Extending a helping hand for Education (St John`s, Kondadaba)
By Vincent Castilino |
| Hyderabad, Jul. 5. The whole campus of St John`s Regional Seminary, Kondadaba was abuzz with nearly 500 school children, most of whom were accompanied by their parents, from nearly 8 neighbouring villages on July 4, 2010 and what brought them together was their zeal for pursuing their studies. Continuing the tradition of extending support for the educational process of deserving children, the community of St John`s, Kondadaba chose this day to distribute notebooks to the children, the first of the many forms of support to those who otherwise will not enter the portico of any school. |
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Speaking at the brief inaugural function arranged prior to the distribution, Fr Sagili Devadas, the Spiritual Director of the Community, directed his exhortation to the children and their parents as well. He emphasised the need to realise the importance of education and the zeal necessary to take seriously this important aspect of growth in the life and for the future of a child. On behalf of the children and their families, he also expressed his sincere gratitude to the benefactors, owing to whose generosity, this education support was being extended. The distribution process which commenced at 2 pm went on upto 6 pm. The day`s help was primarily restricted to school-going children.
Fr K.T. Jose, the Rector and the facilitator for this educational support, was ably supported by the two growth groups of the community, Vidya Jyoti and Suvartha Sunadam, the office staff, Mr Sai Ram and a couple of anganvadi teachers from the villages. The distribution process was meticulously planned by Fr KT and the two groups of Brothers. As is the case with any free distribution, the number of recipients are always more than the available resource. To avoid this embarrassment, each of the deserving child was given a token to be produced on the appointed day. These children were chosen after a simple survey in the nearby telugu medium schools by Fr KT Jose in collaboration with the Brothers and those children who attend the evening tuition classes in the campus.
Since the time this educational support was initiated in the year 1995, nearly 1,500 children and youngsters, ranging from school-going children to engineering students have been helped annually. Given the fact that this whole process is recorded and chronicled, with details of not just the child, but the family as well (replete with a photo of the child) makes this initiative all the more noteworthy. |
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