Who We Are
Santiago Anthony de Mel, the eldest of the 7th generation of the de Mel family, started this project in the late 1800s by giving housing to the poor, building an orphanage, and building a Catholic Church. Santiago de Mel’s family had traceable genealogy in this area of India dating back to the early 1500s. Santiago himself, having built a successful business expanding on property he inherited from his ancestors, was known in the area for his philanthropic and humanitarian work.
Continuing the valuable work and impeccable example set by Santiago is currently the mission of the tenth generation of the de Mel family. In 2017, the mantle of this project was placed upon its current trustees; the great great grand children of Santiago Anthony de Mel. This area of Southern India, like many areas of the developing world, present a stark dichotomy between great economic progress for some and increased marginalization for many. Our goal is to alleviate, as best we can, the plight of as many children and families whose very existence and food security depend on subsistence harvesting of both meager agricultural and fishing resources.
Great Grandfather Santiago is shown standing behind his son (Grandfather Joseph P.A. De Mel) on the occasion of Joseph's First Communion. This picture was taken in 1906.
Prior to the Global Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, the mission primarily involved providing assistance in the form of meals and potable water to the orphanage that was established by Santiago Anthony de Mel. After the pandemic devastated the area, both as a direct result of illness, as well as restrictions on movement, making subsistence farming and fishing a virtual impossibility. The family officially started the Santiago Mission at Mel Villa (named for Santiago Anthony and the ancestral home of the de Mel family in Vembar, India) as a formal continuation of this project.
The Santiago Mission at Mel Villa began to quickly explore ways where assistance could be delivered to feed hungry children, while also providing some economic stimulus to the small-scale businesses in the area, such as grocery stores, restaurants, and general stores. Tasked by our trustees with an ambitious goal of never turning away a hungry child, our project manager; Mr. Jeyachandran (pictured to the left) set about to implement the Santiago Mission’s plan. The concept was simple; rather than parachuting food in quantities for demand that could not easily be estimated, a token system for meals and milk was developed. Each child that required assistance would be provided a meal and milk token which in turn could be cashed at a local business. The Santiago Mission arranged with the local small businesses to provide payment for the tokens, thus allowing the families needing assistance to contribute to their own local micro economy and keep small area businesses from shutting down during this challenging period.
As the world emerges to a new reality of living with some permanent changes brought on by Covid-19, Santiago Mission hopes to leverage the lessons learned during the acute stages of the pandemic to expand some programs to assist impoverished families with a ladder to climb out of the reality of food insecurity. It is the Santiago Mission’s intention to expand public / private partnerships that empower those in need to improve their quality of life through food, health, education, and micro business programs. Santiago Mission sees the people it assists as partners and co-architects of their future development.
