Tag Archive | Seminar

Juniors Meet

Feb16

 

The Juniors meet was organized from 10th – 13th February 2017 at Auxilium Convent Dum Dum by the Province formation coordinator Sr. Teresa Adampakallel.

Sr. Rose Ezarath, Provincial began the session quoting the message of the Holy Father Pope Francis to the Priest and religious. She said that vocation is a unique and unrepeated call from God and it requires a free and responsible yes. She invited the participants to renew their personal encounter with Jesus unfailingly every day.

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On 11th February, Sr. Stella Potteparambil, the Education coordinator    transmitted the Document, the GEM (Guidelines for the Educational Mission of the FMA). Firstly she led us in prayer in keeping with the theme taken from John 10.10 “That they may have life and have to the full.” All the six chapters of the book were explained well by her with the help of various methods such as creative method of interaction, group work, power point presentation and composing song. She stressed on the living conditions of the changing world where young people find themselves Parallel, Multicultural, Virtual, Multi belonging, Uncertainty regarding future and Search for Spirituality,   globalization, new possibilities, imbalance between technology and ethical awareness etc. The educator should be able to create a conducive environment of acceptance, trust and responsibilities.

The videos extract from the films of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello boosted the participants enthusiasm to have preferential love for the young. The given guidelines were not just for the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians but for the entire educating Community. She stressed that the holistic formation of the young is very important and it is not only education and discipline but it is also their new forms of poverty, and the use of media.  She also stressed need  to visit  families where the young hearts are formed.

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On 12th February the Sisters had the joy of visiting the new Aspirantate at Bamunmura. They enjoyed the day being in the company of each other and promised their prayers and encouraged the candidates to be strong in their vocation.

On the last day with the help of Sr. Teresa A. the sisters evaluated the programme and took the following commitment:  “To renew the Relationship with God, with the members of the community and young with joy”.

 

Career Guidance Seminar held at Auxilium Convent School New Chumta

Jan20

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A career guidance seminar was held at Auxilium Convent School, New Chumta on 13th January 2017. Principal Sr. Innocencia Jojo introduced the theme and the facilitator of the day Mr. Utkarsh Kapoor to the students. Mr.Utkarsh Kapoor opened the session with his own life experience and  explained that the lack of proper career guidance could lead to confusion of professions. The specific objectives of the seminar were:

  • To facilitate student’s potentials to equip them with functional knowledge, values and attitudes, desirable habits and skills needed by them to cope up with the changes in their environment.
  • To help the students in coming up with personal calling goals.
  • To enlighten students on various career opportunities.
  • To assist students in discovering their strengths.

The facilitator made his presentation on various areas of occupation by using visual aids with inspiring   examples.  He suggested the following top ten areas where students can go for career development  such as Gynecology, Fashion Technology, Banking, IAS [Indian Administrative services], Cardiology, Neurology ,II M [Indian Institutes of Management], UPSC (Union public services commission),Market research Analyst

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Career development is a gradual process. It needs planning, time, effort and perseverance.  But the concept of career development begins with self development. If a person cannot develop oneself, there is no question of his\her career developing at a desired velocity. Thus, as counselors are continue to expose different career paths, but the final choice is made by a certain person who aspires to reach his\her destination of life. Finally, the vote of thanks was extended to the facilitator by Elina Minj of Class X, the school captain.

Education Seminar  held at Auxilium Bandel

Jan11

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On 5 and 6 January 2017, a seminar on Education Policy, Child protection Policy and the current issues of Education was organized by the Province for the 56 sisters of the province at Auxilium Convent, Bandel. The resource person was Fr. Sunny Jacob SJ, the Secretary, (JEASA) Jesuit Educational Society of South Asia. Sr. Stella Potteparambil introduced the resource person briefly, highlighting his role as a great educator and competent person in the field of Education Policy.

On the first day he dwelt with the current challenges such as Demonetization, Religious Intolerance, Education Policy, Corruption, Minority Rights, Corporatization, Communalization and Centralization etc.  He explained clearly the general background of Educational Policy and its evolution down the decades. To withstand today’s challenges Christians have three great powers to use – The Gospel power, Institutional Power and Ecumenical Power. He urged everyone to stand united to forge ahead to build a better and just society.

On the second day Fr. Sunny explained in greater length the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act 2012. He also brought out differed types of Child Abuses with many examples. This created more awareness to the participants on how to deal with the students of our school. He exhorted us to keep good rapport with the students and managing committee. At the end he explained to how to cope up with our Teaching Profession to meet modern challenges.  The meeting concluded with words of gratitude expressed by Sr. Aruna Kispotta and Sr. Kanchan Bara to Fr. Sunny.  All the participants were contented and enriched by the seminar.

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Convention of the Novice Formators

Oct22

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29 Mistress of Novices from the various parts of the world gathered at the Generalate  of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians from October 3 -16 , 2016 to have an in depth study of the Constitutions with the theme: “The Constitutions , a plan of life that Forms and Transforms.” Mother General Sr. Yvonne Reungoat in her inaugural address exhorted the participants in the following words: “Your encounter is of utmost importance for the present and for the future of the Institute : you are entrusted with the FMA of tomorrow ,those who will continue to keep alive and make the charism real, to fulfil the mission for which Mary Help of Christians desired it in the style of Mornese, to be the living stones of the monument of gratitude to her , as Don Bosco wanted.”

We lived an experience together, an experience of the church, the Institute and of communion. Our hearts exults with gratitude, when with surprise and wonder we became aware that it is the same Lord who counts on us, on each of us, just as we are with our name and surname; is the one who asks us to accompany and begin the religious life of the young people who listen to his call , who recognize a great passion for Him and for the young so they joyfully assume the identity of the Daughter of Mary help of Christians.

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The “ workshop – encounter ”of research, comparison, processing and working  created a platform where each of us experienced the cultural richness, giving a direction not just to return to the Constitutions but go to the root of a perennial vitality, to the source of fidelity with the same passion of Don Bosco and mother  Mazzarello.

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The joy of the encounter accompanies us as we leave the portals of our Institute happy to be able to be at the side of the novices with joy until our way of thinking, feeling, speaking, acting  and the sentiments of Jesus become our own .

Sr. Rosalia  T.

 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITURATUE WORKSHOP

Aug27

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The Auxilium Convent School, Dum Dum Teachers were privileged to attend an English language and literature workshop organized by Mr. David’s Literature and Language Research foundation. Mr. David Bauro was the resource person. It was conducted on 23 August 2016 for Primary Teachers.  During his session he stressed upon eleven topics which included pronunciation of words, parts of speech, vowels, forming new words and common mistakes made while speaking or writing English.

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On 24 August 2016, literature workshop was held for the high school teachers for two hours. Mr. David paid particular attention to the pronunciation of words derived from Latin and showed the teachers simple rules by which we could correctly pronounce those words. He taught the participants  to classify parts of speech according to its Latin suffixes. It was a very interesting and exciting lesson in the etymology of words. Mr. David’s input in clarifying common mistakes in spellings / grammar; his very relevant advice on writing essays were edifying. He stressed the use of audio visuals in the teaching of English literature. 

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As an English teacher I must say that I found his workshop to be exceptionally helpful and great fun! Our gratitude and love to our sisters who arranged this workshop for us.

Mrs. Sharmila Biswas.    

 

Annual Spiritual Retreat at Janta H.S. School Jumaikela

Jul25

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The students and teaching staff of Janta H.S. School Jumaikela had their annual spiritual retreat from 7th July to 9th July 2016. The retreat began around 11.00 a.m. animated by   Bro. Simon and Bro. Reggie James from Lurd Dipa Jharkhand. Bro. Simon began the session with action songs. It was followed by Bro. Reggie James’s session with video clippings. He shared   his own life experience.

During the retreat the animators spoke about self-esteem, kindness and character building. They made the participants to become aware of their own life, where they stand and the goal of their life.  Through the power-point presentations, action songs and videos clips they were able to convince the participants that they are precious in the sight of God and to each other.  They were invited to live their lives happily and meaningfully.

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The last day of the retreat the students were invited to share their experience of the retreat. Many of them said that they want to be kind and become good children of God .We thank and praise God for this wonderful experience the students had during the retreat.seminar.

 

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On the last day of the retreat there was orientation program for teachers. The questions they put forward were who is an effective teacher and who is an educator? The animators explained to the staff every idea point by point and helped them to understand the value and role of a teacher. They were told that a teacher should be a mother to all the children especially to the poor and weak students.  The students and staff expressed their gratitude to the animators for their availability.

 

 

 

Seminar held at St. Mary’s Geyzing

Jul6

 

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On 2nd July 2016 a seminar on moral education was conducted in St. Mary’s Convent School Sikkim for the teachers. Sr. Lucy John, Principal welcomed and introduced the resource person, Mrs. Joita Shah of Macmillan publishers. Teachers from six different schools of West Sikkim participated in the seminar.

Sr. Lucy John, the principal of St.Mary’s Convent School in her welcome addressed  stressed that the children are the wealth of the nation and are looked upon as future leaders of the country. So children are our assets. Education is a great challenge for us today. We need to impart values, and form the character of the child from the very early stages of life.

Ms.Joita Shah in her input session focused on the moral values such as

Respect others, Fairness, Caring, honesty, responsibility, integrity etc.

The 6 pillars TRRFCC which forms the personality of a person is:

T-TRUSTWORTHY

R-RESPECT

R-RESPONSIBLE

F-FAIRNESS

C-CARING

C-CITIZENSHIP

Through mono act she brought out the contemporary moral issues. The seminar highlighted the value and moral responsibility of educators to be good role models and to build relationship with students.

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 Seminar was comprised of activities, screening of video clips, and discussion on the importance of emotions. Importance of 4c’s CONNECTION– having the sense of belonging, CAPABILITY–having the ability to take care of oneself, COUNTING–having the knowledge that can make a different and COURAGE–beliving,one can handle what comes.Seminar ended with the song “Light the lamp” where teachers raised their voice to sing together and pledge themselves to light the flame in the hearts of every young child.

All the teachers were grateful to the Management for organizing the workshop.

Sr.Sandhya Minj

 

 

SEMINAR ON “PASSING ON OF OUR MEMORY”

Jul2

The Seminar on PASSING ON OF OUR MEMORY – Glimpses of Indian Salesian History, was held in Don Bosco Provinical House, Bangalore, June 24-26, 2016. The Seminar was held under the aegis of the premiere institute of history of the Congregation, the ISS (Istituto Storico Salesiano), Rome, and the mother body of ACSSA (Associazione Cultori di Storia Salesiana). Rev. Fr. Thomas Anchukandam sdb, the Director of ISS and member of the Executive Committee (Presidenza) of ACSSA represented both these institutions at the Seminar. Fr Thomas was a source of inspiration and guidance right from the inception of the idea, the planning and conduct of the Seminar. The realization of this Seminar was also thanks to the interest and initiative of Rev. Fr. Maria Arockiam Kanaga, Regional Superior of South Asia, by way of motivating the Provincials.

The participants were all from the Salesian Family – 8 Salesians (RMG 1, INB 1, IND 1, INK 2, INH 1, INN 1, INS 1); 11 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (INB 1, INC 2, ING 2, INK 1, INM 3, INS 1); 1 Sister of Mary Immaculate (Bangalore). Sr. Maria Pettayil and Sr. Lily Perumpettikunnel from our province were among them.

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The Inauguration began at 9.30 a.m. with a fervent hymn in praise of and in prayer to Don Bosco. Rev. Fr. Kapplikunnel, the Coordinator of the seminar welcomed everyone in affectionate terms. Rev. Fr. Joyce Thonikuzhiyil sdb the Provincial, gave the presidential address.

What followed was a ‘Connect to the Centre’ listening to the messages received from Rome:

  • The Rector Major Rev. Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime exhorted the participants, to demonstrate in a credible way the Salesian contribution in the various sectors of human promotion, especially in that closest to the world of the young.
  • The Mother General of the FMAs, Sr Yvonne Reungoat reiterated that writing history for recognizing the wonders of God in the educational endeavours of our past, and that examining the past with the intention of learning to plan for the future is a commitment on the part of historiographers.
  • In his message, Rev. Fr. Maria Arockiam Kanaga, the Regional Councillor for South Asia made a poignant mention about preserving the memory of our history and of our ancestors for the sake of our posterity.
  • Fr. Francesco Motto, President of ACSSA, affirmed that the Indian ACSSA will be instrumental in passing on to the future generations of the Indian Salesian Family the rich documentary heritage that previous generations have gathered with much sacrifice and zeal for souls.

Fr. Anchukandam presented his paper on Preserving and Passing on of the “Memory” in the Salesian Tradition. He also spoke elaborately on ‘Preserving the Sources and Writing History’. Fr. Mathew Valarkote sdb the Provincial Secretary dealt on ‘Archive Keeping’.

Sr. Philomena D’Souza (INB) presented her paper on the Founding of Auxilium, Wadala (1945 – 1954);  Fr. Varghese Palatty sdb ( INN) on ‘Don Bosco Ashalayam Delhi;  Sr. Lily Perumpattikunnel (INC) on ‘FMA Presence in New Delhi’(1967 to 1980); Sr. Cecily Thomas (INK) on the ‘Mission of the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco for the Girl Children at Risk in Bangalore’; Fr. Mahimai Das (INM) on ‘The Social Service Guild’ of KJC, Bangalore (1968 to 2000); and Fr. Jerish Kochuparambil (IND) gave an account on the Servant of God, Bishop Orestes Marengo sdb as the Architect of Salesian North East India.

Other events of the seminar were: a memorable experience at DB Tech Skill Mission Centre at Bannerghatta Road for the training of Trainers; visit to FMA Convent, Nirmal Jyothi, and  Don Bosco Renewal Centre .

In the Concluding Session the participants of the Seminar expressed their intention to proceed with the launch of the South Asia unit of ACSSA, with those who were present for the seminar as the founding members. The English expansion of ACSSA was fixed as: Association of the Promoters of Salesian History. In the elections that ensued, the following were elected unanimously as the office bearers of the ACSSA:

Sr. Philomena D’Souza fma                  : President

Fr. Varghese Palatty sdb                       : Vice President

Fr. Mathew Kapplikunnel sdb               : Secretary cum Treasurer

Sr. Rajapushpam smi                            : Joint Secretary

Fr. Anchukandam sdb officially welcomed the Office Bearers of the ACSSA. The deliberations continued with defining the criteria for membership of ACSSA, frequency of meetings, date, venue and theme for the next meeting, finance, publication of the papers presented during the seminar and suggestions relevant to the promotion of Salesian History.

Future admissions will be regulated by a set of Statutes which will be drawn up by the Executive Committee (Office bearers) and approved by the general body in the next meeting.

It was decided to hold the next meeting of ACSSA in the last weekend of June 2018 on the theme: Salesian Stalwarts of India. The venue proposed was Hyderabad, or in the case of any inconvenience, Mumbai.

The frequency of meetings: The Executive Committee will meet at least once a year and as often as is necessary. The general body will meet once in two years, on which occasion serious studies/papers should be presented.

Fr Kapplikunnel earnestly pleaded with the participants to continue as members. He noted that continuity was of paramount importance for the realization of the scope of ACSSA.

With a joyful hymn of thanksgiving to God for Don Bosco, the curtains came down on the South Asia ACSSA Seminar held at Don Bosco Provincial House, Bangalore, from 24 to 26 June 2016.

Participant – Sr. Lily P. FMA

 

Course on Spirituality of Consecrated life

Jul2

A three months certified Course on the Spirituality of Consecrated life was held on 1st April to 30th June 2016 at Carmel Nivas, the little way spirituality Centre, Kokar, Ranchi, organized by Rev. Fr. Sebastian Koodapat OCD, the delegate Provincial . 35 Sisters of 14 Congregations participated on this course. The course is designed in accordance with the teachings of OCD founders, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and other Carmelite Saints like Therese of Lisieux .The vision of this course emerges from the Monastic, Contemplative, Apostolic and Missionary dimensions of consecrated life.

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Archbishop of Ranchi, Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo inaugurated the course on 6th April 2016.  In his inaugural speech he stressed on consecrated life, its challenges and the importance of the life of consecration the participants need to live faithfully. The course began with three days retreat by Fr. Varghese OCD and concluded with five days retreat by Fr. Sebastian OCD. On 29th April, the last day during the Valedictory Function, each participant received the certificate from the hand of Rt. Rev. Dr. Charles, the former bishop of Ranchi. The Bishop appreciated the OCD fathers for conducting this course and also for the participants for their cooperation and enthusiasm. The program ended with a hymn to our Blessed Mother.

Participant – Sr. Alitrice Warjiri

Seminar on SCC at Auxilium Kurseong

Jun12

A seminar on SCC was conducted by Rev. Fr. Jagdish Parmer on 8th June 2016 at St. Mary’s Convent Kurseong. 34 sisters took part in the seminar. Fr. Jagdish presented to the participants the brief history of SCC, gave valuable points on how to visit the families, made to understand with clarity the method to conduct faith sharing in SCC groups, inculcated interest and love to form SCC groups and encouraged to take active participation in SCC.

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