New Delhi-Ho Chi Minh City-Manila-Rome, 26 August 2020 -- So far, it has been the meeting involving most from among the 7 provinces of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco Asia-Oceania team visits – first among the Indian provinces New Delhi (INN) was visited, territory-wise the largest among the 12 SDB provinces on the sub-continent, with headquarters in the Indian capital of New Delhi.
From INN three different Unions too part (New Delhi – Alaknanda DB and DB Okhla) with two GEX members from Ranchi region (Chattisgar), two SDBs who accompany the Past Pupils (Rector and Delegate of Don Bosco Alaknanda, Fr Davis Maniparamben and SDB Delegate of Okhla Alumni Union) and also the INN Federation delegate. The India National GEX vicepresident, Mr. Jai Shankar was joined by another six Past Pupils from the New Delhi Federation: Mr Prateek, Dr Kenhshuk Marwah, Mr Simon John, Mr Arunag Kumar, Ms Anupriya Ashna Panna and Mr Prem Toppo.
During the vibrant and enthusiastic sharing of experience, the following trends emerged: Although the Covid19 pandemic has badly affected many people (especially migrant workers) in New Delhi region, for the Past Pupils it was a strong call to action, inspired deeds of concrete solidarity and an amalgamation of PP groups.
The New Delhi Don Bosco Alumni Federation(INN) stretches across 18 states with a large population of more than 500 million. Most of the Don Bosco presences are located in the rural settings, only a few in the large cities. Our Past Pupils are proud of their 7 very active Unions where the adult and GEX alumni meet and work side by side. The dynamic leadership made up of many different professions background is working on single digital platform – Bosconian database. There are some new local centres (Ranchi area) sprouting thanks to committed SDB delegates and Past Pupils leaders.
The New Delhi participants acknowledge 3 main emerging challenges: How to motivate former Don Bosco students ‘to come back to Don Bosco’, how to reach to everyone who receives a Don Bosco education, how to encourage economically weaker members to make their annual contributions (fees) and how to show to the wider public the ‘added value’ of membership in the Association (what are we doing). Br. Nam and Mr Evangelista shared some inspiration on how to embrace these challenges as a good opportunity to grow.
At the end of the dynamic meeting all participants were really happy to experience the connection between Bosconians at international level. ‘Definitely’ more other Indian Province Federation animation meetings will follow in near future.
As a contribution to the 150th anniversary of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco, the Asia-Oceania GEX Councillor presented the "GEXPRESSO" talk-show on the digital platform (GEX Asia-Oceania: YOUTUBE and Facebook) and invited the leaders at the Federation level and local level to contribute to the 7 questions on the '2020 Jubilee Questionnaire' (online form) PastPupils Questionnaire 2020
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