SLUMS:
Some of the slums/kuppams found in the locality are;

1. Nochikuppam
2. Nochinagar
3. Ambedkar Bridge
4. Dhideer Nagar
5. Dooming kuppam
6. Dooming Nagar
7. Rajiv Nagar
8. Nambhikai Nagar
9. Srinivasa Puram
10. Pattinapakkam
11. Koil thottam

POPULATION and their SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS.
The slums are thickly populated. The people live in huts and also in houses in the Slum Clearance Housing Board Quarters. Their main occupation is fishing, selling fish and drying fish. But after the Tsunami some have stopped fishing and opted for other forms of occupation. Some of them are auto drivers, daily wage labourers, painters, electricians, house keepers and others do menial jobs in few houses or firms and most of the womenfolk work as house maids.

The houses they live in lack space, privacy and proper sanitation facilities. The rooms are very small for these large families. All the houses have electricity facility. Their way of life is not hygienic.

Most of them are not well educated. But they want to send their children to good schools and educate them. Most of the children at least try to finish primary and middle school education. There are many drop outs among boys than girls due to bad environment, poverty and need for work. Those who pursue higher studies are very few. After the 12th std. boys go for some menial job and girls join some export companies or get married early.

The bread winner in 90% of the fisher folk families consume liquor/alcohol and don't take care of the families which is the main cause for quarrels and breaking of families, poverty and stagnation in the progress of the family. Some people are not very poor but they live in poor settings.

There is another group of people who are not fisher folk but have come from down south in search of livelihood. They live in huts in the slum or rent a house in the housing board. They are mostly tea vendors, house servants, sell snacks or coffee in the evening on the sea shore. They are hard working and not addicted to alcohol. They are looked down by the fisher folk; hence they don't mingle well with the latter.

In general the people benefit from many self help groups started by the government after Tsunami. There are also many tuition centers started by NGOs after the tsunami.

Most of the people in the locality are Hindus. There are also other denominations among Christians who are slowly growing in a few pockets. There are three parishes around the school and most of the Catholics go the Cathedral Basilica, Lazarus Church and Luz Church to perform their religious duties.

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
There are many educational institutions run by the religious, churches, government and others. There are around 5 corporation primary and middle schools in the locality. Some of the schools run by the religious are as follows:

1. St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School
2. Dominic Savio Matriculation School
3. Santhome Higher Secondary School (Tamil & English medium)
4. St. Raphael's Girls Hr. Sec. School.
5. Rosary Matriculation School
6. St. Antony's Girls Hr. Sec. School.
7. St. Thomas /English Preparatory School
8. C.S.I English medium school
9. Lazarus Middle School
10. St. John's Matriculation school
11. P.S. Hr. Sec. School (Eng. & Tamil medium)
12. Cathedral Free Primary School

There are also few colleges.

1. The Madras Community College
2. Nirmala Community College
3. Queen Mary's College
4. Vivekananda College (Mylapore)

Mylapore has a strong Brahmin population. Many of them live around the Kapaleshwarar Temple. Mylapore is also a commercial centre. The cost of living here is high. These days we also see a growth in tourism, because of the renovated Cathedral Basilica, the Kapaleshwarar Temple, Marina beach etc.

2. NEIGHBOURHOOD MINISTRY

ST. BEDE'S EVENING SCHOOL

St. Bede's Evening School caters to the education and all round development of the children who come from our neighbourhood areas. The children who attend the St.Bede's Evening School are from the following schools:

St. Raphael's Hr. Sec. School,
Santhome Hr. Sec. School,
P.S. Hr. Sec. School,
Govt. Model Girls Hr. Sec. School,
Lady Willington Hr. Sec. School,
Raja Muthaiah Hr. Sec. School,
Savithriammal Hr. Sec. School,
St. Anthony's Hr. Sec. School,
Lazarus School,
Corporation School,
Cathedral Primary School, etc.

The neighbouring areas where the children come from are:

Nochikuppam,
Nochi nagar,
Dooming Kuppam,
Ambedkar Bridge,
Kutchery Road,
Triplicane,
Ayodhya Kuppam,
Srinivasa puram and a few from Adyar and Chintaderipet.

Most of the children who frequent our evening study centre come here because they do not have the proper facilities to study at home (lack of space, electricity, proper ambience for study etc.). The children make use of all the spaces and facilities in the school (playground, classrooms, labs etc.). The Salesian community employs teachers who supervise the studies and also help the children to study. One or two Salesians under the guidance of the Rector are directly in-charge of the evening study centre. The children make use of the class rooms on the week days from 5.45 p.m. to 7.40 p.m. On Saturdays students from VIII to XII std. read books from the library, play indoor and outdoor games, learn dance and typing, undergo reading practice, learn values through party games and group dynamics conducted by the brothers. The children are provided with snacks thrice a week..

The children get many opportunities to bring out their talents by active participation in cultural programmes, competitions, seminars etc. The studious and regular students especially those who are poor are helped with books, fees, uniforms etc. With the help of CFCA foundation we are able to fully sponsor more than forty children for their studies. We also encourage those who have completed their XII std. to pursue their college studies or other technical studies. During holidays camps are conducted where they can learn computer skills, typing, English and other skills. They also make use of the Science and computer Laboratory. Every year they also celebrate their Sports Day, Teachers Day, Children's Day, Christmas, Pongal etc..

A shed in St. Bede's ground caters to around 30 children from the slums of Ambedkar Bridge. Due to distance factor and safety the children from that area attend this center. It is looked after by a teacher from that area..

SALIENT FEATURES:

• The children are blessed with many opportunities as mentioned above.
• The catholic children are encouraged to pray the Rosary on the 24th of every month.
• The children who come here are disciplined and are able to grasp the values we try to instill in them. This could be of great help for their future life.
• The condition of their house is very bad so the atmosphere that they get here is a great blessing for them.
• The assembly talks on Wednesdays are one of the means to motivate and instill values in them.
• All the important academically relevant festivals are celebrated.
• For the competitions conducted prizes are provided which are useful for their studies.
• The brothers visit their homes to get to know more about them and enquire if help is required.
• All the Salesians here, have a deep love and conscern for the poor in the neighbourhood and their help is channelized through the night school.

OUR APOSTOLATE IN THE GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS:
(Special Event: Sports Day)

The St.Bede's community engages itself in reaching out to the nearby corporation schools from the year 2004. This neighbourhood apostolate is efficiently being carried out this year too. Every year we try to send our brothers to help out in teaching English in these schools. We also help in conducting Sports day and other functions in the school. We also organize seminars and workshops for these students.

The government High School which is near our school play ground had a memorable day as we organized a sports day for these students. About 200 boys and girls from VI to X std, participated in the sports meet which was conducted on the 12th February 2007 in the St.Bede's School ground. The students both boys and girls were divided into 4 teams. They had March Past, lighting of the Olympic Torch, sportsman's oath and a variety of athletic events. The Rector of St.Bede's, Fr. Joe Andrew, declared the sports meet open. In his inaugural address he exhorted the students to make use of the opportunities provided to them and also assured them all possible help from St.Bede's School. He also welcomed the students to the evening school conducted by the community at the School campus. We receive tremendous support and encouragement from the students, teachers and government officials to continue this noble task.

On the 2nd March, the same school organized their annual day. The Rector of St.Bede's, Fr. Joe Andrew, was invited as the chief guest of the day. It was a totally new experience to witness these students and teachers arranging their Annual Day. There wasn't any decoration or stage. All the programs were staged on the floor, under the hot sun. He also gave away some sweets and the prizes to the winners of the Sports Day conducted on 12th February.

On the 21st March we had the Sports Day for the Corporation Middle School, Santhome. Since we had to get a special permission from the government officials like, the A.E.O. (Assistant Educational Officer), who is supervisor of the zone was present at the function. We had the events till 4 pm. On the 23rd March prizes were distributed for the winners of the sports day.

Our social service had a very good impact on the students and teachers. We could see the teachers wondering at the way we went about organizing the events in their schools. We have greater plan to involve ourselves more in these schools in the coming year when we celebrate the centenary of our school.


SELF HELP GROUPS:
St. Bede's community is also involved in community development programmes through Self-Help Groups. At present there are four self-help groups which help in the development of the women folk of our neighbourhood.

TSUNAMI REHABILITATION WORK:
The day after Christmas was a tragic day for thousands of people in South East Asia. The 26th December 2004 will be remembered as "Black Sunday." Due to the tsunami waves a great number of people of our neighbourhood lost their dear ones, their homes and livelihood. St.Bede's School gave hospitality to more than 100 families immediately. People who were affected by the tsunami waves stayed in our campus for more than four days. Lots of people took shelter in our school. Many of our evening school children live in small huts on the beach.

The children who were affected by the waves were given special care and support. The corporation school children of our neighbourhood were helped with note books, school bags, stationary items and even school uniforms were stitched for them. Many of the students were helped with their school fees, shoes, uniforms etc. Some assistance was rendered to our workers and parents of our evening school children who were greatly affected. We have provided them with some micro credits to finance some small initiatives. In the mean time the province level relief and rehabilitation team and kalvi solai provided food and shelter to around 150 boys in our school campus. The whole community was fully involved in this work. Even our school boys offered their contribution for people affected by the devastating Tsunami.