandle, the children of Pottisubhalah Palem and Ramac-handra Puram, India will have schoolbooks. And eventually, their fathers, brothers and uncles will return to the sea and their way of life.

Left: The grotto dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Father Kumar helped build the memorial and took part in its blessing.