Message From The Director
Dear Friends,
Cordial greetings from the staff and children at Ashalayam!
I believe these few lines find you all in the best of health after a colourful
celebration of the national festivities. As usual the children were eagerly waiting for
these celebrations, gifts, bursting of crackers and of course relishing of abundance
of sweets and delicious dishes.
On the day of Dusshera Children had been to see the burning of Ravan, which is
the destruction of evil powers and the victory of goodness. Deepawali celebrations
were much more exciting for the children and all enjoyed it very much to their
heart’s content. I am sure the victory of light over darkness will enlighten everyone
to enjoy the fullness of life which is primarily a precious gift from God.
You have been with us to make a difference in the lives of our children who have
lost the joys of childhood and we are grateful to your valuable contributions.
May God bless you
With warm regards,
Father George
(Director)
Believed Insane
Don Bosco was harassed not only by the Civil Authorities but by his own confreres who
tried very hard to impede the development of his work. What was most galling was
that among these priests were some of his earliest friends.
It was precisely these people who were convinced that Don Bosco had gone out of his mind, that his preoccupation and time spent with the youngsters were a mania. And like good friends they tried to persuade him to abandon his undertaking.
A few of them visited him and, with all the kindness they had in their hearts, explained that he was compromising the dignity of the priesthood, that by joining those “rascals” in their games and accompanying them through the streets and squares he was losing his respect and being ridiculed. Don Bosco knew for certain that his work served a just cause, and that, therefore, it was mpossible to move him by the logic of their arguments.
Nevertheless, his friends, far from being discouraged, continued pleading with him.
Finally, convinced of his insanity, they told him that his mind was no longer functioning
properly, that he should be patient and should not become obstinate —
could not do the impossible! Still, Don Bosco was not dissuaded.
One of them said: “Do you not see that even providence is against you, and you cannot even find someone who will rent you a house to carry out your work?” Lifting his hands towards Heaven, Don Bosco said: “You are wrong! It is Divine Providence that has sent each of these little ones to me and I will not turn even one of them away! Since no one will rent me a place, I shall build one.
There will be huge edifices with laboratories, classrooms, offices, playgrounds, cloisters, and a magnificent church. There will be seminarians, art instructors, professors, assistants and many
priests. Providence has always helped me and will do everything that is necessary.
You will see!” As he said these words his entire expression lighted up with a singular
splendour. His friends were really moved by what they heard and saw in them a real proof
of his insanity. When they had left him, they shook their heads saying: “Poor man, he has
really lost his mind! We must do something about it immediately.”
Don Bosco, who had accompanied them to the door could read their thoughts, and understood their intentions. Patiently he awaited developments ever ready to face the most difficult struggle.
Gandhi Jayanti
On Thursday 2nd October, birthday of the Father of our Nation, the Prime Minister inaugurated “SWATCH BHARAT” campaign to make a true homage to Mahatma and to imbibe his values. The children had to go to school to clean the school premises together with the teachers. On returning home they also contributed their share in cleaning in and around the premises. It was nice to see
the enthusiasm and the spirit of hard work for a common cause.
Students from abroad
On 11th October, we had a surprised visit of 20 boys and girls from Taiwan, Hongkong,
Canada and England, organized and accompanied by Snow Leopard Adventures
Pvt. Ltd. to have an interaction with the children. They were welcomed by the children with songs and dances. Sharing of experiences and were very enriching to both groups and then the culmination of the day was basketball match, which was enjoyed by both groups.
Modern Convent School
Fourteen children from Modern Convent School, Dwarka visited Ashalayam on Wednesday 15th October, for a social awareness programme of their school.
They also distributed books and stationeries for the children.
Sachdeva Global School
As a part of social awareness initiatives taken by Sachdeva Global School, Dwarka, 45 students along with 2 of their teachers visited DBA on Tuesday, 21st Oct 2014. They presented a short Cultural programme of music and dance for the entertainment of children. The students had collected and brought with them toys, sweets, clothes and raw material for eatables for the residents of Ashaayam. Our children showed their appreciation by spontaneous items.
Dance by Ambassadors of Hungary
The same day evening was a surprise for everyone at Ashalayam, as the Hungarian renowned Folk Dance Group ˝Csillagszemu (Starry-Eyed) Dance Ensemble˝ came to entertain the children for an hour. The Csillagszemu Dance Ensemble was founded by Sándor Timár and his wife Böske Timár in 1993.
The group is counted as the biggest independent Dance-Group of Hungary with its 750 members. Their mission is to represent the country’s culture in the world, that’s why they are called ˝the Dance- Ambassadors of Hungary˝. Over the past 20 years, they traveled around the world and received most prestigious Hungarian prizes.
In 2012, after a successful tour to 13 Indian cities, the group performed at the Delhi International Arts Festival. The Group participated with 22 members, wherein there were 17 Performers, 3
members of Folk and Music Group, 2 TV Personnel who were covering all of their performances, during the tour in India. The group performed for 45 minutes and kept the children spell bound.
Happy Deepawali
Early in the morning on 23rd October, thirty of our senior boys had gone to Sector 10,
Dwarka, to participate their community programme of lighting the lamp and sharing
the joy of Deepawali festival organized by the yoga group.
In the morning hours children were divided into four groups and had games and competitions. In the evening at 7.00 p.m. there was a prayer service organized by the boys to thank the Lord of light for the numerous blessings as well as imploring the grace to be guided by the true light in their life’s journey. After a sumptuous dinner the children were all in a joyful mode of dancing, bursting of crackers and enjoying the fireworks programme. The day was filled with lots of fun and enjoyment for the children.
Medical follow up
Dr. Kumar and team from Max life
Foundation came on 26th October to give
the fourth course of injection to our children.