By Ms Leonie Jimal and Cl. Francis Mallol, SDB

Don Bosco Technical School Gabutu – Port Moresby 5 June 2020 -- The Salesian Vice-Province of Blessed Philip Rinaldi (Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands - PGS) celebrates the Salesian Mission Day (SMD) on every first Friday of June. Accordingly, on June 5 the Educative Pastoral Community of DBTS solemnized the SMD by combining it with the celebrations of its Community day and the opening of the Intramural games.

To mark the PGS SMD the mission group of the school guided by Br. Reto Wanner SDB prepared a prayer service and the explanation of the theme and poster for this year’s Salesian Mission Day. The prayer service was done on Wednesday, June 3. For Papua New Guinea this is a special SMD celebration, because it coincides with the 40th anniversary of the arrival of the first Salesians in Papua New Guinea. Br. Reto, who is member of the commission for missionary animation, gave the good morning talk, invited the school community to cultivate a sense of gratitude towards the first missionaries who brought the charism of St. John Bosco to this beautiful part of the world. He showed some pictures of the pioneers – Fr. Valeriano Barbero, Fr. Fernandes Rolando and Br. Joseph Kramar.

The community day was celebrated with great joy, anticipated with diligent preparations spearheaded by Mr. Narol - the deputy for students affairs and discipline-, the students representative council (SRC) and the Savio friends youth group. The school community acknowledged and celebrated the birthdays of “Don Bosco in our midst,” the Rector Fr. Pedro SDB of Br. Reto SDB. On behalf of the School the Mr. Martin Dai, the Principal, greeted the birthday celebrants. He acknowledged the animating presence of Fr. Rector and the Salesian community in the school and thanked them for being Don Bosco in the community. There were beautiful item presentations by staff and students and gifts bearing moments after each presentation to the two Salesians. The atmosphere was joy-filled and everyone had a real holy fun.

Don Bosco came to understand and know his boys well back then in the play -ground. The third event of the day was the opening of the Intramurals Sports season for the school. The students and staff gathered to witness the opening as each representative from the different teams took turns to carry and run with the flaming torch around the park. After the oaths of sportsmanship the Rector of the school Fr. Pedro declared the intramurals 2020 open! This event went well thanks to the Savio friends group led by Ms. Adi, the Sports coordinator of the school.

In turn, Br. Reto and Fr. Pedro shared a message with the community. Fr Rector’s message consisted of three parts:

Firstly He emphasized that this is “OUR DAY” – our community day. He thank the Salesian Community for making the Don Bosco’s charism and Salesian family spirit visible and loved. He then thanked the teaching staff for their tireless dedication and dared to say that DBTS has the best lay Salesian educators of PGS vice-province. For this reason Fr. Pedro thanked all the Salesians who came before him for forming well the lay mission partners. He also acknowledged the dedication of the ancillary staff. Finally and most importantly he addressed the students saying that they were the reason for which DBTS community existed. He reminded them that “Don Bosco believes in each one of you and so do the Salesians and your teachers/educators. So you must believe in yourself and achieve your project of life.”

Secondly, Fr. Rector said “I see genuine joy in your eyes, in your smile and your item presentations.” He urged the community to treasure this joy and bring it in the streets of Port Moresby and to our families. The real character of a Bosconian is not only displayed inside the school, it has to be visible outside the gate.

Thirdly, he invited the community to appreciate and join the Intramural games and contemplate the “value of sports as a place of unity and encounter between people. We reach great results, in sports as in life, together, as a team, as a community!” Sport is a very rich source of values and virtues that help us to become better people. With the Intramurals we will learn to give the best of oneself in sports; we will experience the virtues of generosity, humility, sacrifice, constancy, and cheerfulness. Playing sport is also a way to learn discipline, commitment and being joyful.

After the sports everyone gained back their energy with a delightful lunch sponsored by the school administration. As the day closed in, it was a successful event of the school though certain activities are still restricted we were able to carry out our events smoothly. It was a memorable event for everyone in DBTS.

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