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Touching Lives for Better Future

India is a secular country well known for its tolerance of other cultures and religion, and its openness to the truth. This magnificent tradition has been perpetuated as the character of our nation by the founding fathers of our Constitution making it part of the Indian Constitution by asserting fundamental rights of freedom of expression and freedom of religion. About the freedom of religion, Article 25 says “subject to public order, morality and health all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion”. However, there has been violations of these fundamental human rights in many parts of the country in various forms. There is violence done to individual and to society. Though we may not involve directly in violating the fundamental human rights of others, the question is how we can protect our fundamental rights are at stake…

As a development oriented organisation, BSK understands the significance of tolerance for diversity. We further resolve to ensure equal opportunity for all regardless of caste, creed, belief, or gender.

DHISHA Creates Ripples in StudentsIn Odisha...

S e m i n a r s o n C a r e e r D e v e l o p m e n t were conducted for Intermediate and Under-grad students and the l e c t u r e r s o f B a b a s a h e b A m b e d k a r College, Odisha. The programme was for between

t h t h8 a n d 1 0 October, 2015. E a c h o f t h e groups - 689 intermediate students, 432 under-grads and 16 lecturers - were taken up on three different days.

Railway Mandal School, Dornakal...

Career Guidance program was held at Railway Mandal th th

School, Dornakal on 19 and 20 October. The Career thGuidance seminar was held for all the students of 9 and

th10 Classes, numbering 62. The seminar was held to give

Fr. P. Arul Das sdbExecutive Director

NOVEMBER - 2015 PAGES - 4e-NEWS LETTER

From the Director's Desk...

the students an introduction on 'How to Prepare for Exams' and 'Career Planning'. The head of the institution made a special request to speak to the students about how to focus on their career and set goals.

The seminar was conducted from 10am to 12.45pm and l a t e r f r o m 2 . 0 0 p m t o 4.30pm for two different days with different games, i n s p i r i n g v i d e o s a n d interesting moral stories. Mr.Solomon Vizmora, the resource person f rom Dhisha developed a good rapport with the children, enabling an open interaction about their fears and concerns about subjects to choose and seeking support from teachers or elders.

The Management's staff also took part in the session along with the students. There were students from the school who were very intelligent in sharing their views about they Careers and taking suggestions. Many students wanted to be Doctors, Engineers, IPS/IAS as to help the Mandal / village to grow in the upcoming days and to improve the culture and nature of their village.

India's SECULARISM at Stake

Don Bosco mission in Kollapur Town is surrounded by almost 30 villages living under the poverty line. Families here earn their living by working as agricultural field hands for daily wages or at construction sites where they would fetch very minimum wage. With an aim to empower the women of these villages with alternate livelihood options, Fr.Alex Jayaraj of Don Bosco, Kollapur initiated a training program in tailoring and fashion design with support from Neihoff of India in 2014. BSK also provided the centre with six sewing machines for the centre to reach out to more number of women.

So far two batches, numbering 75, have successfully completed their 3-month training. The course comprises of 2 months of tailoring and 1 month of fashion designing which is optional for those who are interested. Those who passed out of our training have already started earning something to help out their families. This venture has brought new joy one faces of these poor women who come from almost 15 villages.

The present group of 28 trainees are attending the course with great enthusiasm and interest. Mrs. Aruna, the tutor is also very much interested to teach, devising new ways to simplify the process of learning for the women who are not educated.

Dhanalaxmi and her husband Venkateswara Rao have found ways to improve their lives, thanks to Bosco Swashakti MACS in East Godavari District. Dhanalaxmi became a member of Sri Sai Group and started saving small amounts, in the year 2013. She is a trained tailor and this helped the couple manage their household of four. Both their teen-aged children go to school. However, with the prospect of college education which is a bit more expensive, they were a bit apprehensive of their ability to bear the additional burden.

It was then that the couple decided to make use of the loan from MACS. Venkateswar Rao trades in aluminium pots and pitchers. They invested in this business and have improved the business. The enhanced household income has enabled the continued education of their children. Dhanalaxmi is grateful to MACS for this positive change in their lives and swears by the habit of thrift and saving, however small the amount.

Women trained in tailoring were provided with an opportunity to upgrade their skills and be employed in the garment-making industry. DBNJ Warangal organised a special Placement Drive with the support of Andhra Pradesh Industrial & Technical Consultancy Organisation Limited (APITCO Ltd.,),

a leading service provider in Skill Development and Skill Assessment segment. Nearly 300 women enrolled in this drive. After assessment of skill and interest and aptitude, APITCO offered training and placement to 60 participants. These women hail from a poor socio-economic background and were earlier trained under Don Bosco's livelihood initiative for their sustainability.

Swashakti MACSFlourishing Households

Don Bosco Tailoring and Fashion Designing CentreDon Bosco Tailoring and Fashion Designing CentreDon Bosco Tailoring and Fashion Designing Centre

DBNJ Warangal collaborateswith APITCO Ltd.

Hospitality Students taste Success

The BATHUKAMMA festival is one of the most unique State Festivals of Telangana celebrated mainly by women. Celebrated during Navarathris it honours goddess Gouri on the name of Bathukamma. In Telugu, ‘Bathukamma means ‘come alive Mother Goddess’. Bathukamma spring festival, is the second largest festival after Dasara or Vijaya Dashami in Telangana Region. Celebrated during Durga Navaratri, the 9-day festival concludes two days before Dasara. In this part of festival Don Bosco Navajeevan Children and staff celebrated with flowers and songs.

Children learn to play ChessDon Bosco Navajeevan, Warangal organized Chess coaching for ch i ld ren dur ing the Dussehra vacation. The c o a c h m a s t e r h a d volunteered to teach the children in a week-long program. The children were excited to learn this

intense mind game and expressed deep gratitude to the coach for sharing his time and skills with them.

A recruitment drive, for the students of Hospitality, was organized on 21st October 2015, by DB Tech Gagillapuram. The DB Tech team in collaboration with the team from Vishal Prakruthi Nivas - Mr.Ramu, F&B Manager and Mr. Ramakanth, F&B. Vishal Prakruti Nivas comes under 3-star category with facilities like R e s t a u r a n t , B a n q u e t H a l l s , Swimming pool, recreation for kids and adults (tennis court, snooker pool, slides and splash pool etc), gym apart from rooms and presidential suites.

Eight students who were keen, appeared for an interview and six of them were selected based on the skills and capability. They would be starting their career in the industry with a salary of ` . 6 0 0 0 / - p l u s f o o d a n d accommodat ion , ES I &PF benefits.

The recru i te rs were much satisfied with the quality of training being given by DB Tech and said they would like to consider sourcing the staff from here in future too.

“ I t w a s i n d e e d a g r e a t opportunity for us to interact with the personnel and demonstrate the skills we learnt here at DB Tech and the confidence we have acquired from DBHRDC” said Vinod Kumar, trainee selected for the job.

Children in Laxmipatigudem E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l n e a r Gagillapuram have proven their mettle not once but several times. The most recent issue that was taken up by these ministers of the Children's Parliament was - the toilets constructed in their school were always locked up and therefore not used. Students – both girls and boys - would have to go out in the open to attend to nature's call.

The problem was discussed in one of the parliamentary sessions and taken up with the Headmaster of the school. He explained that this was due to lack of water supply and budget for hiring personnel to clean the toilets. The children offered to take up the responsibility of fetching water from the public supply tap and also to clean up the toilets in turns.

The headmaster was touched by the initiative and has assured that he wi l l put in an application with the concerned author i t ies to ensure regular supply through pipeline as soon as possible.

Little Changemakers @Laxmipatigudem

DASARA at Warangal

BOSCO SEVA KENDRA(Development office of the Salesian Province of St. Joseph, Hyderabad)

Don Bosco Nagar Post, Himayatsagar Road, Bandlaguda Jagir, Hyderabad - 500 086, Telangana, INDIA.Office: 8333981701 | Director: 94400 53219 | Email: bskhyd1993@gmail.com | Website: www.boscosevakendra.org

BSK participated in the annual ‘Seva Mela’ organised by United Way of Hyderabad on 03-04 October, 2015. Seva Mela is a 2 day event that is organised every year during the ‘Joy of Giving Week’ – the first week of October. The event was held at Shilparamam in Hi-tech City this year. It is aimed at connecting People and O r g a n i s a t i o n s , t o N o n P r o f i t Organisations (NPOs) working on Social Causes. The format of Seva Mela is designed to enable fruitful interactions between Volunteers/ Donors and NPOs, so that it may inspire many to volunteer and support the social causes pursued by the NPOs. More than 100 NPOs, which cover a wide range of social causes like Education, Health, Environment, Old Age, Disabled, Shelter less, Women and Child Welfare participated in the event.

On 3rd October 2015, the event was formally announced open after an opening ceremony where the Chief Guests Ms. Suchitra K. Ella, Chairperson of United Way Hyderabad - Joint Managing Director & Co-Founder of Bharat Biotech Limited., Mr. Hari Karra, Board Member of UWH-Audit Partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP, and

Consul General Michael Mullins, Advisor of United Way Hyderabad spoke about ways in which NPOs can improve their relationships with Corporates for sustainable change.

BSK put up a stall with flexes on standees displaying all its different interventions. The team of Ms.Shankari – Admin, Mr.K Sr idhar – DB Tech, Mr.Mohan – Dhisha, Mr.JAR Paul – DBHRDC were manning the counter explaining the programs. Brochures were handed to the 300 odd visitors who stopped by to learn more about BSK’s work, especially with children rescued off the streets.

The Seva Mela concluded at 5.30 PM on 4th October 2015, with a closing ceremony. The Chief guests were Mr. Ramesh Kaza, Vice-Chairman & Treasurer of United Way Hyderabad, Dr. Yamini Atmavilas - Program Officer, Measurement, Learning and Evaluation at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ms.Jayshree Venkataraman - Founder, CEO of Tech Startup, Executive Coach, High-Impact Global Technology Leader. Every one shared their views on “Daan” and concluded the ceremony by 7:45 p.m.

A team from Schneider Electric led Ms.Vijaya Reddy visited the DBHRD Centre, Gagillapuram on 28th Sept, 2015. Mr. Anthony, in-charge of the centre took the team on a guided tour of the training facility in the campus - the class rooms, electrical lab, dormitories, kitchen, dining, recreation, etc.

Appreciating the quality and upkeep of the premises, the team shared that the present electrical lab was provided to the institution over five years ago, and would benefit greatly with an upgradation.

They also plan to build a new advanced electrical lab which is following in the other countries for domestic and Industrial purpose with new technical equipments in the class room of the electrical domain.

The company has proposed to replace it with an advanced and modernized lab that would cater to both domestic and industrial training with new technical equipments in the class room. Further, they would be sending 27 students to DBHRDC, to be trained in electrical course.

BSK at Seva MelaScheider Electric plans advanced Electrical Lab