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As many of our
parents arrived in America in the 1970's, they began to set up individual
Knanaya units in the cities in which they lived. As the children of the first
generation of Knanaya parents grew older, the need for an organization to
promote and teach these children about the Knanaya culture arose. The solution
was the Knanaya Catholic Youth League of North America, or KCYLNA.
In the
Kottayam Diocese, each and every forane has its own KCYL unit. A forane can be
described as a group of churches. Presently, there are 11 foranes, they are:
Kottayam, Kaduthuruthy, Uzhavoor, Kaizpuzha, Chungam, Kidangoor, Padamugham,
Rajapuram, Madampam, Perikalloor, & Malankara.
Thus in North
America, the Knanaya youth are separated according to the place where they live.
On November 27, 1994, under the leadership of KCYL Chicago and Fr. Cyriac
Manthurithil (then spiritual director of the Knanaya Catholic Society of
Chicago), KCYLNA was formed as the head organization of the individual KCYL
units throughout North America. Robin Elackatt was elected President of KCYLNA.
Through much hard work and dedication KCYLNA conducted its first national
convention on July 1,2,3, 1995 in Chicago. The convention was a success.
Approximately 250 youths from across the US joined in Chicago under the banner
of KCYLNA.
Since its
inception, KCYLNA has grown strongly. It held its second convention in Houston,
Texas in the summer of 1997 under the leadership of Joyce Chacko Palakatt. The
third convention was held under the leadership of Jimmy Vachachira in New York.
Plans are underway for the fourth convention, to be held in Los Angeles in 2003.
KCYLNA awarded
it's first biannual scholarships in 1998 to Joby Mathew and Alin Abraham from
Chicago.
Also the first
retreat was held in 1998 in Chicago, the second was in 1999 in Tampa, and the
third was held in Chicago in winter of 2001.
Currently, there
are 9 local units. They are KCYL Atlanta, KCYL Central Florida, KCYL Chicago,
KCYL Dallas, KCYL Houston, KCYL Los Angeles, KCYL New York, KCYL Northern
California, and KCYL South Florida.
We're on FRIENDSTER
GROUP!!! {KCYLNA}