The Annual Report (2013 - HMI...

HENRY MARTYN INSTITUTE:International Centre for Research, Interfaithrelations and Reconciliation

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The Annual Report (2013 - 2014) of the DirectorTo the Members of the Governing Council of the

Henry Martyn Institute:International Centre for Research,

Interfaith Relations and Reconciliation

HMI GOVERNING COUNCIL

Chairperson Vice-ChairpersonRt. Rev. Dr. P. Surya Prakash, Church of South India Ms. Christine Lazarus, Hyderabad

Treasure Director / SecretaryDr. P. Judson,Hyderabad Rev. Dr. Packiam T. Samuel, Hyderabad

Members

Council Meeting held on June, 2014

Mr. M. David K. Sarma, Co-optedDr. Roger Gaikwad, NCCIRt. Rev. T. S. Kanaka Prasad –BD CSIRev. Dr. M. M. Abraham, MarthomaMr. Alwan Masih, CNIRev. S. C. David, HCCDr. Anita Mahendiran, IFDERev. Richard E. A. Rodgers, LTCRev. Dr. Busi Suneel Bhanu, Lutheran Church

His Grace Dr. Geevarghese Yulios, OrthodoxChurchRev. Fr. Bala, Catholic ChurchMr. Anders Salomonsson, COSMs. Bern Jagunos, UCCDr. Andrea Mann, ACCRev. Dr. Franklin Ishida, ELCAMs. Rehmat, Staff RepresentativeMr. Raman, Staff Representative

ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011

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“It is a privilege to come back to the Henry Martyn Institute after 25 years and takeover as its Director. I thank Almighty God for bestowing me with this mission ofworking for interfaith relations and peace-building.

HMI remains focused on its prime objective, of peace for all, the mission ofreconciliation and the promotion of justice and harmony.”

ACADEMIC

2013-2014 was a year of considerable academic activity at HMI, with a total of more than 200 studentsparticipating in various activities, including study programmes, research, training and seminars. Weconducted a number of academic programmes this year, bringing together participants from differentcountries, traditions and backgrounds. I am deeply appreciative of our academic team for their efforts inthis regard, including Rev. Dr. M. M. Abraham (Associate Director), Maulana Abdul Kareem (ArabicFaculty), Asma Nuzhat (Urdu Faculty), and Sribala (Coordinator). Our academic team has beenstrengthened with the addition of Yoginder Sikand, who joined us in December 2013.

Post-Graduate Diploma

Three students completed HMI’s nine-month Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Islam and InterfaithRelations. The award ceremony for course was held on 13th March 2014. The students who passed outwere Rev. Siatha Solo (Mizoram), Mr. Shamshuddin B. Vadsariya (Hyderabad) and Ms. Ngun Zin (Myanmar).

Language Programme (Arabic, Urdu and Persian)

• Sept-Nov 2013: Rev. Stephen Joseph did a three-month course in Arabic Language at HMI.• 13 Dec 2013-12 Feb 2014: Dr. Kavita Datla, Associate Professor at Mount Holyoke College, USA,

did a eight-week Persian Language course at HMI, taught by Muhammad Siddiqi from the MaulanaAzad Arabic and Urdu National University, Hyderabad.

• 10th January 2014: Rev. Janana Manohar joined HMI for a nine-month Arabic language course.• 10th Feb-26 March 2014: The Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London, sent two diplomats,

Ms Jude Muxworthy and Mr Sam Toporowski, to HMI to do an intensive Urdu language coursein order to write the Diplomatic Service Language Examination. The two studied with our Urdulanguage faculty, Asma Nuzhath.

Annual Summer Course, 5th – 18th May 2013

The Henry Martyn Institute’s much-awaited and sought-after summer course was conducted from 5th to18th May 2013 at the CSI Retreat Centre, facing a beautiful lake in Kodaikanal, a hill station in Maduraidistrict, Tamil Nadu, southern India. The resource persons for the course included faculty members ofHMI (Dr. Varghese Manimala, Dr. M. M. Abraham, Abdul Kareem, and Christy Femila) and two externalresource persons: Bishop Dr. Surya Prakash (Bishop of Karimnagar) and I. The participants (24 males and5 females) represented seminaries belonging to different Catholic and Protestant denominations, aswell as secular and social work organizations. They hailed from different parts of India and abroad:


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Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. Interestingly,this year we had a Muslim participant.

October Course, 6th – 12th October 2013

HMI’s October Course on Islam and Interfaith Relations was conducted from 6th to 12th October 2013 atHMI. The October course is apart from HMI’s long-standing annual summer course. This time, it was anintensive, one-week residential course. There were a total of 26 participants—21 males and 5 females.They were from seminaries belonging to Catholic and different Protestant denominations, as well assecular and social work organizations. Interestingly, the course had 5 Muslim participants—Sunnis andShias—which made the course more lively and informative. Participants hailed from different parts ofIndia and from abroad: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kolkata, Kerala, Nagpur, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Myanmarand Germany.

Internship Programme

March 2013-March 2014. Ms. Hniang Cin Thluai from Myanmar was an intern with HMI’s academicteam.

Seminars/Conferences/Workshops and Talks

6th-11th April 2013. Training in Mission Team: HMI had visitors from the Training in MissionTeam (a programme jointly organized by Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, Madurai, and Councilfor World Mission, London). The team, comprising 10 members, 5 girls and 5 boys, arrived at HMIon 6th April 2013 and left on 11th April 2013. They were given an orientation and introduction toHMI’s history, issues related to Muslim women in India and religious pluralism in India. They alsovisited Prajwala, an NGO engaged in efforts to end human trafficking. Mr. Abdul Majid of HMI leda session with team on peace through community development work. Mr. Ramesh, also of theHMI, led a session on peace, conflict, and conflict transformation. The team also did a bit of sight-seeing around Hyderabad.

12th-13th July 2013. Seminar on Spirituality and Universal Welfare: Fr. Dr. Varghese Manimala(Director of HMI) and Rev. Dr. MM Abraham (Associate Director of HMI) attended a seminar on“Spirituality and Universal Welfare” at the Senate of Serampore University, Kolkata.

July 2013: Academic Department staff member Christy Femila attended a workshop on “Societiesin Transition Asia and Australia Between Conflict and Reconciliation” at the Friedrich–SchillerUniversity, Jena, Germany, from 19th – 28th July 2013, where she presented a paper titled, “Lessonsfrom India—Identity and Conflict between Hindus and Muslims in India”.

28th September 2013. Talk on “Charity and Public Welfare” by Dr. Syed Zafar Mahmood, President,Zakat Foundation of India, at HMI.

15th October 2013. Talk on “Re-thinking Mission” by Dr. Johan Hesselgren, HMI partner fromSweden and peace activist.


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28th November 2013: HMI organized a one-day interfaith awareness programme and libraryexposure for students of Dawn High School, from Hyderabad’s Old City.

5th December 2013: Ms. Asma Nuzhath, Urdu faculty, organized one day interfaith awarenessprogramme for students from St. Hills Girls’ School, Hyderabad.

6th-12th January 2014: Dr. Packiam, Director, and Dr. Abraham, Associate Director, took classes onIslam for seminary students at St. Charles’ Seminary, Nagpur.

14th January 2014. Seminar on “Brotherhood of Holy Prophets: Held at the HMI campus, therewere six speakers at the seminar: Prof. Rashid Naseem Nadwi from English and Foreign LanguagesUniversity, Hyderabad, Rev. D. Justus from the CSI Wesley Church, Maulana Abdul Rahim Qureshi,Joint Secretary, All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, Rev. Dr. Detlev Knoch, Director, EKHN, Germany,Rev. Dr. Packiam T. Samuel, Director HMI, and Mufti M. Ghiyasuddin Qasmi, Director Darul-UloomRahmania, Hyderabad.

20th-24th January 2014. Course on “Islam” at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor,Kerala: This course, offered By Dr. MM Abraham to first-year theology students of the seminary,was attended by more than 40 students. On the afternoon of the last day, an exposure visit wasarranged to a mosque. After the prayers, the maulvi gave a brief talk on Islam.

23rd January 2014. Seminar on “Democracy and Interfaith Relations”. Held at HMI, this seminarwas jointly organized by the University of Hyderabad, the Maulana Azad Arabic and Urdu NationalUniversity, and the HMI.

11th-12th February 2014. Seminar on “Theology of Religion”, Frankurt. Dr. Packiam, Director,presented a paper at this seminar.

Group Visits to HMI/Independent Study

Mr. Jakob Langdorf, student of Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, was an independent researchstudent at HMI from 1st September to October 2013.

Mr. Belay Abakiya Hunkeso from Ethiopia, doing his M.A in Interfaith Relations from InterculturalTheology from Georg-August-Universit at, Gottingen, Germany, arrived at HMI in October andstayed till the middle of December. He was at the HMI as part of his study internship and researchon HMI’s history.

Nine Students of the final year of the Bachelor’s of Divinity course at Calvin Institute of Theology,Hyderabad, spent 15 days at HMI in October 2013, visiting various NGOs and attending classeswith HMI’s PGDIS students.

Personal /Staff Development

27th – 29th September, 2013. Rev. Abraham attended the “National Conference on TheologicalFaculty” at the Karnataka Theological College, Mangalore.

January – March 2014. Mr. Anand Kumar, Library Assistant, completed a three-month course inTheological Librarianship from the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, Bangalore.

22nd-24th January 2014. Ms. Sribala, Academic Coordinator, attended a proposal writing trainingworkshop at KKID, Coimbatore.

5th-7th February 2014. Dr. Abraham represented HMI at the Serampore Board meeting andconvocation held in Serampore College.


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10th - 12th February 2014. Dr. MM Abraham represented HMI at a conference on Christian–MuslimRelations, held in Delhi, jointly conducted by HMI, St. Xavier’s Movement (Italy) and the ICP, Delhi.

27th February 2014. Ms. Christy Femila represented HMI at the ACTC Golden Jubilee Celebrations. March 2014. HMI bid farewell to Christy Femila, who served as lecturer in the Academic Department

since 2008.

Library

• HMI has a computerized and well-stocked library of over 24600 volumes, plus a collection of over2000 bound journals. Acquisition of books is based on the needs of readers, who include faculty,students, research scholars and workshop participants.

• In the period from 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014 the library added 395 titles, covering a rangeof subjects, including Religion, Conflict Transformation, Gender, Psychology, Philosophy, Sociologyand Literature.

Publications

• JHMI: Vol. 2 of the 2013 issue was published in second week of March.• Interaction: Vol. 2 of the 2013 issue published in second week of March• Book: The Sufi Movement East and West by John Slomp was jointly published by Media House

(Delhi) and HMI.• Annual Report 2012-1013 was published along with audit report in November 2013• Calendar: “Peace through Interfaith Relations” was the theme for our 2014 calendar. Special

thanks to the Interfaith Coalition for Peace, Delhi, for sponsoring it.

PRAXIS

Community Development

Education

• Our interfaith primary-level school at Sultan Shahi offers primary education to 99 students (68Muslims, 10 Hindus, and 21 Dalits).

• Seven children who completed their primary education in our school now continue their studies inother local schools.

• 37 young women benefit from the literacy classes organized at our Sultan Shahi, Shanker Nagarand Chandrayangutta centres.

• Coaching classes in Chandrayangutta centre offered as a bridge class enabled 35 girls and boysto complete their regular education.


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• In Shanker Nagar, 10 women enrolled for SSC /Tenth standard education through the Andhra PradeshOpen School Society, a form of distance education offered by the Government for those who havedropped out of school.

Vocational Training

More than 100 young women attended tailoring, hand-embroidery, literacy, mehendi and typingcourses during this period in our three project centers.

A summer course in tailoring was organized at the Sultan Shahi centre, a mehendi-designing courseat the Shanker Nagar centre, and a beautician course at the Chandrayangutta centre.

Students’ meetings were organized in all the three centres every month, on issues related todomestic violence, elections, health, hygiene, religious festival celebrations, peace, education,etc. were discussed.

Health

Around 900 patients benefited from the health services provided by our clinic. 39 community members visited the Public Health Museum to understand different health and

hygiene concepts. Some 150 people were screened for eye problems at the Shanker Nagar centre in collaboration

with the Lions Club Hospital. Students from Roda Mistry College of Social Work, Hyderabad, organized a health camp in Sultan

Shahi in March 2014. Around 80 patients benefitted from the camp.

Interfaith Building Initiatives

In February 2014, we organized a picnic for school children from Sultan Shahi and tailoring studentsfrom our three centres total 200 were gone to Jal Vihar, a water park.

Women’s Day was celebrated in Sultan Shahi, Shanker Nagar and Chandrayangutta. On this occasion,students from different faiths participated in various cultural events.

General

Project staff at the Shanker Nagar and Chandrayangutta centres assisted community members in enrollingfor election cards and in procuring voting slips on the day of elections.

Staff Development

• Ms. Vani Shree, school teacher in Sultan Shahi, successfully completed the pre-primary teacher’straining course.

• In May 2014, Ms. Fatima Begum from Shanker Nagar centre attended two women’s workshopsorganized by ASMITA through its National Alliance of Women’s Organizations.


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Students Intern / Visitors

• Four students from Roda Mistry College of Social Work interned at CD projects, from January toMarch 2014.

• Rev. Christoph Wildfang from Germany visited Sultan Shahi in February 2014 and interacted withschool children.

• Piet’s group from the Netherlands visited Sultan Shahi in February 2014 as part of an exposurevisit to interfaith programmes at the community level.

Young Men’s Initiative Project

• One of the most susceptible groups to inter-communal violence are young men. Hence, HMI believesthat for sustainable peace-building it is essential to attend to their needs and channelize theirenergies in a constructive way.

• We organized a farewell ceremony for the young men who had completed the A/C and Refrigerationand Computer Hardware and Networking courses.

• We continue to provide a typing course, which several young Hindu and Muslim men have enrolledfor.

Interfaith Festival Celebrations

• Sankranti was celebrated in January 2014 by bringing 25 young Hindu and Muslim men together.The Hindu men shared with others about the religious background of Sankranti.

• India’s Republic Day was celebrated on 26th January 2014 by over two dozen young men. On thisoccasion, the national flag was hoisted and sweets were distributed.

Picnic

A picnic trip for 50 young Hindu and Muslim men was organized at a popular local water resort, Jal Vihar.It proved to be a fun-filled event, with the youths enjoying being with each other and developingfriendship.

Mini library/Reading room

Our mini library/reading room continues to function, providing young men access to newspapers inEnglish and local languages (Urdu & Telugu), employment-oriented magazines, sports magazines, etc.

Capacity-building training for young men

A training programme on ‘Understanding Conflict & Peace’ was organized for 45 Hindu and Muslimyoung men in February 2014. The men were provided various activities to do in order to help them learnfrom each other’s experiences. They shared their understanding through various group presentations.


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Partnering for Peace Project

HMI is continuing to support three organizations—MSS, SPANDANA and PADMAPANI. While MSS andSPANDANA are working in the Old City of Hyderabad, PADMAPANI is based in Kama Reddy town, in theNizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh.

Mahila Sahyog Society (MSS)

MSS is working in six neighborhoods of the Old City of Hyderabad. It conducts literacy programmes inUrdu and Telugu languages for poor Hindu and Muslim women and school dropouts. It organizes healthcamps and monthly health checkups in coordination with local Government hospitals. It also organizesHIV/AIDS and TB awareness programmes. MSS continues to offer trainings in various arts and crafts forwomen, including Hindus as well as Muslims. It organizes inter-faith festival celebrations, bringingHindus and Muslims together on such occasions.

Spandana

• Spandana is working in five highly communally-sensitive areas in the Old City of Hyderabad. Itorganizes monthly community-level meetings with women in these areas and holds discussionson various issues.

• Under the skill-development training programme, tailoring classes were organized for 55 Hinduand Muslim women.

• Spandana has also organized programmes in schools on peace and communal harmony.

HIV/AIDS Project

Our HIV/AIDS project is continuing with its objective of creating awareness about HIV/AIDS in the SultanShahi, Shanker Nagar and Chandrayangutta neighborhoods in the Old City of Hyderabad. 18 awarenesssessions on HIV-AIDS were conducted altogether at the Sultan Shahi, Shanker Nagar and Chandrayanguttaproject centres in the Old City of Hyderabad. Through these sessions, adolescent girls and women gotan opportunity to know about HIV-AIDS. These programmes also provided space and an opportunity forHindu and Muslim women to interact.

Nine people living with HIV-AIDS were assisted to visit Government hospitals every month to avail ARTmedicines. A monthly travel allowance was provided to them. Regular counseling sessions were takenfor them. They took part in the monthly HIV/AIDS awareness programmes organized by the peer educatorsin the community.

Conflict Transformation

The Conflict Transformation (CT) department organized a participatory planning workshop withrepresentatives of regional partner organizations to discuss prevailing issues in the region and reach aconsensus to work jointly on issues such as gender equality and empowerment for peace and reconciliation


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in the coming years. During this period, the CT team organized 12 workshops and supported six peaceinitiatives. Workshop on Conflict Transformation & Peace-Building, Terogvunyu, Northeast India, 4-6 May2013This workshop was organized by the Terogvunyu Chupwe Youth Organization and brought youth fromfour Rengma Naga villages. Altogether, 31 (4 female and 27 male) youth, village leaders and Churchleaders participated in it. The process helped them to understand each other’s views, opinions andperspectives pertaining to the conflicts faced by them. Inter-Faith Peace Pilgrimage Journey-cum-Workshop: Part-3, Ahmedabad, 25-26 May 2013This event was organized by Social Movement for Educational Thinking (SMET), Ahmedabad, and wasattended by 25 participants from different community backgrounds. The participants visited a mosque, aParsi temple, a church and a gurdwara and listened to religious leaders talk about their faith, religiousvalues and practices.

Workshop on Training of Trainers in Peace-Building and Human Rights, Diphu, 12 -14 July 2013The main objective of the workshop was to bring Karbi youth from different parts of Karbi Anglong andhelp build their capacities to work for peace-building using rights based approaches at the grassrootslevel. The workshop was attended by 19 youth (5 females and 14 males). South Asia Peace-Building Workshop, HMI, Hyderabad, 16th to 25th September 2013This workshop had two modules, namely Comic Arts and Peace-Building Skills, and Gender, Violenceand Peace-Building. Participants learned how to draw comics on issues that they care about and to usethem for creating awareness, initiate discussions and to tell stories. They gained better clarity aboutdifferent forms of violence and discrimination that women face.

Participatory Planning Workshop, HMI, Hyderabad 22nd to 25th September 2013The main objective of this workshop was to engage key regional partners in planning for the next phasei.e. 2014-2017. Another objective was for the CT staff to build their capacities for facilitating participatoryplanning processes.

Writing Workshop, Umsaw, Shillong, 18th to 22nd October 2013 The workshop was follow-up of the writing workshop held at HMI in September 2012. The main objectiveof the workshop was to refine the monographs/articles written by the members after the first writingworkshop. The workshop was facilitated by Prof. G. Aloysius.

One-day Workshop on Peace-Building and Human Rights, Dokmoka, 25th October 2013The main thrust of the program was to build the capacity of the people to turn conflict into concord andraise their voices using a rights’-based approach. The workshop was attended by 21 people (4 femalesand 17 males), including students and youth leaders of the area.

Workshop on Grassroots Comics And Peace -Building, Ahmedabad, 8th to 10th November 2013The main objective of the workshop was to build skills of young people in drawing comics that highlightprevailing issues in the community and to promote peace through use of grassroots comics. Altogether25 youths (6 females and 19 males) participated in it. Many participants felt that in areas where there


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is low literacy, the use of comics as a communication medium to express issues and ideas is effective asit uses few words, and that too in the local language, which can be easily understood by people. Interfaith Exposure Workshop For Nepal Group, HMI, Hyderabad, 10th to 14th December 2013The main objective of the workshop were to help the participants to build their understanding andcapacities for practically engaging in interfaith work and peace-building. 15 members (5 females and 10males) of the Sansthagat Bikas Sanjal, an NGO network operating in Nepal, participated in this workshop.They were from different religious backgrounds.

Peace and Interfaith Dialogue Workshop

Abhapur Vijaynagar S.K. Gujarat, 13th-16th February 201416 youths (9 females and 7 males) attended this workshop. The main objective of the workshop was tohelp participants understand issues related to peace and interfaith dialogue.

Women and Peace-Building Workshop, Guwahati, 23rd to 24th March 2014This workshop was organized by Indigenous Women’s Forum of Northeast India (IWFNI). The mainobjective of the workshop was to strengthen IWFNI as an organization in the area of conflict transformationand building peace.

Peace-Building and Human Rights Workshop, Nagaland University, 27th to 29th March 2014This workshop was organized by the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), in associationwith Post Graduate Student’s Union of Nagaland University.

Peace Resource Centres

Peace Resource Centre, Ahmadabad, Gujarat

HMI’s support for the Peace Resource Centre initiated by Social Movement for Educational Thinking(SMET) continued during this period. Some of the events that SMET organized during the period are asfollows:

• Eid celebration on 11th August 2013, wherein 61 people (15 females and 46 males) from differentfaith backgrounds took part. The event helped the participants understand the importance of Eidcelebration for Muslims.

• Independence Day celebration on 15th August 2013. This celebration was organized in the slumarea of Gomtipur. 78 people (30 females and 48 males) took part.

• Drawing event for children.• On 29th December 2013, SMET organized a Christmas celebration and an interfaith dialogue event

in Ahmedabad. 78 people (26 females and 52 males) from different religious backgroundsparticipated in it.

Peace Resource Centre, Imphal, Manipur

HMI’s support for Peace Resource Centre in Imphal initiated by PCTM continued in this period. Thiscentre is mostly used by members of PCTM to meet, discuss and plan dialogue initiatives as response


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to the tensions and conflicts affecting Manipur. The Peace Resource Centre was also utilized toorganize meetings with other civil society organizations to plan and discuss initiatives for peaceand dialogue.

Internship

• Mr. K. Thangpimang from Manipur, a post-graduate student of human rights, joined the CTteam as intern for 3 months in March 2013.

• Adil Bashir from Kashmir joined the CT Team as an intern in the month of November 2013 fora period of three months. On completion of three months, his internship was extended foranother three months. However, he terminated his internship at the end of April 2014 andjoined an NGO in Hyderabad as full time worker.

Staff Training and Development

Mr. Abdul Hakim Ansari joined HMI as a regional facilitator. He has been actively participating inHMI-CT programs since 2008-2009.

MANAGEMENT

Administration

HMI’s campus has seen several changes in the last couple of months. These include laying of aconcrete cement road inside the campus, procurement of laptops and new computers for staff,installation of three invertors placed in the Programme building, and additional invertors in theguest house, installation of two online UPS systems continuous working on computers during powerbreakdowns, purchase of a new photocopying machine under a buyback offer scheme,and installationof new RO Units in Programme building for clean and safe drinking water. Buildings at Sivarmapallyand its assets were covered under Compact Insurance Policy. The building at Sultan Shahi was alsocovered under Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy. The institute has taken Group MedicalInsurance for the staff, with a coverage of Rs 2 lakhs per person per annum for a year, with VideoconLiberty Health Insurance.

The Aman Shanti Nilayam, HMI’s hostel building, is a home away from home to our students,participants in several of HMI’s programmes as well as to many others. As in previous years, thisyear, too, we recorded a high occupancy rate—approximately 4500 people (40 groups), includingfrom different NGOs, Government organisations, Churches, overseas visitors, walk-in guests, studentsand scholars, generating considerable revenue for the institute.

Board

The Finance and Property Committee met in March 2014 to discuss development of the organization.The committee also discussed the annual budget for 2014 and salary matters. The Board ofManagement also met in March 2014 to approve the annual budget and to pass other key resolutions.


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In June 2014, the Board and the Property and Finance Committee met jointly and approved the annualaccounts for the year 2013-14 and also approved the salary revision for the staff for 2014.

Staff Matters

New Appointments:Sr. Philomina: Hostel Manager.Ms. Roopa Patankar: ReceptionistMrs. Jalaja Devi, Project Officer, Praxis Department.Mr. Yoginder Sikand Resident Research Fellow, Academic Department.

The Hostel

The Aman Shanti Nilayam, is a home away from home to our students, participants in several of HMI’sprogrammes as well as to the many others. As in previous years, this year, too, several organizationsavailed of the facilities of our hostel, generating considerable revenue for the institute. Approximately9350 people, from almost 100 groups, including different NGOs, government organizations, churches,overseas visitors, walk-in guests, students and scholars utilized the hostel facilities in this period.

Over the past year, we made several efforts to upgrade our hostel facilities. These include procuringnew beds, fans, and mattresses, improving the fittings and fixtures, painting some rooms and installinggeysers in several rooms, and planting a variety of plants and vegetables around the hostel. We havedone up the TV room, and we have two computers there, for use by residents as well as guests. Thepath leading to the hostel has been cemented. We have a new, cheerful entrance, with a reception deskin the front hall. New additions to the hostel include a small store room and office adjacent to thereception area.

The hostel is generally abuzz with activity. People from different religious, caste, ethnic, linguistic andregional backgrounds stay here together, the common space providing an opportunity for much interaction.

Our garden is lush with abundant vegetation: a variety of trees and flowering plants, lovingly tended toby our colleagues, attracting a host of different birds!

Community News

HMI celebrates the different religious and national events every year. This year, we celebratedIndependence Day, Republic Day, Eid, Diwali, and Christmas together with much gusto, as well as ourannual staff picnic. This year, the staff went for an outing to a quiet club resort. Our hostel staff alsowent for a five-day holiday to Kerala.

Finance

• The audited annual accounts for the year 2013-14 were presented at the Board of Managementand Finance & Property Committee meeting in June 2014 and the same was approved.

• The key highlights for the financial reports are as follows:


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• An excess of expenditure over income recorded for the year Rs 23,02,694 was transferred togeneral reserve.

• The organization is dependent on external support to the extent of 82%, while 18% of the fundsare locally mobilized .

• The Board of Management approved the Annual Budget for 2014-15 in March 2014.

Visitors & Partners at HMI

It was my privilege and joy to receive several visitors and partners after being appointed as Director (on1st August 2013), including: Johny Thonipara (Secretary for Development and Partnership, Asia Centerfor Ecumenical Work Evangelische Kirche in Hesse and Nassau-EKHN, Frankfurt, Germany), ZafarMahmood (President Interfaith Coalition for Peace), Chandra Martin Paul (Consulting RegionalRepresentative for South/South Asia, ELCA), Johan Hasselgren (Church Relations Officer, Church ofSweden), Albert C. Lobe (Associate Director, MCC), Mohan Larbeer (Secretary, Board of TheologicalEducation of Senate of Serampore College), Corrie van Der Ven (Netherlands Program Officer India,Asia-Pacific Desk, ICCO & Kerk in Actie), Francois Lafreniere (Manager, Strategic Planning, Performanceand Reports, Partnership for Development Innovation Branch DFATD, Government of Canada), SampathKumar (Senior Advisor, Development Programme, High Commission of Canada), Steve Pearce (Asia-Pacific Desk, The Methodist Church House, U.K.), Detlev (Director, EKHN), and Rachel Parrey (ProgrammeManager Asia, US).

Meetings & Travels

Over the past year, I have travelled a fair deal, attending various meetings to broaden HMI’s networkand strengthen our work. I met with a Chinese interfaith delegation at Delhi, attended an interfaithmeeting at Bhubaneswar, an NCCI meeting at Shillong, the CISRS Executive Committee meeting at Delhi,the NCCI Srilanka Board meeting in Sri Lanka, the Norwegian Church Aid Partners meeting in Bangkok,the CSI Church Centenary Meeting in Bhilai, the North-East Baptist Women’s Council Workshop at Shillongand the HMI’s partners’ meeting in Frankfurt. I also met with Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani, well-known Muslim scholar, and Asish Jacob and Mr. Zahidul Haq of Hyderabad University to discusspossibilities of collaboration.


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A WORD OF THANKS

I express our heartfelt thanks to God for His bounty and benevolence that He has showered on all of us.I take this opportunity we express our gratitude to all our partners, who have stood by us, trusting us andvaluing the mission that we seek to work for. We are truly grateful for their generosity and solidarity.

We gratefully acknowledge our partners’ help. They include ICCO & Kerk-in-Actie, (PCN) in the Netherlands;The Methodist Church of the UK; Bread for the World (EED), Germany; Evangelisches Kirche in Hesseund Nassau – EKHN, Frankfurt, Germany; The Church of Sweden, Uppsala; The Church of Scotland; TheEvangelical Lutheran Church in America; Evangelisches Missionswerk in Deutschland – EMW, Germany;The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany; Centre for Global Ministries and EcumenicalRelations (formerly NMZ – Nordelbisches Missionszentrum) Hamburg,; United Church of Christ, USA;God’s Grace Foundation–Interfaith Coalition for Peace (ICP), Delhi, and many others who have supportedus, including individual donors.

I would also like to thank all our staff for their valuable services.

Rev. Dr. Packiam T. SamuelDirector


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FINANCIAL INFORMATION


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