PRIMARY GREEN HOUSE DAY

The Primary School also had their Green House Day this morning after the assembly of the Secondary Section. The theme that the Green House of the Primary had was: 'Devotion to duty.'

They had a skit in which an episode from the life of Chacha Nehru was portrayed to the students. The youngsters in the audience were all ears listening to the dialogue and watching the remote car making it in.

There was a poem by a group and a song entitled Now or Never.

Fr. Rector in his talk mentioned to the students that we all need to do our duty and stick by what is expected following the example of Nehruji.

SECONDARY GREEN HOUSE DAY

This morning the Green House of the Secondary Section had their assembly and the theme for the morning was 'To Strive for Justice.'

They brought out a number of issues that dealt on 'Child Labour', 'School bullies,' 'Respect for senior citizens,' 'Exploitation, Powerlessness, Violence.

They asked the students if they could take up a social cause and call themselves the 'Young Crusaders of Dominic Savio'

It certainly would leave many of the youngsters thinking, a good way to start something, to give it a thought.

The compere reiterated the words of Fr. Rector from a previous assembly saying, 'If we do not stand for something, we will fall for everything.'

It is up to us my dear Savions to take the lead....and lead by example.

The Under 14 Football team with the trophy

8TH ALUMNI DAY OF THE PAST PUPILS

The 8th Alumni Day of the Past Pupils of the Andheri Unit was held on Sunday, 9th December at 7.00 pm in the school hall. Fr. Godfrey D'Souza the Rector of the Institute was the Chief Guest. Fr. Edwin Colaco the Delegate of the Past Pupils of the Institution was also present with Fr. Barnabe, the Director of Don Bosco Balprafulta.

A number of retired and present teachers were also present to make this a memorable day. There was a welcome to the guests with a floral tribute and a welcome song by the boarders. The Evening Study Girls put up a dance that rocked everyone in their seats.

The organizers then had a PPT on the activities that were held during the year and a short documentary on the Past Pupils who shared their thoughts, dreams and ideas on what the past pupils can do and how they can reach out in a bigger and better way.

Last year in its Alumni day they had decided to start a corpus for the retired teachers to assist them especially in their medical needs when required. In appreciation for their labour of love each of the retired teachers were presented with a cheque.

Fr. Godfrey together with a number of others in the documentary mentioned ways in which the past pupils could reach out to help the marginalized and the underprivileged.

There was the release of the brochure by Fr. Godfrey and each teacher present was given a copy of the brochure.

There was a hamper on auction and the proceeds would go to the Boarding fund to assist the boarders. The past pupils collected more than sixty thousand on that evening through the auction.

The dinner brought the night to a close and it was good to see past pupils of various batches coming together united as Savion for a cause to reach out to many more youngsters who would benefit in the years ahead.

We thank all the organizers of the event for making it a very memorable evening with the past pupils and their families.

We look forward to meeting you once again next year!

Mr. John Colaco the present President with Fr. Edwin the Delegate of the Past Pupils

SALESIAN FAMILY DAY & PROMISE

SALESIAN FAMILY DAY

On Saturday, the 8th December 2012, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of our Lady, the Salesian Cooperators of the Andheri Unit had its Salesian Family Day with a solemn mass in honour of our Blessed Mother. Fr. Wilfred D’Souza the Provincial Delegate for the Salesian Family was the main celebrant at the Eucharistic celebration and Frs. Rector, Fr. Edwin and Fr. Barnabe were also present.

On this day three of our teachers, Mrs. Andrea Gonsalves (primary teacher), Mrs. Dorothy Dias (Retired Primary Supervisor) and Mrs. Ellen Gonsalves (retired teacher) made their promise as Salesian Cooperators to imbibe the spirit of Don Bosco and to reach out to youngsters in need.

The boarders sang very well during the mass and made it very solemn. Fr. Wilfred in his homily explained the readings of the second Sunday of Advent and said that the season of Advent and the feast of our Blessed mother are very closely connected and God chose her to bring forth His Son into the world through a humble woman.

At the end of the mass we had a felicitation for the best boarder in the last term. His behaviour, obedience, studies and discipline were taken into account and the prize went to Master Leyton D’Silva. Fr. Barnabe gave the gift away to Leyton.

The Salesian Cooperators assembled at the dining hall and we had a family meal together. The three teachers were called together to cut the cake and the group sang Congratulations to them.
It was indeed a wonderful Salesian Family Day.

DON BOSCO BALPRAFULTA CHARITY FILM

CHARITY FILM SHOW FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN

An Initiative of Don Bosco Balprafulta in collaboration with Cinemax Entertainment Ltd

ANDHERI-MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 26, 2012 :As a part of the Children’s Day celebration, Don Bosco Balprafulta, (Andheri) in association with Cinemax Entertainment Ltdorganized a screening of themovie ‘Delhi ki Safari’ on November 26, 2012.

A Special screening was held simultaneously across 10 cities including Mumbai, Pune, Nasik, Delhi, Kolkotta, Cochin, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Guwahati and Baroda. More than 1500 vulnerable children from the slums and streets who otherwise would not get an opportunity to watch a movie in a big theater like Cinemax or celebrate Children’s Day and voice their views and opinions on their rights were given this golden opportunity.

Through this, Don Bosco Balprafulta aimed to create awareness among the people who directly or indirectly play a part in the developmental process with regard to issues of children. This move was also to disseminate information and knowledge to all sections of society on the rights of children and to motivate people to come forward to help children who are in difficult situations.

Along with the screening of the movie, a 15 sec. slide titled ‘My Education..My Right’ will be screened for few days across Cinemax theatres in India.

Children had a joyful experience of wearing 3D glasses to watch the show and of riding the escalators. Through the animated characters in the movie the message of protecting the wild life and conserving the environment was conveyed to the children.


Ms Gaelyn Mendonca , MTV VJ gave a good surprise to the children as she too joined the children and shared some good laughs with them at the movie. After the movie she interacted with the children on the importance of education.

Don Bosco National Forum for the Young at Risk (Delhi) and CinemaxEntertainment Ltd are committed to creating a child friendly society for our children.
About Don Bosco Balprafulta.

Don Bosco Balprafulta is a Salesian response to the desperate situation of marginalized children in the city of Mumbai. Balprafulta was established in April 2000 and from very beginning its focus was to enable children to procure their rights through state and civil participation. The focus remained on marginalized, exploited, vulnerable children but the attempt was to deal with them in a non institutional way. Balprafulta decided to move away from institutionalization and instead strengthen community systems, parenting, family systems and Juvenile Justice System.

ALTAR SERVERS RALLY

BOSCO INFORMATION SERVICE # 3241

ALTAR SERVERS' RALLY 2012

Fr. Cleophas Braganza, sdb

MATUNGA-MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 26, 2012 : On Friday, the 23 of November,2012 Don Bosco Matunga saw its precincts full of children and youth, for two mega events: the Mela for children at risk organised by Shelter Don Bosco, and the Altar Servers' Rally coordinated by Don Bosco Youth Services and sponsored by the Shrine of Don Bosco's Madonna.

At 8:00 am already, 250 altar servers from fourteen salesian parishes in Mumbai, Vasai, Pune and Baroda were eagerly hopping around Don Bosco primary school grounds. Around thirty youth volunteers together with a team of salesian priests, brothers, sisters and aspirants were on hand to help them with the registration, handing over of rally material and to serve them breakfast.

The theme for this rally was that of World Youth Day 2013 “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28,19). Fr. Cletus D'Souza, the rector of Don Bosco Aspirantate – Lonavla helped the children understand how they, small as they were, could help “make disciples of all peoples”. He made them realise that they should build up their own faith through knowledge of the Word of God, through daily prayer and through acts of service and kindness.

Next, the whole army of altar servers, volunteers and salesian animators trooped into the Shrine for a Eucharistic celebration presided by Fr. Godfrey D'Souza, the Rector of Don Bosco Andheri. He too urged the altar servers to bear witness to Jesus and his Gospel through their lives in order to be effective bearers of the good news to all. At the end of the Mass, the whole assembly crowded into the sanctuary for a group photo.

Lunch followed, and the children enjoyed it sitting on the primary school lawn together with their animators. Each parish had prepared a short presentation on the life of a saint (St. Peter, St. Francis Xavier, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Bl. Theresa of Calcutta, Archbishop Romero and others) who carried the Gospel message to others in his/her own way. It was evident that the altar servers and their animators had put a lot of enthusiasm, time and energy into preparing these presentations.

Last on the program was a Bible Quiz for which the children had been eagerly waiting. The organisers prepared several rounds and various modes of questions in which the groups competed with one another. Our hearty congratulations to the group from Don Bosco Parish, Baroda that picked up the first prize.

Around 4:30 pm, the children had tea and returned home, tired but happy. Thanks are due to Fr. Edwin D'Souza – Rector of the Shrine, Fr. Ajoy Fernandes – Vice-provincial of the Mumbai province, Fr. Allwyn Misquitta who sponsored some mementos, and the entire team of Salesian Youth Animators from the parishes, together with the volunteers and the animating team of Don Bosco Youth Services.