ST. JOSEPH'S HIGH SCHOOL, COLABA: STD X VALUE BASED RETREAT

ST. JOSEPH'S HIGH SCHOOL, COLABA: STD X VALUE BASED RETREAT

August 7, 2012: Fr. Glenford Lowe, Director of AVEC together with Francis DSouza from DBYS arrived at St. Joseph's High School, Colaba for a Value based Retreat for one hundred and twenty students of Standard Ten. Thanks to Mrs. Shobha Padhey, Mr. Augustine Carvalho and Mr. Borkar for making the necessary arrangements.The theme for the day was "Living your Life by a Value Compass".

Fr. Lowe began the session with a prayer song 'Sarvesham Swastir Bhavatu' and said a prayer over the students. He then invited the students to reflect on Fourteen moments of one's life while comparing it to a River flow. At each stage, the students were invited to make a prayer of thanksgiving or a prayer of forgiveness. "Gratitude and Forgiveness are two key virtues around which all healing take place" he added. The video clip on Jackie Subarido had a powerful impact on all the students. 

 In the second half of the session, the students watched the film 'God Lives in the Himalayas'. The students were invited to look at their life in connection with the movie. The students took a lot of time to discuss the important Values they learnt through this movie. Sacrifice, Never to Give Up, Hope in God, Strive for your Dream in life were some of the important messages the students picked up.

Finally, Fr. Glenn concluded challenging the students to Make A Difference (MAD)! Get MAD on yourself, others and the World. The students took the final moments of the day to make personal commitments for personal change that would begin 'today' and not 'tomorrow'. 

The school Captain, Ankita Singh proposed the Vote of Thanks on behalf of the Management and the students of Standard Ten. They were grateful for having had this wonderful opportunity in their lifetime to spend some quality time on the 'journey of  life' they live each day.

 A few of the students took time to make a note of appreciation in the AVEC Log Book:

"Father Glenn, it was a very enriching and enlightening and inspiring session for us through this talk. Thanks a lot!" - Ankita Solauli X-A

 "Father, we all liked this session very much and from now onwards we promise that we will live our lives meaningfully and enjoy it" - Ankita Singh X-B

"This was the first film that I saw in my life.I liked it very much. Thank you for coming and guiding us in Values" - Karan Tak X-B

 "It was the first session that inspired us and encouraged us to face our studies and to never loose hope" -  Sushant S. Rane X-A

"It was a great opportunity for us that you came to our school and took the time to teach us important Values and how to live our lives meaningfully now and in the future" -  Christopher Tambi X-A

Congratulations to all the students for their active participation and involvement all through the session. Truly, they are all 'LIGHTHOUSE' students! May God bless you all in everything you undertake, especially your studies.