Friendship House - Marcel Ayrinhac (1915-2012) remembers

Darley Road - on this side of this street the magnificent Saint Joseph's College, impressive by its numerous buildings, by its green cricket lawn, by its modern swimming-pool of Olympic dimensions, a whole breathing the richess, the comfort, the abundance. On the other side the slums, the huts, the famous shantytowns of South-East Asia, the misery, the poverty, the mud, the dirtiness, the malnutrition of the children in rags, illiterate. And I am passing there. Something should be done. 

At the exit of the campus was a building, the C.A.M. (Catholic Action Movement) movement, which didn't exist anymo­re since a long time. This building had, reaching to Darley Road, on the ground floor, a large billiard room for the teachers and the Fathers. On the first floor [were] four unoccupied [smaller] rooms which didn't serve to any purpose. Father [Lucien] Schmitt got permis­sion from the Rector to make use of these rooms and to have them being used for what we would call Friendship House. This house of the friendship had to have several activities: making literate¹, medical care and support with respect to food.

It's by making literate, that we pushed off. Students from the First and Second, when school was over, undertook to assure of that three evenings a week, by turns. One had to count a number of thirty boys and girls in charge. As hungry belly has no ears at all, one had to provide with a light meal. And to prepare that, one needed money; but we hadn't one sou² in our poc­ket. We had sent a circular to persons of good fortunes: doctors, lawyers, industrialists, merchants. Several weeks passed and nothing came, no answers. One evening I was thin­king of this famous circular and, turning to the Lord like Moses in the desert, I prayed to him in this way: "Lord, make that tonight it rains louis d'or³ on the lawn of the College." Early next morning I could investigate the lawn as much as I liked, run over it in all directions, run a fine comb through it, [but there was] no penny. In stead, with morning post, a letter for me. Who could write me? What could this letter contain? I opened the envelop and began to read. It said this: "I received your circular in a good order. At the moment I cannot pay a visit to you: I had a small accident and have my leg in plaster. I am a lawyer by profession. Could you come and see me at this address? I would like to discuss these things with you. We are interested, my wife and me, by what you are doing." Immediately I took my telephone and fixed a date for our rendezvous.

Next morning I met a young lawyer whom I knew by sight, since he came quite often to mass at the College, accompanied by his wife and his son Romesh.

The conversation was very warm, I expected a quite important cheque - which he made - but my surprise burst out when he told me: "Father, my wife and me would like to invest oursel­ves in what you make up your mind to do. We don't yet see in which way: it remains to be seen together with you, Father, and maybe with others. So far as [I am] a lawyer, I have numerous relations in Colombo and elsewhere." This happened in 1951. A few months later a movement was born: The Friends of the Y.C.W. The first artisans [were] this lawyer Eddie [de] Silva and Edna, Walter Abeyratna⁴ and Brigitte⁵ his wife, Mr. and Mrs. A.G.O. Perera, Mr. and Mrs. Weerasooriya (and his wife), Mr. and Mrs. Wijeratna, Lionel Abraham and numerous other good-willing people.

The goal of the Friends of the YCW was to help the young workers or others [who were] in trouble. Everybody in his/her way. The lawyer pleading gratis, the doctor by free consulta­tions, the industrialists by engaging, to help us find employ­ment for those whom we inscribed at the Labour Exchange - about that I'll talk next. In this organism this movement also had Buddhists, Hindus and Moslems.

I have to mention here the name of Lionel Abraham, great merchant in Colombo, he was a sincere friend for the different movements and our personal friend to Father Schram and my­self.

Little by little Friendship House developed. In addition to making literate, the students of the medical school made their appearance as volunteers in order to accompany the ladies to the shantytowns. Really, Friendship House did miracles. The large miracle for me was the change of mentality of all these volunteers, who discovered for the first time the real misery they ignoraient⁶ while it was at their door.

1     alphabétisation: teaching how to read and write

2     an old French coin of little value

3     golden king Louis coins, so: a lot of money

4     Abhayaratna

5     Bridget(?)

6     did not know / ignored

Translation (from French by Jo Schoormans) from: 

Père Marcel Ayrinhac, Souvenirs 1915-1995. Je me raconte.

p. 94-95, Apostolat social - Friendship House


Father Marcel OMI was born on 15th November 1915; he died on 28th March 2012