BIS #1379 - COMMUNITY AWARENESS AT CHINCHWAD

Ashwin Macwan sdb CHINCHWAD, MAY 21, 2009: Don Bosco, Chinchwad organized an awareness programme on May 19, 2009, for the communities living in Vidyanagar, Ramnagar and Mohannagar of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Mahanagar Palika. The meeting, which was held in the Vidyanagar Community Hall, began at 6.30 pm and went on till 8.00 pm. The Chief Guest was the occasion was Mr. Prakash Babar, Municipal Councillor from Ward No 39. Also present were Fr. Corlis Gonsalves, Br. Ashwin Macwan and staff members Sunaina, Anthony, Rajan, Sumana and Adinath. The main objective of the meeting was to spread awareness in the local communities, and especially among the women, about the various training programmes conducted at Don Bosco Vyavasaik Prashikshan Kendra.
Ms. Pramila Kochare, who gave the introductory speech, welcomed all those present and then went on to describe the work done by Don Bosco at Chinchwad during these past few years. She commended the fact that a well equipped institute had been set up in a short span of time and that close to 400 youth had already received training there. She stressed that training youth for employment was one of the best services that any organization could render. She encouraged the youth of the locality to take advantage of this opportunity available to them right in their neighbourhood. Next, Ms. Sunaina described in detail the various courses offered by Don Bosco. She also mentioned that many of these courses already have industrial partnerships which makes access to employment easy. She further spoke about self-employment and entrepreneurship which are also possible options. In this context, she pointed out that the Self Help Group members could launch some small enterprise of their own, for which the necessary training would be provided by Don Bosco. The meeting ended on an optimistic note with those present enthusiastically stating that they would like to explore new avenues with regard to employment and livelihoods.