Fr Silveira named Goa Messenger Man of the Year
HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, JAN 7, 2005
� Director of ChildLine 1098 -Goa and the Don Bosco
Salesian Society Services (DBSSS) Fr Francis Silveira
has been named the �Goa Messenger Man of the Year
2004� for his immense service to distressed children
in the State, despite great odds, and as such making
Goa a safer place for children. Goa Messenger, the
State�s fortnightly tabloid, stated in the editorial
of its January 1 edition that Fr Silveira�s work is
secular, transcending the barriers of religion,
mocking the fundamentalist forces that are seeking to
divide the historically peaceful co-existence of the
Goan people. Thirty-nine-year-old Fr Silveira�s team
has helped rehabilitate over 3000 abused and
ill-treated children through education, medical
facilities, basic food supplies and counselling.
The Goa Messenger personality of the year needs to
fulfill the following criteria � he/she needs to have
courage of conviction, honesty and integrity, moral
fibre, commitment to one�s cause, the tenacity to face
and overcome tremendous odds, and an extra-ordinary
selflessness, which puts others before self.
_____
Some archived info:
India � A telephone help line for children
(ANS � Bombay, 27 October 2003) - The number 1098 is
available to Indian children in difficulties who are
looking for help. It is called National Childline, a
free telephone service that puts the children in need
of care and protection in contact with organisations
able to help them. Since June 2000 the Salesians in
the State of Goa have been part of this project. After
having considered the implications of tourism in their
area they came to the conclusion that children and
youngsters were exposed to exploitation and abuse by
many tourists who were visiting that beautiful State
in the east of India. In March 2003 alone there were
more than 1232 calls with cases of various kinds, some
that required medical assistance, treatment for abuse
and exploitation, the return home of children who had
disappeared or run away, psychological support, help
for parents looking for advice. The Rector of the
Salesian House in Panjim, Fr Francis Silveira, said:
�We are trying to respond as well as we can to the
needs of each child and to ensure that the
authorities, either government institutions or NGO get
together to defend the rights of the children.�
____________
DISTRESSING REVELATIONS - KIDS BEAR THE OUTCOME
Source: HERALD, Goa
A recent finding by Childline - a telephonic hotline
(1098) for kids in distress - based in Don Bosco,
Panjim, and revealed that children in Goa are
traumatized not only by alcoholic parents but also by
increasing marital problems. Fr. Francis Silvera,
Director of Childline, speaking to the press reported
that this is become very common as a number of
marriages undergoing serious marital discord are
increasing.
Childline (1098) functions from Don Bosco�s hostel
with a staff of 11 members round the clock and looks
after mainly North Goa geographical boundaries. The
cases from the South are referred to Vikalp in Margao.
According to Fr. Silveira, the organization receives
about 30-35 direct intervention calls per day, but the
number of �successful� cases are not available as the
organization does not believes in closing the chapter
on a particular case until the child attains maturity
and even later if required.
_________
LAUNCHED IN GOA
Childline, the organisation that helps children in
distress, was officially launched in Goa on 9th June
2000 with the Chief Minister Mr. Francisco Sardinha
dialing 1098 and quipping �The CM is in distress�.
The launch, held at the Don Bosco�s boys hostel, saw
Central and State dignitaries exchanging niceties not
just with people from various NGOs but also with
around fifty school kids who have been termed
�Childline Bal Sena�, with a mission of making
Childline known to all.
�Through such organisations, the Central government is
trying to encourage people to look after children who
will be pillars of society in the future,� stated Mr.
Sardinha and he assured that �any government
department would be at the beck and call of Childline
whenever such a need arises.�
�It is the duty of every person to come forward and
help Childline. I only hope there won�t be too many
cases to look after�, stated the CM.
Jeroo Billimoria, the brain behind the creation of
Childline, said: �Childline was on a trial run for the
last two months in Goa and received 35 distress calls
of which several were serious cases. Claiming that
sexual abuse and family violence were the common
phenomena in Goa, Billimoria added that Childline had
already rehabilitated a girl who was sexually abused
by her mother�s boyfriend and had rescued several
abandoned babies.
Incidentally, a few minutes before the red ribbon on
the telephone was cut, a distress call came through.
A Miramar STD booth owner, Mr. Joe Lobo, dialed 1098
to report that a two-month-old baby had been abandoned
at Miramar. Reacting immediately to the call, a
Childline member rushed to the spot. The baby was
taken to the Missionaries of Charity, Panjim and
placed under their care.
Also speaking on the occasion was Deputy Secretary,
Ministry of Social Welfare and Empowerment, Dev
Verman, who gave credit for Childine�s success to �the
people who dialled 1098 and highlighted an abused
child or a child in distress�, and the Salesian
Provincial of Mumbai, Fr. Tony D�Souza, who promised
that help to the organisation would be total.
=====
Best Wishes for 2005 from Gulf Goans e-Newsletter archived at
www.yahoogroups.com/group/gulf-goans/ Moderator: Gaspar Almeida
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