And the Dream goes on…. III
By making Don Bosco’s imagination (dream) their own, the Don Bosco society today sets out with passionate courage and transforming hope on a journey of innovation and educative excellence. It is a journey, first foremost of sharing LIFE and knowledge and resources after. It is for this reason Don Bosco comes among us in a casket containing his relics. The dreamer who saw us all in his dreams once, now comes in a more concrete and palpable manner. The holy relics come to us on its journey around the world and it will bring us the same joy, love, life and courage it brought to people young and old in many parts of the globe for the past two years.
Don Bosco comes to conquer our hearts once more. Don Bosco comes to work his miracles again- the miracle of ‘giving meaning to life for young people today who perhaps have less meaning to live for’. As some young people said ‘we can always start again with Don Bosco for he still believes in young people’. So do the Salesians.
And so the dreams are translated into variety of initiatives all over the Salesian world with an aim to provide number of starting points for the young especially. In India there are quiet a few notable dream projects. Some of them are pretty novel, some even revolutionary, some are pilot projects, some are traditional Salesian staples, but all of them are based on that wonderful pedagogy of Don Bosco that assures the young that their own reasoning will not be easily brushed aside, their high ideals and immanent spirit will be respected and their obvious immaturity will not be spurned but met with kind understanding.
Duvallet an eminent French authority on education remarked about Don Bosco’s pedagogy thus:
“You have works, colleges, oratories for the young, but you have only one treasure: the pedagogy of Don Bosco. In a world in which youngsters are betrayed, squeezed dry, crushed, exploited, the Lord has entrusted to you a pedagogy in which respect for the young person, for his greatness and his frailty, for his dignity as a son of God prevail. Preserve it, renew it, rejuvenate it, enrich it with all the latest discoveries, adapt it to these twentieth century creatures and their tragedies that Don Bosco could not know about. But for heaven’s sake preserve it! Change everything; if necessary lose all your houses but preserve this treasure, forming in thousands of hearts the way to love and to save the young, which is Don Bosco’s heritage.”
Hence, Salesians have begun new education experiments all over, drawing each young person according to his/her ability and competence to the levels he/she is capable of. New Co-operative efforts are on with IGNOU(Indira Gandhi Open University), DOEACC(Department of Electronics accredited computer courses), NIOS(National Open School) and others. In places they have opted for tuition centres and Parallel colleges where regular education systems are hard to come by, but wherever they are allowed to run normal schools and colleges, they have invested in the latest Smart Classroom projects and mentoring and counseling initiatives to empower education and the educand with the power of Don Bosco’s pedagogy.
Assam Don Bosco University – the first Catholic university project in India, is truly a dream project which will gladden the heart of Don Bosco the educator. From the word ‘go’ it is aiming to be a different educational expertise, offering uniquely Salesian subjects like Child studies, Youth work, Media; integrating an out reach programme to those who are squeezed out to the fringes; carving out a Post graduate course in Child development-rights and putting together research projects on various aspects of Youth at risk.
Bosco Institute of Information Technology (BICS) established among the backward hill tribals in the Yelagiri hills is not only an effort at demystifying and deconstructing a high tech digital technology, but also making the hi-fi, high-cost mambo jumbo, a easy service tool in the hands of those who need it most. Salesians have multiplied BICS like institutions in every part of our nation, so that they have become a force multiplier and a leap frogging mechanism for social upward mobility for youth of the exploited groups and make way for their dreams.
And there are institutions like The Don Bosco Institute (DBI) at Guwahati, that have become an inspiration at the national and even international levels.– DBI is a powerhouse that produces a stream of innovative ideas for the teachers, youth leaders, managers and administrators. DBI conductors regular national level Teachers’ Training programmes- Youth Development modules and Civil administration seminars. DBI is a constituent Management Training college of Don Bosco University. Barefoot College Scheme of DBI is low-cost community college programme in the out-of-bound areas, making education for a common ordinary person possible by down sizing the infra structure and making the tools easily available – providing fee assistance, transport, text books etc are part of the scheme.
The YaR (Young at Risk)programme began in a humble way in 1974 at Cochin, to day it covers the whole India with 1080 service units of YaR in nearly 100 towns and cities. It has become a national as well as South Asian forum, a powerful voice for young at risk. Ashalayams - Snehabahavans – Snehalayas -Anbu Illams – BOSCO-Street children are names of the Don Bosco institutions that fire the YaR Programme. Today Yar has moved far beyond just providing a safe place for the children on the run. It actively works with other concerned NGOs to eliminate child labour. It pioneers the Human rights education, especially that of the child. Its telephone initiative ‘Child Line’ is practically the last life line for many a kid at his/her tether end.
Social Action and community Development- Normally nothing substantial happens when Jhoolawallahs shout against social injustice, unless they are able to inspire and activate a community for a whole range of imaginative actions at grass root levels. This is where the various social action groups of Don Bosco Society like the Bosco Reach Out- RRTC- Bosco Mangal -AIDA- BREADS- BIRDY- CHITRA-PARA(people action for rural awakening) etc., are quietly transforming the society. They support Self Help groups in their activities, offering legal, professional, training inputs- Resource groups like Life Plus, Vazhikatti-Siharam-Shelter-Seers undertake Career and Entrepreneurial Development –-They cooperate with AIDS awareness (The Highway project) and other health related issues, add their muscle to the nation’s effort in literacy, nature conservation, irrigation and vocational skill development.
DB Tech India’s Bosco Academy of Skills- (BASE) collaborates with union Ministry of Rural Development(MORD) to create a pool of skilled technicians. It also secured Collaboration with Industry leaders like Tata- ITC-Accenture- Schneider electric, Godrej etc., to provide placement to successful candidates who go through the BASE programme in all DB Tech Institutes in India. DB Tech’s latest initiative towards this end is networking with various Chambers of commerce in the country.
Bosconet India is the latest initiative to go national with Don Bosco’s Youth Programmes- The Net will connect like minded organisations and give more power to the Youth development programmes in the country. There are number of regional youth surveys which today are topped up by the National Youth Survey conducted by Don Bosco Tech commission. This offers a baseline to scientifically situate our youth work .
The Boy scout and Girl Guide movements founded by Lord Baden Powell of Gillwell, dovetails seamlessly with Don Bosco’s ideals of Boy and Girl programme. There are vibrant Scout Troops and Guide companies, along with their junior and senior sections in most of the Salesian Schools and institutions today –The eleven BOSCOREES that were conducted in the different parts of Salesian India vouch for the efficacy of this marriage between a military man’s practical ideas and a man of God’s extraordinary pedagogy. Both have proved to be exceptional ‘boymen’ and the Salesians are grateful for their inspiration
Media is the prominent playing field of the young today and Don Bosco with his flair for writing and penchant for acting and merry making will surely want his children interacting with it on a regular basis. Media today is not only the platform, window, sign post and mirror for and of the society, it is also the harbinger of the latest in technology. Many Don Bosco Institutions like St.ANTHONY’s- NITIKA-IMAGE-DBICA- TEJ PRASARINI- ALAIGAL (WAVES), AUXILIUM Electronic Media etc are in the forefront to deglamourize and deconstruct media as well as to co-opt it for the development of young and their potential. Media’s influence, ubiquity, and its power demand a constant dialogue with it through a graduated Media education programme as well. Academicians at the Don Bosco media institutions have helped to develop a Three part Media Education and development plan for educators at national level which is a timely contribution to education of the young in India.
Man does not live by bread alone, and in today’s rat race his spirituality should not be left to atrophy. More than ever, human spirit needs constant shoring up in the face determined onslaught of materialistic consumerism in the present time. Salesians offer programmes of Spirituality for the common man through centres like Siloam at Barapani and other psycho spiritual Development institutions at Bangaluru and Nainital.
Cultural enrichment – Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Culture(DBCIC)-Vennala Cultural Academy at Kochi- Music education-SPIC MCKAY- Brass Band
Enriching the literature of the N.E languages Versatile polyglots like Bp. Marengo, Frs.Paviotti, Bacchiarello, Balwoine, Hopewell, U.V.Jose , TJFrancis, have enriched the North Eastern languages like Assamese, Garo, Karbi,Khasi Lalung, Nyishi Rabha, Rongmei Tiwa, Wancho, with first primers, grammars,anthologies and histories
National centre for Catechesis at Nitika-Kolkata- and other similar centres at Visvadeep and CLIFF in Bangalore cater to the faith formation of the young people
Sports education – Redhills Don Bosco Football Academy near Chennai – Physical Education college at Goa which even collaborates with Portuguese Olympic Association offer examples to Don Bosco’s love of sports and games as an aid to development of sound mind. Besides every Don Bosco institute vies with each other to develop sports and games infrastructure and bring up champion athletes and sports persons
In other places other New Dreams are in the offiing- Salesian Secular institutes – Lay people working with Don Bosco’s Charism in non Salesian places- Community of the Mission of Don Bosco CMB 28th family group- Believing, creating, arousing ,involving and preventing- Cagliero Lay missionary project in Australia- Volunteers project(VIS) Gypsy project at Thirukazhukundram
