by Haydn Dias with Cleric Nevelle Coutinho for BISMumbai

St. Dominic Savio Boys’ Home Andheri has been conducting online sessions for its boarders right from the beginning of this academic year, with the intention to keep the boys engaged, follow-up on their studies, and even get to know if any of them are going through any specific challenges or situations on the home or personal front.

But an online celebration is a whole new game or rather a whole new “online game”! With snacks, organized tournaments, games, movies, group singing, and dancing out of the question, there didn’t seem much else left to do. Nonetheless, the event planning team committee members, in the persons of Father Ranson D'Souza, Cleric Nevelle Coutinho, Cleric Vinay Ganawa and Haydn Dias, put their heads together, coming up with something exciting for the boys – a selfie competition, a monologue (lip-sync) competition and a quiz competition. The boys were informed about these a few days before Children’s Day, so they had time to create / submit their entries.

On Children’s Day, the online celebration started at 2:00pm. Rector Father Brian Moras warmly welcomed the boys and wished them a happy Children’s Day. He also enlightened them about the possibility of schools reopening in the near future. As a surprise, Cleric Jansen Vaz joined in for a few minutes, and the boys were thrilled by his presence. Cleric Jansen, now in Don Bosco Lonavla, was their much-loved Brother Assistant during the last academic year.

The selfies and lip-sync monologues that were submitted earlier were then displayed, so that all those present could enjoy each other’s talents and creativity. But the maximum excitement was the quiz, which was presented in the form of a very professional and automated online quiz. As if that was not enough, Dias sir then showed the boys photos of everyday objects, but under very high magnification. The objects were nearly impossible to identify, but surprisingly, the boys did manage to identify a few! Then just for fun, the boys were shown selfies that Cleric Coutinho and Dias sir had created of themselves!

Each competition had 4 prizes (Juniors 1st and 2nd; Seniors 1st and 2nd), and the winners are to receive their Amazon gift cards shortly!