Salesian partnership with the
blind in Thailand: the Don Bosco Sports
Centre
PAKKRED: 15th February 2010 -- In a ceremony at Pakkred, outside
Bangkok, on Friday 12th February, the Don Bosco Sports Centre for the
Blind was formally opened and the keys handed over to the President of
the Foundation for the Blind in Thailand. Named after Don Bosco, the
Sports Centre, which cost 24 milliion Baht (around USD 800,000), is a
dream fulfilled for Fr Charles Velardo, a Salesian missionary who has
worked for more than 30 years with the Blind in Thailand and has built
up
the Pakkred Skills Development Centre for the Blind over that time. His
work has been recognised at various levels of Thai Society, making him
one of the most 'decorated' missionaries in the country.
The opening ceremony was conducted in the presence
of
a range of dignitaries, including the Salesian Provincial, Fr Theparat
Pitisant, the Governor of Nonthaburi Province in which Pakkred is
situated, His Excellency Vichian Phuthiwinyoo, the President of VIS
(Volunteers for International Development, based in Rome) Dr Massimo
Zortea, representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in
Thailand, representatives of the Vatican Embassy in Thailand, the Mayor
of Pakkred, and a number of Salesians and friends from around the
country. It was the Provincial, Fr Theparat, who formally cut the
ribbon and handed over the keys to the Centre.
Fr Velardo's words to all present for the occasion
make the purpose of this new centre very clear:
"As an educator, my main objective has always
been the total development of the young people for whom and with whom I
worked. Sport plays an important role in the growth of every young
person, blind people included. Discipline, endurance, team
work, daring, are all part and parcel of the sport process and
help
not only to develop the body but also to enlarge the horizon of one’s
life. In Thailand goalball, judo and bicycle riding for the blind were
born here, in this Centre at Pakkred. The beginnings were quite simple,
but little by little our Centre was able to produced real champions, so
much so that many of our students have been and are part of the Thai
national teams. In order to train, facilities and proper equipment are
paramount: my second-last dream was to have a venue where our students
and blind people interested in sport would train. This dream, thanks to
the generosity of many friends from abroad as well as from Thailand,
has
become true today. The Sports Centre that we inaugurate today is named
after Don Bosco, a priest, a great educator and real friend of young
people all over the world".
This gift of the Salesians to the Blind of Thailand
is
almost certainly a 'first' for South East Asia, and it may be hard to
find another facility of its kind anywhere esle in the world, for that
matter. Certainly the story of its painstaking development as the
crowning of a lifetime's effort is unique.
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