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German aid for Thalassery school

By Our Staff Reporter

THALASSERY, FEB. 21. The strong ties between the town of Calw in Germany and Thalassery thanks to the common legacy of the German missionary, Hermann Gundert, are all set to be boosted through philanthropic gestures of the people of the German town to help the Dr. Hermann Gundert Foundation School here.

The bond between the two towns has been strengthened since the visit here of a delegation from Calw and the return visit of a delegation from here in connection with the festival to mark 125{+t}{+h} birth anniversary of the German author, Hermann Hesse, the grandson of Dr. Gundert, in 2002. But some philanthropists in Calw have taken a further initiative to perpetuate the links through fund collection activities to help the school and its students here.

A group of citizens of Calw who visited this town as part of the delegation has launched `kinderhilfe Indien' (Help for children in India), a fund collection initiative in Calw, in association with the town council to assist the school, which was started in 1996 by the Hermann Gundert Foundation (HGF) in memory of the German missionary who had made Thalassery his home for two decades between 1839 and 1859.

According to information sent by email to this reporter by Dietmar Wacker, spokesman of `Kinderhilfe Indien', on behalf of Christoph Hass, the head of the initiative, a photo exhibition was held in Calw in November 2003. Photographs taken by Josefine Koblitz, Irmhild Mannsfeld, Beatrix Weis and Sigrid Weis, during their visit to Thalassery as part of the delegation from Calw headed by its Mayor, Werner Spec, were displayed near the town hall of Calw for the fund collection. The organisers also sold tea from India and some Indian culinary items as well as calenders with some of the photos at the exhibition. Mr. Wacker said that the fund collection initiative was connected to the traditional Christmas market in Calw.

When contacted, the chairman of HGF, Moorkoth Ramunni, told this reporter that the idea of extending financial assistance to the school was mooted by the Mayor of Calw.

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