by Father Dinesh Vasava for BISMumbai

Amrutdhara Don Bosco Animation Centre headed by Father Dinesh Vasava and assisted by Father Ashwin Macwan, concluded its Silver Jubilee celebrations in the presence of 542 children from 06 schools, on the occasion of the 25^th Value Education Day on 29 February 2020.

The programme commenced with ice-breakers which helped the children to get to know each other better which was followed by a beautiful prayer service invoking God’s blessings and wisdom on all those present. Father Alexander Fernandes, the Founding-Director of ‘Amrut Dhara’ declared the event open and MumbaiSalesians Vice-Provincial Father Ashley Miranda, the Chief Guest addressed the gathering. Motivating the children, Father Miranda said “Life is God’s gift… We are his children…we ought to use it for the betterment of society.”

The ‘Bhavai’ a popular folk theatre form of Gujarat presented by Vanoti group creatively brought out values such as non-violence, respect, and importance of education for the children. The students were then divided into groups to discuss on what they had learnt through the Bhavai. The open discussion and critical reflection helped the students to understand and imbibe a variety of values and ethics of life.

In the afternoon the students enjoyed a delicious and well-prepared meal. Thereafter, a cultural programme was held in which the various schools performed well-rehearsed dances and melodious songs. One of the former Directors of AmrutDhara, Father Gregory D’Almeida released “Mukti Marg” Gujarati Lenten Hymns Album prepared by Studio Don Bosco Kapadvanj.

At the end of this beautiful day the children along with their teachers were very grateful and expressed their sincere appreciation to the host community at Kapadvanj for helping them grow into good Christians and honest citizens. Dasharat, a student of Dakor said “this was one of the great opportunities for us to be part of the silver jubilee celebration; this will be well remembered by all of us.” Geeta, studying at Don Bosco Kawant said “I can’t imagine that I and my class mates are very lucky to celebrate value education day at Kapadvanj. We really enjoyed the celebration by making new friends from other schools as well as meeting so many people”. At the end Father Vasava Director-Amrutdhara proposed the Vote of Thanks. All the students left the venue with an affirmation to lead a positive and value-enriched life.