Caritas-Goa will launch its Diamond Jubilee celebrations with the inauguration of two new projects, the ‘Railway Child Help Desk’, Margao, and the ‘Centre for Deafblind’ in South Goa on its foundation day at the Calanzancio Fernandes Hall, Borda-Margao, on January 4.
The inauguration of the two significant projects in the service of children marks the beginning of events by Caritas-Goa throughout the year as part of its diamond jubilee.
Caritas-Goa was established by the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman on January 4, 1962, as one of its first decisions soon after the Liberation of Goa.
Caritas-Goa is the social arm of the Archdiocese to express solidarity with people who remain in different forms on the margins of society. The expressions of solidarity gave birth to several projects and programmes over the years to respond to the times, as the need arose towards the restoration, rehabilitation and growth of human persons.
The approach to respond followed different models from welfare orientation to development programmes to the present rights-based method.
The focus of transformation interventions has covered areas of disability, rehabilitation, women empowerment, child protection, health promotion, prisoners’ enablement, enhancing school education, information dissemination of government schemes, responding in moments of calamities through vibrant volunteerism, besides studying patterns of tourism and social issues adversely affecting the people of Goa.
DISABILITY
In the field of disability, the ‘Saint Francis Xavier’s Centre for the Differently Abled’ in Old Goa, a pioneering institution in Goa, addresses the academic and vocational needs of people with disabilities.
Caritas-Goa also pioneered in serving the needs of a specific disability of deafblindness, being the only service providers for the entire State through the ‘Centre for Deafblind’ in Saligao and Borda.
‘Divya Sadan’ in Porvorim, a specifically designed community home for intellectually disabled adults, addresses the concern of older parents about the future of their grown-up disabled wards.
Besides being awarded by the State government on several occasions for being a prominent promoter of employment of persons with disabilities, Caritas-Goa is also a state partner of several national and international disability networks to lobby and advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities.
WOMEN
Caritas-Goa has reached out to women at the grass roots by establishing Self Help Groups (SHGs) predominantly in OBC/Scheduled Tribe populated villages in North and South Goa.
Through the ‘Obra de Proteccao a Mulher’ (OPM) in Nachinola, Caritas-Goa meets the needs of the unwed mothers to offer care and protection to their children and also provides children in adoption for prospective adoptive parents.
The ‘St Bridget’s Institute of Home Nursing’ in Aldona empowers young women through a Home Nursing Course to gain skills in order to provide home care through our own Home Nursing Bureau.
CHILDREN
Children in need of care and protection are assisted through a 24-hour free emergency telephone helpline and outreach service for children by Caritas-Goa through the ‘Childline North Collab’ (Panaji) and ‘Childline Railway Child Help Desk’ (Margao).
When HIV/AIDS was considered a dreaded issue, Caritas-Goa ventured to care for the infected adults and then children by establishing ‘ASRO’ in Cavelossim and Tivim. Presently, ASRO in Tivim serves children who are supported to complete their education to become independent and productive citizens.
PRISONERS
Caritas-Goa with the assistance of a committed team of volunteers regularly visits the prisoners at Colvale to provide counselling, prepare them to answer the NIOS and IGNOU exams, organise skill development programmes and engage them in sports and cultural programmes, besides visiting the families of prisoners and rehabilitating the released prisoners.
DROPOUTS
An animated programme is operational to curtail the number of school dropouts wherein nearly thousand five hundred children are assisted through an after-school coaching classes spread across several villages in North Goa.
RELIEF
Through a programme of ‘Schemes for You’ information is shared with thousands of villagers about the various schemes of the Government for their benefit. Caritas-Goa functions as the nodal office to coordinate all relief and rehabilitation services for the Archdiocese in moments of disasters and calamities. As a great amount of work is volunteer driven, the ‘We for You’ programme has consolidated and structured volunteerism as a strategic tool towards social transformation.
CANCER
‘CanSurvive’ is the latest cancer awareness campaign of Caritas-Goa to provide hope that a person can survive from being affected with cancer and also can survive after being infected with cancer.
In its journey over the past six decades, Caritas-Goa has always been assisted by numerous persons who volunteered wholeheartedly towards the growth and diversification of services. On the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee, we appeal and invite more volunteer associates to help us move ahead with the goal of selfless service to humanity.
(The writer is the Director of Caritas-Goa)
