Past Pupils who make a difference - Pakkred Center for the Blind
By Mr. Savien, EXDB
President, Don Bosco Past Pupils, Pakkred VTC for the Blind
Pakkred, Thailand, 2 October 2018 -- Almost 80 years (1939-2019) after the foundation of the Pakkred Vocational Training and Skill Development Centre for the Blind, the Centre's Alumni Association will soon celebrate its 40th anniversary (1980-2020). Among the 1000+ graduates over the past 40 years, almost 600 registered Alumni are closely accompanied by the Salesians of Don Bosco. We help each other and are also deeply involved in the education processes of the Pakkred Centre. The two-year residential course (55 trainees during the present school year) focusing on Thai massage and overall human development opens up a bright future for hundreds of visually-impaired people. From orientation, to sport competitions or training, fundraising, celebrations, to the successful sharing of stories, we are involved in many ways in the daily education of the Centre.
We are deeply grateful for the education received through the Salesians: Most of us were given hope for the future in our lives through massage training and other life skills. We were also able to remove many elements of discrimination in our society regarding the blind. Don Bosco became our father, we felt the true family spirit here. We are happy to come back to overcome our life challenges.
Our Association has already had an autonomous headquarters a short distance from the Centre for the past 23 years. As grateful Alumni we are glad to contribute from our funds to the scholarship program for current students, support sports and other special activities of the trainees. An annual Alumni Assembly is organized every year around Christmas time, and more than 700 participants enjoy these celebrations for mutual gift sharing Also on our agenda is a more consistent advocacy for the employment of handicapped individuals.
Our dream is to make our Alumni network of massage business owners more vibrant, and also to get in touch with other similar Don Bosco vocation training centres for the blind around the world. We would appreciate any useful information about any other Salesian VTC for the blind! We are also eager to join the coming Asian meeting of Don Bosco Past Pupil Presidents and Delegates in Bangkok (November 22-25).
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