VASCO
It was a different kind of Christmas at the Chicalim Parish as over 30 garbage workers of Chicalim panchayat involved in the door-to-door waste collection were invited to the St Francis Xavier Church and made part and parcel of Christmas celebrations on Saturday evening.
Members of the Chicalim Village Development Committee, Parish Social Apostolate Forum and Chicalim Bio-Crusaders joined together to organise a Christmas Fellowship for the Covid Warriors such as the door-to-door garbage collectors, Class ‘D’ workers of Chicalim Panchayat and migrant fisher workers of the village.
The programme, under the guidance of Chicalim Parish Priest Dr Bolmax Pereira, began with a welcome address by Dr Wanda Viegas Araujo, followed by Carol singing by the parish youth trained by Myron Lucas. Filomena Monteiro played Santa Claus and distributed sweets to the workers.
Assistant Parish Priest Fr Peter Fernandes spoke about the message of Jesus at Christmas and displayed his knowledge of many Indian languages while addressing the workers, as all of them belonged to various states of India.
The highlight of the evening was the song and dance rendition by Dr Bolmax Pereira, which brought cheer to garbage workers. They enthusiastically joined in song and dance, with some matching the steps of Fr Pereira.
The villagers had contributed to prepare Christmas hampers for the 30 workers. The individual hamper included a shirt, T-Shirt, a vest, a bath towel, a bedsheet, a soap case with soap and toothpaste with a toothbrush. Besides, the hamper also included personal protection gear such as gloves, facemasks and sandals to be used at work. Also, some biscuits, sweets and soft drink was part of the hamper.
For common use, the workers were given five buckets, five jugs, 10 litres of sanitiser, detergent powder, cooking oil and sugar.
Speaking on the occasion, Feroz Khan, a garbage worker from Kolkata, thanked the villagers of Chicalim for the function and the gifts offered.
Narrating his life story as a garbage worker, Khan said while most people are sympathetic to their work, many despise them and ill-treat them with insults and bad words. He said that today would be a memorable day for each of them to be appreciated in such manner and their work acknowledged in such a grand way.
The garbage workers returned home happy and content with the message of Christmas well accepted by each one of them.
