Introductory talk with Arun Lobo, The Vimukti Pothnal Director (extracts):
Respected Dignitaries on the dais, dear friends and my dear children:
In Pothnal, Vimukti has background of a decade. In different phases the project has worked in different areas of the rural conditions, specially focusing on women development programs and micro enterprise etc. Vimukti, planning to be an agent of change surveyed and conducted a situation analysis of the area and people. The major component reflected in the result is that the root cause of much of the problems in this region is illiteracy. The academic awareness and interest is questionable. We realized that any expected changes we want to bring in the society should start from educating the children. Education alone can bring the desired change and positive results in the practices of the people. Hence after a short break now the Vimukti is proud once again to inaugurate its new Project on child wellbeing. We are looking in to the future of the children we hope for a long term intervention in the field of education, personality development and overall growth of the children. In the past few months we have already begun remedial teaching in the schools, children clubs, tailoring units for the adolescent girls and computer coaching classes for the youth...
Today we see a team of volunteers from France, I am grateful to Mr. Daniel Helbert the President of "ensemble, agissons" an association in France formed solely to support the children in and around Pothnal. Today this Program would not be possible without their interest and the generous attitude. We also see his friends around here who are part of the same association. They have come to study the project and have a closer intervention with the children and the villages...
God bless all our Children.
Talk with Daniel Helbert, the President of "ensemble, agissons" (extracts)
Dear friends, let’s start by a little story:
A small child is walking on an immense beach. One by one he picks up the starfish washed up by million on the sand and delicately puts them back into the water. An old man, watching him, approaches and asks him: “What are you doing son? Can’t you see that your gesture is useless? You could never save all of them.” He lifts his eyes reaching up with a starfish towards the incredulous man and replies: “for this one it changes everything”.
I’m going to talk to you about the aims of the association but, at first, I would like thank Fr Arun Lobo and all the members of Vimukti’s community for hosting us with a large availability and heartily. We are very happy and very proud to be here among you today to inaugurate the "Child friendly programmes".
In creating the association "Let’s get going together ", we would like to pool our respective resources to launch and to support this new project in a very poor area in the Northern region of the State. Our ambition, our commitment, is to contribute as much as we can and with our skills, to carry out microprojects initiated by the local partners for the welfare of the disavantaged, underprivileged and marginalized people.
We know that we share the same values: humanity, generosity and solidarity. I always remembered these words, read on the green panel at Dayalbagh Ahsram: “For it is giving that we receive”. And we are here, today, to celebrate our mutual assistance.
Fraternally, I love you.