by Father Kenneth Pereira for BISMumbai

In these days of the lockdown, when there are no ‘big events’ to report from the houses, we at Don Bosco Nashik are learning to appreciate and cherish also the ‘little things’ that happen, and to celebrate ’the God of small things’!

On the school front, the process of admissions to the Junior KG has just been completed with the finalization of the list of students and their payment of fees. This was preceded by a full day of interviews of the children’s parents by the management on Saturday, 20 June.

A few days later, on Wednesday, 24 June, the entire school staff had its first meeting with the principal (Father Cyril D’Souza) for the new academic year. On this occasion, the staff members were also introduced to the new management team. After a homely felicitation ceremony—with turbans, shawls, potted plants and (of course) photographs—Father Royal D’Abreo, the new rector, gave a short pep talk to the staff, to set a good tone to the educative venture of this

Our local ‘ministry for external affairs’ is pleased to report that as a parish, we have recently reached out to seventy poor families of the parish that are seeing difficult days on account of the lockdown. In the past two weeks, under the personal supervision of Frs. Royal and Kenneth, 70 bags of provisions have been distributed, each worth Rs. 1000.

Our Shelter—just down the road—for children at risk is due to re-open soon. At the bidding of the CWC, It was shut down in March when the lockdown was first announced. Now the CWC has asked that it be re-opened. And so within ten days, Shelter Don Bosco at Nasik will come to life again, with 30 boys and a staff of six laypersons. Father Roshan Gonsalves (in charge of the Shelter project at Nasik) has been super-busy these days, readying the place for their return. We are keeping our fingers crossed, hoping that the virus will not sneak in along with any of the inmates!

Finally, this year, the community of Don Bosco Nashik has the rare blessing of possessing a ‘Mamma Margaret’ in the person of Mrs. Lea Pereira who, despite her advanced age, gently and unobtrusively gives a helping hand in simple household chores that might seem too trivial for confreres to lose time on.