Run by priest, canteen at Old Goa hopes to raise money for school in remote Mollem

Panaji: Father Felix Lobo is busy manning the counter of the St Joseph Vaz canteen at Old Goa, making note of the orders he has to deliver and the cash that’s left in the drawer.

Located on the grounds of the St Cajetan Church, just across the Se Cathedral where the relics of Saint Francis Xavier have been kept for public veneration, the canteen serves a variety of delicious Goan dishes, with the ‘Oxtail soup’ listed as a speciality. With whatever money he can make at the end of the 45-day Exposition, the diocesan priest wants to help the poor in Goa’s remote areas and invest in building a school in Mollem dedicated to St Joseph Vaz, a Goan celebrated as one of the greatest missionaries in South Asian history.

“Right now, we have very few students (at the St Joseph Vaz Kindergarten) since we are running from a private house whose construction was abandoned,” Lobo told TOI. “It’s for nursery and pre-primary students, and I will continue to run the school, no matter the difficulties.”

In 2000, when Lobo was posted at the St. Joseph Church in Usgao, where he eventually served as the parish priest for 17 years, he started a kindergarten, largely catering to migrant and underprivileged communities. The kindergarten was upgraded to a high school after then chief minister Manohar Parrikar gave the green signal.

“We took care of everything (for the needy) and charged very little to those who could afford to pay. For about a thousand rupees (a month), we provided free uniforms, books, stationery and even transport. 80% of our students were migrants,” said Lobo, now in charge of diocesan properties in Mollem, Collem, Usgao, Valpoi, and Kale.

Lobo has made it his mission to provide a helping hand to the needy. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Lobo mobilised funds to purchase 30 cellphones for students from economically-weak families, so that they could attend online classes.

He has also helped poor families in remote areas, building houses, providing electric sewing machines to families who later made scapulars, and generating employment with the production of communion wafers.

“The scope for social work has widened. I want people to be happy. I will not keep any money in the bank because there’s always someone in need. When I do something, I don’t look at the money. I just look at the need,” said Lobo.

It was during the last Exposition in 2014 that Lobo was invited to cater to the visiting pilgrims by Fr Alfred Vaz, then convener of the Exposition committee. He had a dedicated order list of catering to approximately 600 pilgrims, providing three meals a day at Rs 125.

After 45 days of work, he ended up making a profit of Rs 18 lakh, good enough to clear a loan of Rs 15 lakh that he had taken to procure two buses for school students in Usgao. The remaining Rs 3 lakh was spent on purchasing stationery for the students.

This time around, Lobo is not expecting similar profits, not even remotely close.

“We had orders for 600 pilgrims in 2014, now it’s only about 150-200 (at the pilgrims’ village). The canteen is also located at a place which is not easily seen, so people miss (noticing) this canteen and the delicious food that we serve. I haven’t got as many visitors here as I would have liked, but there’s still some hope (till the end of the Exposition on Jan 5),” said Lobo, who plans to serve customers a special Christmas and New Year buffet.



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