BRIEF PROFILE OF SR. NANCY PEREIRA F.M.A

On 14th July, 2010 from Sacred Heart Convent, Bangalore, (FMA Provincial House) the Lord called to Himself our dear Sr. Nancy Pereira, to reward her for all the good that she did to uplift the poor.

Sr. Nancy Pereira was born at Pudukkuruchy, Trivandrum Kerala on 15 August 1923.
She was the youngest of five children, four girls and one boy.  Nancy’s parents, Mr. Marian Pereira and Agnesia Pereira. were responsible and devout Catholics, who were particular that their children grow up in the fear of the Lord. Till Class VII Nancy studied at Pudukuruchy , but to do her high school she was sent to Kollam, where she stayed with her elder sister Mary Rose. It was after her X Std, while she was entertaining the thought of becoming a religious, that Nancy met Sr. Helen Fernandez, (the first Indian FMA Provincial) who inspired her to enter the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.

Nancy entered the Institute as a Postulant on 2nd July 1942 and after five months, on 20th December she was allowed to begin her Novitiate. She made her First Profession on 6th January 1945 at Yercaud, Tamil Nadu. From 1945 - 47 Nancy was a student of TSLC in Broadway, Madras and from 1947 - 53, in charge of the kitchen and Boarding in Mary Immaculate Convent, Tirupattur. From 1953 – 1970, for 17 years she was in charge of the constructions at the various Centres like Katpadi,  Kodambakkam, Vellore, Broadway, Arni and Tirupattur except for a break of two years, when from 1961- 63, she was a student of Domestic Economy in Turin, Italy. The majestic long standing structures speak of her hand work coupled with love.

From 1970 – 1980 Sr. Nancy was the Directress of the Oratory and Youth Centre at Vysarpadi and Kodambakkam. From 1980 - 86 She was fully involved in Social work at Vysarpadi. For a period of 9 years she had been the Superior of the communities at Vysarpadi, Mazzarello Home Tirupattur and Little Flower Convent Pallikonda.

From 1992-93 Sr. Nancy held the Office of Propaganda at Kodambakkam. After the division of Madras Province in 1993, till 2008 Sr. Nancy was in the forefront of FIDES, her brainchild, through which she worked for the up-liftment of the poor in the many villages around Avalahalli and the slums in Ulzoor, in Bangalore Province.

“I found that my vocation was to be with the poor and serve them”, said Sr. Nancy.

An ardent disciple of Jesus Christ, Sr. Nancy had modelled her life to His. Jesus came into this world that we may have life. Sr. Nancy came into the congregation that the poor may have life. She was a builder of persons. She loved them, to the extend of making them live with the dignity of the children of God. She  made them aware of their rights and duties. Sr. Nancy is a faithful daughter of our saintly Founder Don Bosco, who said “Give me souls and take away the rest”. Detached from self, she lived poor, to enrich the downtrodden. She counted no sacrifices. Love for the poor drove her to knock at the doors of those who have. She travelled tirelessly to beg for them. “It is better to teach them to fish rather than giving them fish”. She started SHG (Self Help Groups) and IGP (Income Generating Programme) to empower the poor and enable them to stand on their own feet. Sr. Nancy did not wait to make the Salesian garden in heaven but she built gardens here on earth, where the poor would bloom as the living images of God.  Even though Sr. Nancy Pereira had received 5 International Awards for her Humanitarian Service towards the poor, she always lived as the poor, whom she tried to uplift.

 “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”! May the Lord reward her a hundred fold for all that she was for Him and for His poor. As we pray for the eternal repose of her soul we shall ask our dear Sr. Nancy to pray for all the urgent needs of our Province, especially for good and saintly vocations of her calibre.

Affectionately, Sr. Rosy Malayatty
Provincial