BORIVLI, NOVEMBER 23, 2010: During Mission Sunday in October 2010, Fr Isaac of Don Bosco Kapadvanj Mission, Gujarat showcased an interesting presentation of the works done by the Salesian priests and brothers at that mission. Fr Isaac concluded his presentation with an invitation to the congregation to come and witness their work. The Salesian Cooperators, Borivali Unit, took up this invitation and decided to visit Kapadvanj. On November 15, 2010 at 8.30 pm, thirteen Salesian Cooperators accompanied by their delegate, Fr Ronnie Menezes boarded the Lokshakti Express, to see firsthand the works done by our Salesian priests and brothers at the missions.
We met the eleven aspirants residing at the house, the three coordinators of the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and the other activities at the house of Kapadvanj.
After a brief talk by Mr. Shailesh, Fr Isaac took the Cooperators around two villages to witness the rural life and the work being done by the SHGs. We first visited Dholivav Village. There are two SHGs operating in this village and they are presently engaged in building a kachha road under NREGA Scheme. We next visited Motipura village, where there are five SHGs comprising of seventy five members. These villagers are engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and plants nursery. The villagers greeted us warmly and said a beautiful prayer in their dialect. The Cooperators interacted with the villagers and bonded with them by dancing the garba.
On the second day our first stop was at the Church of Khambholaj where there is a statue of ‘Our Lady of the Forsaken (Anathoni Mata)’ which has come all the way from Spain. The next stop was at ‘Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour’ (Nityasahayani Mata) in Jitodia. The priest there gave us a brief talk about the church, which is built along the lines of the Shrine of Mount Mary, Bandra. We then moved on to see the Shrine of Divine Mercy at Salon.
We were also fortunate to meet the FMA sisters at Pansora and at Pushpanjali. After a sumptuous dinner with the Salesians at Dakor we began our return journey home.
