DON BOSCO BALPRAFULTA ANNUAL DAY

By: BIS Correspondent
ANDHERI-MUMBAI, APRIL 29, 2013:  April 20, 2013 was a special day in Don Bosco Balprafulta as it was ‘ Annual Thanksgiving day’.  Several NGO’s represented by their staff and a few stake holders, who assist Don Bosco Balprafulta whilst working on Child Rights participated.

The Annual Day began with the welcome address given by the Rector of Dominic Savio. Rev. Father. Godfrey D’souza, who welcomed the gathering and appreciated the efforts put in by the team members. The day’s Programme was well synchronized with a mix of children’s dance and skit performances based on the theme of Street children which gave much food for thought.

The program next in line was the annual report presentation which traced the various activities taken up by the organization; next was a short movie presentation made by the staff of Don Bosco Balprafulta, on the Theme of the Annual Day “ Street Child whose responsibility?”   This was followed by The Chief Guest Sir. D. Tripathi, Secretary of Maharashtra State commission for protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) a Gandhian who spoke elaborately on the growing phenomenon of slum   children on streets and a Gandhian philosophical approach for addressing the problem.

To highlight the annual Day; was a public debate on the current trends and challenges and way ahead of street children.  This was preceded by Don Bosco Research Centre presenting the major findings of the Rapid Assessment Study (RAS) in Mumbai, study on home placement and study on drug addiction in collaboration with National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

Important trends such as slum spill over to the streets, prevalence patterns and measures recommendations in each of these studies were highlighted. The program continued with a panel discussion; the panellists comprised of –
Mrs Mrinalini Kher Hon. Secretary and Trustee of Kherwadi Social Welfare Association and co-founder of Yuva Parivartan spoke about Changing Face of Street Children in Mumbai.
Ms. Sunita Mhaiskar Assistant Labour Commissioner – Mumbai and Head of Child Labour Cell spoke on Prevalence of Child Labour among street children.
Dr. Sunita Shanbag Head of PSM Department – KEM Hospital spoke about the Health and Psycho-social Trauma of Street Children.
Dr. Deepa Bhanushali Administrative Officer Education Department - M-Ward spoke about Street children and their educational challenges.

The debate had an interesting insights and presentation. The audience was well animated and raised many important questions which were well ably handled by the panelists. In conclusion the Chairperson of the debate Rev. Fr. Barnabe D’Souza in his conclusion remarked mentioned that the responsibility to advocate for Child rights with regard to street child lies in the hands of each individual rather than the Govt. or society   The programme was concluded with the Vote of Thanks given by Sr. Jacinta the Asst. Director of Don Bosco Balprafulta. The programme came to a close with a sumptuous tea and snacks.