Kuwait, May 1: The Kuwait Canara Welfare Association (KCWA) celebrated it’s silver jubilee on Friday 25 April 2014 at the Kamil Al rayes Auditorium, American International School, Maidan Hawalli.
KCWA is an organization of Catholics hailing from different parishes of Mangalore and Udupi dioceses, presently residing in the State of Kuwait. A seed that was sown by KCWA founder members Francis Misquith, Elias Saldanha, the late Charles Vaz and the late Johnny Misquith in July 1988 with a mission and a vision to help in the upbringing of unprivileged children and families, has today grown into a gigantic tree. Over the years, the KCWA has generated donations of approximately Rs 2.8 crore towards education and humanitarian needs in India and Kuwait, a major share of which is directed towards the cause of education for children in the rural areas in Karnataka.
Anil Fernandes, the president of KCWA welcomed the guests to the celebrations. Bishop Dr Gerald Issac Lobo was felicitated by KCWA after which he delivered his presidential address in which he wished KCWA success in their mission. He also appreciated KCWA for supporting education in India and for providing a platform for Konkani programmes.
Dr Gerald Issac Lobo, bishop of Udupi diocese, Ronald Colaco, philanthropist, entrepreneur and president of the International Federation of Karnataka Christian Association (IFKCA), and J R Lobo, MLA of Mangalore South constituency, were guests of honor.Founder member, Francis Misquith and Former Vice-President Pascal Monteiro were honored with a bouquet, shawl and memento by Bishop Gerald followed by the souvenir release. Naveen Mascarenhas was honored with a gift for his contribution towards the souvenir.
MLA J R Lobo honored Elias Sanctis for receiving the district Rajyotsava Award and Pascal Pinto for his service to the community with bouquets, shawls and mementos. H.E. Sunil Jain, Indian Ambassador to Kuwait along with MLA J R Lobo honored sponsors for their support towards the cause of KCWA. He also honored J R Lobo.
In his jubilee message Sunil Jain asked people in Kuwait to support education in India. He added “Mangalore is a beautiful place and Mangaloreans should encourage tourism in their city”. J R Lobo requested the community to participate in politics, and take up government jobs and professions such as IAS, IPS etc instead of going abroad. He asked the community to send their children to India , instead of other countries such as Canada, Australia etc.
Ronald Colaco was brought to the dais with traditional decorated umbrella. He was honored with a bouquet, Royal overcoat, crown, fruits and memento by Bishop Gerald and president Anil Fernandes. Rudy D’Souza read out the ‘Maan Patr’ and Ronald Colaco was bestowed with the honorary title “KONKAN KUNVOR” in recognition of his philanthropic contribution to the society.
He started his message in a humorous way and said that most of associations eat, greet, meet and depart whereas KCWA educates the unfortunate economically backward children. He asked everyone to keep a share of their savings for charity as he does and asked the spouses to support each other as his wife supports him. Supporting the Ambassador’s idea of tourism development in India, he asked the Indian businessmen in Kuwait to invest in a convention center type project to attract tourists to Mangalore. All the singers and musicians were honored with mementoes.
The programme started with a prayer song then the Jubilee song written by Lancy Rodrigues was sung by him along with Orson D’souza, Joyline Gonsalves, Deepak Andrade and Reema D’Souza. A musical show ‘Retro to Metro’ by well-known artistes from Mangalore Adolf, Iqbal, Rajgopal, Shafi, Nayana and their team and the internationally renowned Konkani drama “Aami Nathlyaa Vellar” by Daiji Rang Mandir – Dubai were the main attractions of the event. Emcees for the evening Deepak Andrade and Reema D’Souza delighted the audience. The felicitation part was conducted in four parts with melodious Hindi and Konkani songs in between by Mohammed Shafi, Adolf, Iqbal and Nayana Rajgopal. The music was provided by Rajgopal (guitar), Prakash Antony (drum), Deepak (keyboard), Jackson (bass guitar) and Rajesh (tabla and congo). A Fusion instrumental played by Sumukh (Rajgopal’s son) on Sitar mesmerized the audience.
Two couples, Louisa & Vally D’sa and Mabel & Sam Alphonso were introduced and honored with flower bouquets, shawl, traditional cap, fruits and memento in recognition of their persevering and continuous support to KCWA by Bishop Gerald along with Ex-Presidents of KCWA Lawrence Pinto, Stephen Machado, Felix Saldanha, Pascal Pinto, Rudy D’Souza and Ida D’Silva. Considering KCWA’s contribution to the society, Sam Alphonso donated KD 5,000 to KCWA.
The long-awaited internationally renowned Konkani drama “Aami Nathlyaa Vellar” by Daiji Rang Mandir – Dubai started with a tribute to Kuwait’s Konkani Writer and Actor Johnny Suratkal. The original play written by Madhusudan Kalelkar in Marathi, and then dramatized in Kannada, by Ramanand Choorya (Nav illadaga) has created ripples wherever and whenever it has been performed. The play, a blend of emotion, suspense and comedy has captured the hearts of Konkani theatre lovers with its electrifying moments and high voltage performance by amateur performers from Daiji Rang Mandir. The play is based on the true life story of a naval commander and his family, which became a sensational case in Maharashtra back in 1959. The drama was directed/acted by Dayan D’Souza and the actors were Walter Nandalike, Asha Correa, Alphonse D’Souza, Nanu Marol, Allwyn Pinto, Godwin Castelino, Pradeep Barboza, Ketan D’Souza, Kumar Fernandes, Sandeep D’Souza, Regan Fernandes, Prathima Castelino and Cynthia Irene Pinto. The music scores were provided by Kethan D’Souza and Arun D’Almeida. Daiji Rang Mandir honored KCWA president Anil Fernandes with a memento for giving them an opportunity and stage to perform in Kuwait. The musical show ‘Metro to Retro’ was the brain child of cultural secretary Kiran Gonsalves.
The core sponsors of the event were Caesars and Issnad Urban Development and Daijiworld was the official media sponsor. The ‘early bird’ prizes worth IRS. 25000 and a return ticket to Dubai were distributed to the lucky winners at the venue.
The programme was ably compered by Deepak Andrade, Reema D’Souza, Lancy Rodrigues. Vijay D’Souza and Louis D’Costa. Steevan Misquith proposed the vote of thanks. Joyston D’Souza of Impressions was the official photographer while Alban D’Souza and his team did the videography. Illuminations provided the Sounds and Lightings. Ansel Gonsalves and Rajesh Aranha managed the powerpoint presentation.
