Sri Vijaya Puram, Nov. 3: With an aim to share joy and happiness on the occasion of Diwali, the Rotary Club of Port Blair in association with Port Blair Guru Ki Rasoi (PBGKR) and DCPU South Andaman conducted a post Diwali celebration with the children of Bethany Children’s Home, Bhatubasti today (3rd Nov. 2024) at Bageecha.
The celebration was a joint effort with the volunteers of Bageecha Viz. Mr. Denis Giles, Ms. Nazima Parveen and Dr. Ritesh Mondal.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sagar Khurana, President, Rotary Club of Port Blair said that Rotary has plans to conduct such activities throughout this year under his presidentship. This year the focus of Rotary is on Women Empowerment and Health. He assured that such programmes will continue at Bageecha even after his tenure as the President.
Mr. Mandeep Grewal, President, PBGKR expressed his joy over the celebration with the not so privileged children of our society. PBGKR has regularly been conducting such programmes and have also been supporting the TB Patients apart from supporting the needy all over the Islands, he added. Today’s event is one such activity which the NGO has been doing since its inception, he added.
As a part of the celebration, a Rangoli was prepared at Bageecha by the children, guided by Ms. Nazima Parveen. Later a Diya Painting & Decoration competition was conducted in which the first three winners were presented with Prizes. Certificates of participation was also presented to all the children present on the occasion.
Earlier, Mr. Denis Giles of Bageecha explained the children about the various kinds of flora and fauna available in the Islands apart from an in-depth knowledge of Dugong, the State Animal of A&N Islands. The children were also briefed about the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Community of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and were urged to respect them as we respected each other.
The programme concluded with lunch and song numbers sung by Dr. Ritesh Mondal and the children of Bethany. The children later danced to the tune and expressed their joy and happiness for being able to celebrate Diwali at Bageecha.