Prutha Goa

It is extremely easy to extend sympathy and kind words to someone who is differently abled and believe one’s duty is done with regard to society. A certain amount of courage and motivation is required to be able to take up arms for those in need of support. In Goa, for years, a physical disability was looked upon as a punishment for iniquities and sins of ancestors. We may have moved long past that attitude but there is still apathy and lack of consideration many a times. The differently abled saw it fit to put their foot down and join forces against the dismissive treatment meted out to them. In October, 2003, DRAG or the Disability Rights Association of Goa came into being to ensure that the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995, was applied necessarily. There was the need for resolving issues concerning the differently abled and so it was decided to bring under one banner all such persons and have them work towards a common goal. The NGO was founded by Victor Fernandes, Loretta Velho,

 by Tanya Pinto Everyone has a mission to complete in one’s lifetime, but only a few actually have the courage to take it up at an early age. Beena always had an affinity towards helping the poor and needy, even in her childhood. Having been brought up in a home that always had its doors open to the hungry and poor, Beena learnt compassion and generosity at a very young age. True to her passion, she founded the Bethesda Life Centre with her husband, Martin. The aim of the establishment was simple – to provide shelter and support to orphan and needy children. BLC Team The ambitious project is presently a resounding success, helping over 150 children to become independent adults and lead respectable lives. However, Beena and Martin have faced their share of challenges in the beginning. It all started with an unwed mother who sought help and shelter at their home. As this young girl had been tested positive for HIV, no one was willing to help her out. Though Beena and Martin did not have

It began with a dream in his boyhood, which impelled John Bosco to work towards alleviating the distressed condition of the youth of his time. A dream at the age of nine revealed his future as a great educationist and transformer of young lives. The mystical experience was eventually transformed into a tangible one through his tireless efforts. The religious order conceived by this Roman Catholic saint, better known as Don Bosco, has spread his ideas and educative methods far and wide through the world. It is by means of reason, religion and loving kindness that they endeavour to mould morally upright and intellectually able individuals who would contribute in the best way possible to the betterment of society. In Goa, the Salesians of Don Bosco continue his good work, having made their entry in India in the year 1906. They are not just involved with mainstream educational institutes but special attention is given to marginalised classes that are in utmost need of aid. The Don Bosco Ko

by Savita Rao Helping disadvantaged children to bloom and blossom is at the heart and soul of The Mango Tree Trust. The Trust is based at Mango House, Karaswada in Goa. It works with around hundred and sixty children and families living in the slums around Karaswada as well as local children in need. The main objective of the Mango Tree is to help children to access school and to support and encourage them to remain there. The Trust hopes to help keep children away from child labour and to ensure they enjoy a safe and sound childhood by working with parents, who themselves are often uneducated. This is accomplished by providing the parents with counselling sessions about the importance of allowing their children to gain an education. Recently the Trust, headed by Miss Savita Rao, the managing trustee, took another successful step by opening a pre-primary school on their very own campus at Mango House. The fine inaugural function was held in June 2013. The pre-primary school has a tota

A pharmacist, national level Scrabble champion, ex-football player and now a tiatr writer and director – Irineu Gonsalves has donned many hats and done it with tremendous success too. His drama, Gõy Gõykarachem, is evidence to this fact. Running houseful wherever it has been staged in Goa, the tiatr is hard hitting and unearths realities that most Goans are unwilling to confront owing to their reticent approach to issues affecting society. The crux of the drama focuses on land banks besides various problems related to Goa. ‘This is an issue that is close to my heart,’ says Mr Gonsalves, ‘and I have been writing letters to the newspapers for years. Besides I have written columns covering social issues and about football too.’ Clearly, he is a man driven to make a difference and he minces no words in condemning the usual suspects. ‘I got this idea of land bank development and that is what has made me come out with this drama because through this medium you can reach out to the people,’ h

Voices After Me by the Mustard Seed Art Company, is probably one of the most intellectually stimulating plays performed in recent times on a Goan stage. The group of performers banded together by playwright Isabel de Santa Rita Vás and under the direction of Daegal Godinho and Celsa Pinto, staged a play that provoked the audience to question and appreciate the myriad thoughts, memories and subjective perceptions that shape us as human persons and in turn affect our relationships with other people. The play was one in a series, put on in an effort to promote theatre and the appreciation of drama in Goa. This programme by the Directorate of Art and Culture (Goa) was presented by Prayog Saanj (Evening of Experiments), which has dramas staged in other languages besides English, and after the performance there is a discussion held to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the play. The play, Voices After Me , was scripted by Isabel de Santa Rita Vás and took the audience through the rem

Street plays have their origin in the effort to find a voice for the people by the people. An age old art form that existed eons before the more structured and regimented form of theatre came into existence, street plays made an effortless comeback on the performing arts scene in India, prominently during the era of the freedom struggle. This form of theatre requires the bare minimum of props and targets mostly a non-paying audience. Since electronic amplification is not a choice, voice optimisation is something every actor has to practise. With themes pertaining to the daily lives of people, street plays function as an efficacious wake-up call to the slumbering public amidst the tumult of corruption and social degradation. Konkani street play producers have carved a niche for themselves in developing this medium first and foremost for the promulgation of the language in the state of Goa. This direly needed recognition of the significance of Goa’s mother tongue has been provided by col

In Goa, Isabel de Santa Rita Vás is a name synonymous with English drama. Having written and directed numerous plays, this playwright of exceptional calibre, allowed us to partake of her vision of this art form. Her illustrious career as a college professor of English Literature has included becoming the head of the English department at Dhempe College of Arts and Science. Her position as an English Literature lecturer indubitably led to her acquaintance with other forms of literature. She was often entrusted with the duty of putting up performances to embellish regular college programmes or whenever occasion demanded it. Her passion for literature and the bond that she shared with her students enabled her to immerse herself wholly in drama and its nuances. In time, the challenge and charm of transmuting play scripts into stage performances encouraged a more adventurous endeavour. Along with a group of young people, she set out independently to stage a well-known American play in the t

Goa was once a land of verdant beauty with its any fields glowing with crops. Gradually it is beginning to resemble a concrete jungle, ravaged by the contrivances of land sharks and builders. Agriculture was once the mainstay of this tiny state, but today a considerable amount of land lies fallow. The owners of the fields, in most cases, have given up cultivation owing to the costs involved and the lack of manpower. The revival of agriculture as a primary occupation and the recommencing of cultivation of this fallow land must be armoured by the development of a scientific approach. For this, however, trained manpower is required and agriculture is not a subject available easily at an academic level. It was for this reason that the Ramanata Crisna Pai Raikar School of Agriculture (RCRSA) came into existence under the patronage of well-known businessman and erstwhile president of the GCCI (Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry) Mr Manguirish Pai Raiker. The school has 11th and 12th standa

From its institution in 1997, with a total of eight students and one classroom, New Dawn Ashadeep School for special children has come a long way to include eleven classrooms, from primary care group to vocational classes, harbouring a hundred and seventeen students. It is, significantly, the only special school in Goa that has speech and occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Former headmistress Vinny Fernandes, who completed seventeen years at the school, enlightens us on its functioning and focus. ‘I have been here since the inception of the school, even before the actual building came up. I joined somewhere in February, 1997,’ she says. The school was the result of one man’s vision to provide easy access to scholastic amenities and practical training for special children. In the absence of such a school in the whole of Vasco, Vijay Chandran, who was employed with the customs office, decided to bring about a change in the situation. As a parent of a special child he had to travel t

This is the experience of a girl who had the gumption to explore unfamiliar territory, notwithstanding her disability. She stumbled upon an India so far removed from the vision of the Father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Stacy Rodrigues is a visually impaired artist and writer. She has surmounted her own travails and can be considered a heroine in her own right. When she is not lost in the comforting brush strokes of art or the soothing therapy of poetic lines, Stacy keeps herself engaged tutoring students in the English language. It so happened that some time back she had the opportunity to teach a young man from Uttar Pradesh. He described an India foreign to her knowledge. She was intrigued by his stories and decided to pay his village a visit. On her arrival at *Ameerpur (name changed) she was scrutinized by the people, especially the women, like a novelty. They began touching her, feeling the texture of her skin and her clothes in naïve fascination with this visitor who seemed st