GOA SUDHAROP ANNUAL AWARDS PRESENTATION( 29-12-2007)

Goa Sudharop observed this year 2007 as the Year of the Environment. We realized the paramount need of caring and conserving our vital and fragile environment which is exacerbated with unprecedented global warming with all its devastating consequences like tsunami tidal waves, melting of glaciers, rise in sea levels, droughts, heat waves, famines, epidemics, etc. We thought of doing something in our modest way in the face of this crisis by creating awareness and urgency for conservation of the environment at the very grassroots level by engaging and involving schools, students and teachers all over Goa. Accordingly we conducted during the year several programmes like power point presentations on topics like pollution, garbage management, bio-diversity, wildlife, man-animal conflict etc. for school-groups in different places in association with Green Cross NGO, inter-school multiple environmental competitions in association with Vidy Vikas Academy, Margao, a rain water harvesting workshop for high school teachers in association with Botanical Society of Goa, sponsored the website of cartoonist Alexyz on the environmental theme, prepared Goa-specific environmental standards for the building industry in association with environmentalist Eric Pinto, and promoted several other private initiatives with a view to create the much needed environmental awareness with a stress on urgent conservation measures.
It is a matter of satisfaction for us that through these modest efforts we were able to involve and sensitise over a thousand school children, about two hundred school teachers and hundreds of individuals to the dire need of caring for and conserving nature. In this effort we also discovered that our school children are equally concerned and willing to land their might to do everything possible to support this noble cause of environmental care and conservation provided we adults guide them properly in the task. Hence, Goa Sudharop has resolved to spread wide enough and deepen this awareness in Goa by continuing our efforts beyond this year too, along with our other essential projects for betterment of Goa and Goans. The magnitude of this environmental crisis is indeed enormous and daunting which calls for global efforts on a war footing!

And now, as we reach the happy end of our programme with refreshments to follow and music continuing, I hasten to thank heartily our honoured Chief Guest, who is also one of the co-founders and a Director of Goa Sudharop, and works for Goa Sudharop with  vision and passion, almost regularly flies down here to attend our annual awards function as he has done this time. We also appreciate and thank our dynamic Vice President Mr. Marlon Menezes who too is specially here to cheer us up. We acknowledge the excellent co-operation and support we had from Principal Allen Rodrigues and his Vidya Vikas Academy, Margao, Mr. Manuel Braganza and his Botanical Society of Goa, Mapusa as also Mr. Sunil Korajjkar and his Green Cross NGO, in organizing and conducting the various environmental awareness programmes I mentioned a little while ago. Our special thanks to the distinguished penalists of today’s seminar (Goa Vision 2020) Architect Ritu Prasad along with Patricia Pinto, Fr. Maverik Fernandes, Mr. Soter D’Souza and moderator Mr. Minguel Braganza who shared with us with great passion their vision for Goa.
This is our way of telling our legislators that our state must have a vision and mission if we are to set ourselves free from the perenial chaos we have been trapped in, for as of now they have neither vision nor mission but only ample omissions and commissions pervading all of the so-called state governance! We also  thank all the recipients of our awards today i.e. the orphanages, schools and students – both who won awards and those who did not – for affording us the opportunity to work with them for a good cause, and we wish them every success in their nobel efforts. I cannot forget our volunteers Mrs. Melinda Powell (who compered this programme), and Miss Valerie Rodrigues (presently out of the country) whose in puts and efforts were valuable and much supportive. Thanks to Young Chico and his group whose music and songs also helped to enliven this function. Thanks to Goa News and HCN TV channels for covering this event. We thank as well all those whose names I have not mentioned here, but were kind enough to help us one way or other in organising this function. And last, but not the least, we are grateful to each one of you who specially came from far and near to encourage Goa Sudharop and for the love of Goa.