Extra Ordinary Visitation to Don Bosco Kawant

The 12th of September 2010 was a say of blessing for the house of Don Bosco Kawant as Fr Maria Arokiam, the regional of the South Asia of our Congregation, came to our community in the name of the Rector Major.Fr Maria was welcomed solemnly at the entrance gate of our Institution. There was then a Rathwa dance from the gate to the boarding hall expressing the culture of this place. Fr Maria and Fr Vinod were escorted by the Salesian confreres residing in the place.
After a short break there was the holy Eucharist with the Salesian family. Just after the mass there was a small program expressing love and gratitude to Fr Maria for his presence among us. Fr Maria then encouraged our people with his inspiring talk. He was touched by the work that was done in Kawant. He was also very happy as he distributed the prizes that were received by our institution in the field of sports as this year the school had won 5 major tournaments. After the short program Fr Maria planted a Neem tree in front of our boarding hall that showed his love for nature and so also leaving behind a mark of love and gratitude for his behalf.
He visited villages where we were working and was touched by the effort that was made by us to reach out to these children in the VEP. The children of the Nakal village in turn expressed the love they had for Father Maria through a short program that was organized by them for him.
Fr Maria then meet the confreres of Kawant personally. Then he meet the Salesian family and thanked them for the lovely work they were doing in this mission land. The Salesian family also out of love and gratitude towards Father Maria expressed it through the gifts they had brought for him.In the final conference where he met the whole community together, he read the report of the community. He then motivated the confreres and asked them to evaluate the work they were doing. He made us aware that we were religious and so also men of God and that we were different from Social workers.Fr Maria’s visit to Kawant was a memorable one and our community was blessed truly blessed by his coming.
By Shawn D’Lima sdb

Training on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan at Kawant Don Bosco

Twenty-nine development staff from across Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh met at DISHA Development Centre (Don Bosco Kawant) for a training session on the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) and the newly-enacted Right to Education (RTE). The centres represented were Kawant, Chhota Udepur, Kapadvanj, Alirajpur and Jhabua.
The aim of the session was to gain an understanding of the provisions of the SSA and RTE, and to learn how to enable people in the villages to secure their right to education under these programmes. The first resource person for the day was Ms. Rita Bhatt, the Director of the NGO ‘Abhiyaan’ (Baroda). She stressed on the need for development workers to secure people’s participation to ensure the success of community-based programmes. She also explained that the SSA does not confine itself to mainstream students but also has provisions for children with special needs. The challenge is to secure the correct enforcement of these provisions despite government apathy.The second resource person was Mr. Ramanbhai Rathwa, the head of the SSA Block Resource Centre of Kawant taluka. He explained the structure of the SSA implementation system, and also the roles of people’s committees such as the Village Education Committee. The staff understood that a significant amount of money is sanctioned by the government for educational facilities; however, the quality of education remains low.
The program gave the participants the chance to understand two different points of view—that of the government and of an independent NGO—on the functioning of the education system. The staff from all the centres thanked Fr. Gregory Almeida and the development team at DISHA Kawant for organizing this program.
Lyra Pinto