Fr. Chunkapura Jose SDB popularly known as Fr. CM Jose, takes over as Rector and Director of Ashalayam on 25th May 2008. Born on 20th February 1955 in Kerela, he became a member of the Salesian Congregation on 7th June 1972 and was ordained priest on 2nd January 1982.
He completed his Ph.D. from Gregorian University, Rome on the topic, “ The concept of God in the writing of Rabindranath Tagore.” His work was published by Viswa Bharati University, Shantiniketan, which is a very rare honour. He was a Professor of Theology in Sacred Heart College, Shillong from 1988 till 1991 and again from 1996 till 1998. During this period, he also took time off to do social work and was working with the disabled children in Shillong. He was Rector of Don Bosco Vidya Niketan in Kalyani from 1988 till 2002. After this he was appointed as Vice Provincial of the Salesian Province of Kolkata from 2002 till May 2008.
His academics include BA English (Honours), BA in Bengali, Masters in Dogmatic Theology and PhD in Systematic Theology
Needless to say he is well versed Bengali. Among his other linguistic capabilities include the knowledge of German and Italian. He is a creative musician and a natural singer.

On completion of the term as Rector and Director of Don Bosco Ashalayam, Fr. Mathew George SDB bids goodbye to DBA on 24th May 2008. Fr. Mathew George arrived in Ashalayam in May 2004 as Asst. Director and was appointed its Director in May 2005. Writing to the friends and benefactors of Ashalayam Fr. Mathew says: “…It has been an extraordinary experience for me to have spent these four years in Ashalayam, living close to the life and world view of our children who hail from such incredible situations and contexts. Sharing my life with them has been a unique experience. I have received much more than what I have been able to do for them. Though I go out of Ashalayam, Ashalayam will never go out of me.” He hands over the charge to Fr. C.M. Jose SDB, who was the Vic-Provincial of the Province of Calcutta during the past 6 years. Fr. Mathew George goes back to teaching and writing, the profession he had been engaged in for several years, before he joined Ashalayam.

On 22.04.2008 at around 9:30 pm, Childline office at DBA received a telephone call from one Mr. Bikash Mondol, a staff of a partner organization of Groupe Developpement that three girls were roaming around Howrah Station waiting for the train for Raipur. The Childline office in DBA immediately contacted the Assistance Booth in Howrah Station and a staff from there met these three girls, in the age group of 13-16, sitting near a telephone booth on the station premises. The Childline staff brought them to the booth and started a conversation with them. In the conversation these three girls stated that they were from a village called Chapra in Nadia District. Someone had told them that one of their friends had met with an accident and was admitted in a hospital and so all the three had come to Krishnagar Station, some 100 kilometers from Howrah, and had boarded a train for Sealdah. A passenger had given them cold drinks to drink after which they lost consciousness and they could not recollect how they had landed up in Howrah Station.

In the meantime Childline received a telephone call from the Chapra Police station stating the case of these three missing girls from Chapra. Childline then took details of the parents of these children and informed the Police Officer of Chapra to tell their parents to come over to Childline to take back their daughters.

On 23rd the parents came over and after proving their credentials took their daughter back home. They mentioned that from 1pm on 22nd April all these three girls were missing.

However, during the 22nd night, when they were in the Transit Centre of Ashalayam, through counselling they revealed that 2 of them were sisters and students of Class Nine and Ten standard. The had given their examinations and they feared that they would not do well in the examinations. So in order to avoid the ire of their parents they had run away from home with plans to go to Raipur. In fact one of the girls had also stolen money from his house to pay for the travelling expenses. They had boarded a train from Krishnagar and had come to Sealdah and had then taken a taxi to Howrah. After reaching Howrah they had even phoned a friend. They had even purchased new clothes for their onward journey to Raipur to a relatives place.

But thank to Childline the chance of these young girls eventually landing up in a dangerous situation was well avoided.

The 3rd Don Bosco Young at Risk Cultural Fest was held on Sunday 6th April 2008 at Ashalayam. The event, that has become a yearly feature now, is held to celebrate the feast of Don Bosco by providing a platform for children from homes run by various organizations to come together and share the day together.
The Chief Guest for the day was Shri Kanta Prasad Sinha IAS, Director of Social Welfare, Govt. of West Bengal. Among the many important dignitaries were Shri Achintyo Kr. Bhattacharya-Chairman Child Welfare Committee & Secretary-CLPOA, Shri Ashish Kumar-Divisional Security Commissioner, Howrah-II, Eastern Railway, Howrah and Mrs, Pranati Pakhira-Ward Councillor. The theme for this year was “Integrated Development of the Child”.” Children from homes run by Eleven (11) GOs and NGOs took part in the day long programme on a competition basis. There were three events: Group Dance, Mime and Extempore Speech. All the prizes carried cash awards and Certificates. Shri Ashish Kumar, Divisional Security Commissioner, Eastern Railway, Howrah gave away the Prizes.
For Group Dance the first prize was bagged by KISHOLAYA, Govt. run Home, while SEED came second and NIRMAN was placed third. In the Mime Competition the first prize went to Don Bosco Ashalayam, the second prize went to CINI ASHA and EMMANUEL MINISTRIES, a unit of Calcutta Samaritans was placed third. For Extempore Speech Suman Karmokar of Don Bosco Ashalayam got the first prize, ULUBERIA CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE came second and SEED came third.

An hour long magic show kept the children spell bound. The day’s events were meticulously planned and well executed to the great satisfaction of all.

For the first time in the history of Don Bosco Ashalayam, a Blood Donation Camp was organized in Kadamtala on 23rd February 2008 (Saturday). Under the initiative of Fr. Mathew Parakonath sdb, Asst Director and Interim Director of Don Bosco Ashalayam, the Mobile Health Unit Clinic took up this task of organizing this event in partnership with Association of Blood Donors, Kolkata. We were happy to have the Blood Bank of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Government of W. Bengal to be the blood collectors. An awareness programme of this event was done a day earlier using the MHC Mobile van and by announcing on the loudspeaker about this event as well as distribution of leaflets.

The need to have this event was inevitable as it is seen every year, in and out, that a large number of children and adults suffer from serious diseases and accidents and have to undergo some operation, major or minor. In these instances there is dire need of blood by the families of the patients and they run from pillar to post searching for blood donors and blood banks.

The Blood Donation camp started at 11am. The camp was inaugurated by the Ward Counselor Mrs. Pranati Pakhira. She delivered a short speech about the important of blood donation followed by a speech by Fr. Jose Administrator Don Bosco Ashalayam.

Blood were collected by the qualified technical staffs of R.G. KAR BLOOD BANK, GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL. The blood collected will be deposited in their Blood Bank. The total blood donors that came forward were more than 40. Most of the staff came forward for this noble cause and many outsiders, who had learnt of this event through our awareness programme, also came forward. Very surprisingly many of the Ashalayam boys (present and past) also came forward to give blood.

The Management of Don Bosco Ashalayam conveys their gratefulness to all the Ashalayam youth, staff and outsiders who came forward on this day. They also express their thanks to MHC Project of DBA, the Association of Blood Donors, Kolkata and R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital-Blood Bank, Government of West Bengal for organizing this whole event very successfully

Don Bosco Ashalayam celebrated Don Bosco Feast Day on 31st January 2008 with great pomp and grandeur.

Like all years this year also there was a fancy dress and a dance competition. But the highlight of this year was the procession that took place from Don Bosco Ashalayam Kadamtala till Kadamtala Post Office and back.

The day started at 9: am with all the children pouring in from all the homes. After tea a Holy Mass was celebrated followed the blessing of the extension of the building at Ashalayam.

This was followed by the fancy dress competition. It was an enjoyable sight to see the creative minds of the children this day. They came as simple farmers, social workers, dressed up as Benazir Bhutto, coal-mine worker and even as a moving and taking Statue of Liberty. There were children dressed up as God’s and Goddess (Shiva & Kali) also. The judges really had a trying time to decide the prize winners.

The flag off for the procession was done by the Shri Anjan Bhattacharya WBPS, DSP-HQ, of GRP Eastern Railway. The procession took its meandering course from Don Bosco Ashalayam Kadamtala passed from in front of Pushpashree Cinema hall, took a left turn from Bata More, took a right turn from in front of Bantra Police Station and walked all the way to Kadamtala Post Office then took a “U” turn to follow the same route back to Ashalayam. Leading the process was a banner of Don Bosco Ashalayam held by 2 young adults of DBA with the Salesian Management and senior staff of Ashalayam behind it. This was followed by a matador nice decorated with big life-size posters of Don Bosco and with small girls from Maayer Asha sitting on it beautifully dressed and throwing flower petals to onlookers and passer-byes. All around the matador were 4 young adults holding big colourful umbrellas. Next followed the children from all the Homes starting with the small children from Asha Deep, Asha James/Jyoti, Girls homes and ending with the bigger boys from Asha Maria and Ashalayam all holding placards spreading the message of child rights. In the middle was the singing team singing songs of Don Bosco and Rabindra Sangeet. The security on the road was managed by the scout team of Don Bosco Ashalayam who deserves an applaud for doing a marvelous job.

The evenings saw the dance competition. It was a combination of classical dances by the girls and hot dances from the small children of Ashalayam. The judges, who had come from outside, were quite please with the skills of these children and one of them even suggested Ashalayam’s participation in dance competitions on various TV Channels.

The day ended at around 7: 15 followed by lunch for all. It was a great and memorable day for all at Ashalayam.

23rd January 2008 was the Salesian Family Day. Don Bosco Ashalayam and its children were honoured by being requested to be the hosts for this great day. The day started off with important Salesian Priests from the provincial House and other Don Bosco Institutes pouring in from 9:00 am onwards. Present were also Sisters from FMA and other congregations, Don Bosco past pupils and Don Bosco Corporators. Around 150 people were present.

The reception was set-up in front of the VTC and the VTC was kept open and all its products put on display so that everyone could take a glimpse of the types of training done by our children and the end results thereof.

The event started with the Provincial Fr. John Berger presenting the Strenna 2008 of the Rector Major Fr. Pascual Chavez through a Powerpoint presentation. The theme of the day was “ Let us all educate with the heart of Don Bosco”.

The presentation highlighted Rector Major’s message of enforcing children’s rights through various activities running in the Salesian province and our role as educators in their developmental process.

After the presentation there was a Holy Mass followed by lunch for all present. The post-lunch session was given to the children of Don Bosco Ashalayam who thrilled all by showing their prowess in dances. Before the dance presentation a movie was shown about a child who was on the streets an his experience while on the street and how he eventually came to Ashalayam. The Vice Provincial was suddenly surprised to see the hero of the film sitting right at his feet. (see picture)

The day ended with a vote of thanks from the Vice Provincial Fr. CM Jose. It was a great honour for Ashalayam and its children to play host to so many dignitaries.

Saturday 12th January 2008 was a sad day in Ashalayam. We were shocked to get the news of the demise of John, the husband of Marie-Christine and father of Frederic Boisset. He had been battling with cancer for the past 4 years.

“The Lord Givith, and the Lord Taketh.”

The children, staff and Salesian Management of Don Bosco Ashalayam send their heartfelt condolences. We, here in Ashalayam, are praying for his departed soul so that it may find eternal peace and to the Almighty so that He gives courage to the bereaved family to go on in life. May his good life continue to inspire us. He shall remain forever in the hearts of our children especially those who had recently come back from France and had shared fond memorable moments with him and his family members in Lyon and Vienne.

In a small but meaningful manner Ashalayam Foundation Day was celebrated on 8th December 2007. On this day Ashalayam completed its 22 years of service to the Young at Risk. The day started off with a small prayer session prepared and conducted by the youth group and the staff of Ashalayam. The prayers were recollections of how we have worked with the children all through these years, the dream and vision of Don Bosco and how far we have been able to be beside our children. Readings consisted of themes of food for thought for both the children as well as the staff.

The prayer session was followed by a volleyball competition between the staff. One team comprised of staff from VTC and Childline Department and the other team consisted of all the other projects and office staff. The winners then played with the children’s team. It was more than an hour of extreme action and rigorous work for the staff members and complete entertainment for the children to see the staff floundering and perspiring on the playfield.

The day ended with a sumptuous lunch for all.

NABARUN “ meaning rise and awake young ones, is a wall magazine in Asha Nayan. The idea of having the Nabarun Club was to bring to the fore the writing skills and creativity of the children of Kolkata as well as to create a space to give shape to their imagination in the form of drawings, poems, short writings, jokes, etc.

The Nabarun Club was officially inaugurated by Fr. Mathew Parakonath, Asst. Director of Don Bosco Ashalayam on 30th November 2007 in Asha Nayan. The Editorial board consists of children’s representatives from Asha Nayan and it is the responsibility of this Editorial Board to publish once a month materials that germinate from the fertile minds of the boys and girls of the Homes in Kolkata.

It has always been the wish of most of our children to go into the hotel line but due to dearth of funds this was not possible. Today thanks to Ellen Tacoma and her friends from Stitching Raja Foundation, Netherlands this dream of our children has started to come true.

These 7 boys (From left to right : Nakul, Bablu, Sompal, Mothi, Sushanto, Mantosh & Dilip) have started pursuing a Basic Hotel & Catering Operational course from The Metro School of Hotel Management located in Dalhousie. The course consists of two weeks of theoretical classes and 24 weeks of practical training in a hotel. The boys have completed their theory which had started on 8th October 2007 and have now gone for their 6 months Industrial Training from 7th November 2007 in The Dukes Retreat, a star category hotel in Khandala, Maharastra. During the practical period of 24 weeks they will be paid a stipend besides food and accommodation.

Congratulation boys, you have made us all proud.

One of the best times to be in Kolkata is definitely during the Durga Puja Festival when the whole place gets transformed with hundreds of pandals (temporary shrines) of all hues and colour, indeed a treat to the eyes. People believe that Goddess Durga comes down to dwell among the people for four days. People go pandal hopping the whole night through. While some of our children from our homes went home to celebrate the puja with their dear ones, most spent the evenings visiting the various pandals. It is holiday time for the children.
But for us here in Ashalayam, Durga puja was a little more personalized with the arrival of Durga in our midst in the form of a small child who was found abandoned in one of the train compartments in Howrah station. Though two and a half years old, she looked like a two month old baby, extremely malnourished due to starvation. We admitted her in the hospital immediately and since she reached there on the first day of the puja, the nurses named her Durga and that name has stuck. The doctors are trying their best to save her life. All the children are happy with her presence in Ashalayam and treats her with reverence and love since she was found on puja day.

On 18th September 2007, on the occasion of the Viswa Karma Puja, when the people paid homage to the creator of all tools of work, Ashalayam celebrated it as the Vocational Training Day. It was for the first time that nearly 200 VTC students and staff of the three centres in Kalyani (Asha Dan, Asha Nirmala), Kolkata (Asha Nayan) and Howrah (Ashalayam) came together to celebrate the day by honouring the staff, and the meritorious students. The theme of the day was “Together we Aim High.” The highlights of the day were the interactive session by Ms Nivedia, Cultural programme, distribution of prizes to the best student from each trade, and a meal together. In the rehabilitation programme of Ashalayam, Vocational Training, especially of the non-formal type plays a crucial role as it enables easy placement of boys and girls, who did not have access to education when they were young and spending the time in the railway station, for job when they turn 18. Ashalayam offers 20 different trades in the three centres, while many attend specialized skill trades in institutions outside. Uncle Bernard, the Coordinator of VTC and his team deserves special mention for making the day memorable for the children.

On Saturday 4th August 2007, a new Non-Formal Education (NFE) Centre was opened at Pilkhana, Howrah, the slum made famous by Dominique Lapierre in his novel ‘ The City of Joy.’ It was indeed a joyful occasion for the children, as well as for the community, as numerous children who have never been to school will get a chance to commence their schooling. Pilkhana is one of the most congested slums in the city and the sight of malnourished and impoverished children roaming about in the area is a pathetic one. NFE is one of the outreach programmes of Don Bosco Ashalayam aimed at reducing the number of children leaving their homes and ending up on the railway platform. With education and health care, effort is made to retain the children within their families. A survey was conducted in Pilkhana a year ago to get a picture of the out of school children and seeing the number of such children, the decision was reached to open the centre. Congrats to the NFE team for the good start.

Surveys reveal that some 20 crore (200 million) Indians do not have their evening meal because of poverty and half of the Indina children are underweight. These findings are in the surveys conducted by National Family Health and UN Food Programme. 45.9% of Indian children are underweight whereas only 10% of the Chinese children come in this category. The report says that the evil of malnutrition is the worst among the Indians. One third of the whole underweight children in the world are in India. The survey pointed out that early marriages affect the education and health of the girls and it also adversely affect the health of the children born to them. Reversing this trend is a real challenge to those committed to the social sector and we here at Ashalayam, through our NFE centres contribute our ‘widow’s mite’ through the nutrition programme we run for the children who attend the centres.

After spending nearly a month in France, the DBA rugby team returned to Ashalayam on 14th October. The Ashalayam Rugby Tour 2007 held from 18th September to 13th October in France on the occasion of the Rugby World Cup provided an excellent opportunity to 11 youngsters of Ashalayam to demonstrate their skills in the game and to prove to the French public what sports can do to former street children. It was also an occasion to strengthen the bond of friendship that exists between Ashalayam and ASA France, built up over the years. The incredible reception and media publicity the team received in very town they visited, proves the great esteem and appreciation the people have for Ashalayam and for the philosophy and methodology it employs in the total rehabilitation of street and destitute children. Meticulously planned and superbly executed by Audrey Rochette and David Bignonnet and the team of volunteers, and member of ASA France in various cities, the tour helped to broaden the horizons of the mind and introduced them to a new culture, life style and world view, leaving in the process a lasting impression on the minds about what they have seen, heard and experienced. Ashalayam Rugby Tour 2007 was indeed a dream come true, and the welcome and hospitality they received wherever they went will never be forgotten, and the impact of which will last for a long time to come.