Story, photos and captions by Darian Eswine, News co-editor.

The story of Thomas Kunnath

I was born in the backward districts of Kerala. My parents were poor farmers and I was one of six children. Because we were poor, I would work from 7 or 8 in the morning to very late at night; out in the farm mainly plowing oxen. I would work in the field from8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then quickly bathe in the river, then go to school. When I got home from school I would go back to work. I was an ordinary boy with average intelligence. Somehow I got a promotion to the next grade and the next. One day an American missionary was in the neighborhood and he stayed for a while. He used to give milk to poor children living near. I received some one day. After that I would wait in half clad dress with a pot, waiting fro his milk. From then on whenever I found a white-skinned person, it would remind me of milk. Still even after 50 years, milk is the most delicious ting. Then I started dreaming. I kept a dream in my heart that one day I would go to the U.S. It was an impossible dream. Time went on. I had a desire to learn English. In my high school education I passed with the lowest grade, My dream haunted me. From high school, I went on to college study and I miserably failed. I received a zero percent math. I passed with minimum marks for higher studies. And I studied for my bachelor’s degree in Physics. The moment I joined for higher studies I made the decision that I would pass with a high mark. All of my fellow students were superior in every way. I was the most unnoticed and insignificant guy in the class. I worked hard and tried my best to improve my English. I completed my bachelor’s degree in three years and I passed my exam with the highest mark in Physics; a 100 percent in math. I was the first student in the history of the school to receive that mark. I worked at a government job for four years and I did not enjoy it. I was bored. I came back home after leaving my job and met my wife. We had an arranged marriage. Lizzie is my wife. We had three daughters; Nitza, Dawna, and Janeana. One day, American missionaries cam to visit Kerala. I met two of them, Tom Franklin and Amy Ruff. They let me travel with them. I interpreted their talks to their satisfaction. These were the most joyous days of my life, to be with Americans. Every year they came to Kerala. In 2005, Tom and Amy asked me to visit the U.S. There are no words to describe how I felt. I didn’t know how to respond. I thought it was a practical joke, but they meant it. Everything went smoothly with my passport and visa. I sat in the airplane with tears in my eyes. It was the unbelievable fulfillment of my impossible dream. One morning I landed in New York, confounded. Tom, Amy, Donna; all of my American friends were there to welcome me to America. Each moment in the U.S. was considered a fulfillment of my long desired wild dream. The moral of my life story is if you keep a dream alive in your heart and for the fulfillment of it, you can fulfill it no matter how big that dream is.[slideshow]