GOA SUDHAROP ANNUAL AWARDS FOR 2006

Panjim, Goa (India), Jan. 4, 2006:

Thanks to all who came yesterday to CARITAS HALL, PANJIM, for the awards event. It was good to see familiar faces and put faces to some cybernames. Apologies to those who had to stand at the back of the hall due to the overflow crowd, we had not anticipated the large turnout. Two cybergoans requested I post my remarks made at the event, see below. George Pinto

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Goa Sudharop I am pleased to welcome you to the 2006 Goa Sudharop awards. We first started with annual awards in the year 2000 and thanks to the support of our volunteers and donors that tradition continues to this day. Goa Sudharop is a USA-based non-profit NGO, working for the betterment of Goa and Goans and has come to be recognized as someone said as "the mother of Goan NGO's" as we try and assist in their work and progress. It is an opportunity for Goan expats to contribute time, money, and skills towards the betterment of Goa and Goans. Some of our past fellowships and awardees are with us today, a Who's Who of Goa activists. In September 2005 we launched the World G.O.A.N. network bringing together various Goan organizations, associations, and NGO's from around the world.

Goa Sudharop wants to be a part of the development of Goa and Goans. I spent Christmas week in Bombay. At some parties it was clear the liquor bill was in several lakhs while little children were on the streets begging for food. I am sure it is similar in Goa, the gap with those who have and those who do not appears to be growing. Somehow we must find in ourselves to provide opportunity to those who do not have, consistent with sustainable development and fair trade. Goa, like Bombay, has its contradictions. There are those effectively living in slums and those living in skyscrapers. This sounds critical - we have become immune to the plight of those who need help. We have become a people of pleasure not purpose, of selfish desires not selfless deeds, hedonists not helpers. Goa Sudharop wants to be with the helpers.

A cursory look at any Goan newspaper on any day will show the challenges Goa faces. There are many challenges but there is hope. There is hope because of people like you in this room who identify with social justice, who fight the good fight, who are on the side of the weak, the oppressed, the poor, the sick and who refuse to be intimidated by power elites, politicans, and powerful institutions. I am honored and humbled to be in this room in your presence. We know what has not been done. Our governments and leaders have not delivered, they have actually stood in the way. Expat Goans have been by and large insular, with only lip service, if that, paid to Goa and Goans. They experience Goa on holiday every couple of years, mostly visit a few beaches and complain of how bad things have become while recalling the "good old days". They leave without giving anything back. This must change. Individually and collectively we must fight against the evils of the three C's: corruption, communalism, and casteism. There is another challenge, another C: present day Culturalism and the elimination and dilution of Goan traditions.

In 2005, our theme was YEAR OF THE CHILD. Many of our activities were directed towards children. Today's awards reflects the importance we pay to children and those who serve them. In today's world, children are often the victims of adult misconduct, whether caught in the crossfire of war, the exploitation of their environment, physical and mental child abuse, child trafficking, pedophilia - the list goes on. Tragically some die at a tender age of disease. I would like to observe a moment of silence for all these children and specially Jessica Fernandes who passed away last week in California. [MOMENT'S PAUSE]

A special thanks to all of you for coming, to our Chief Guest Mr. Perceival Noronha who we honored with a life-time achievement award last year, and to our Goa team Ibonio D'Souza, Valerie Rodrigues and Melinda Powell for their tireless hard work in putting this event together. Without them nothing would have happened. May you and yours prosper, may Goa endure. And when all is said and done, I hope each of us has done our little bit to make Goa and Goans better off. Thank you.

George Pinto Goa Sudharop.Org www.goasudharop.org http://www.goasudharop.org/gs_awards.htm

On The Goan Forum website at http://www.colaco.net

- Forwarded by Gaspar Almeida, www.goa-world.com

Photos courtesy: Gordon Lobo

PRESS RELEASE FROM GOA SUDHAROP
 

GOA SUDHAROP TO PRESENT ANNUAL AWARDS

Goa Sudharop Community Development Inc., a USA-based non-profit, volunteer NGO working for the betterment of Goa and Goans worldwide will present their Annual Awards at Caritas Complex Hall, St. Inez, Panjim, on 3rd January 2006, from 4:30-6p.m.

In accordance with the Goa Sudharop theme for 2005 (Year of the Child) and realizing the monumental work that needs to be done for differently abled in Goa, Goa Sudharop has chosen to make cash and other awards to deserving NGOs, Teachers and differently abled children in a modest effort to promote the care and integration of the differently abled in our society.

In addition, a telescope will be awarded to Goa Astronomy Society. Awards will also be made to Green Cross, and Jeevan Children Centre. The programme will also feature cultural dance performances by children.

Mr. Percival Noronha, a well-known authority on Goan culture and heritage, will present the awards.

Since its inception, Goa Sudharop has partnered with various NGOs in Goa such as Goa Desc, Green Cross, Bailancho Saad, Goa Environment Foundation, Peoples' Movement for Civic Action and other groups working at Goa's grassroot level. This premier Goa diaspora organization provides a vehicle to enable all Goans - resident and non-resident - to give back to Goa in the form of time, money and skills.

Besides organization-based projects, Goa Sudharop supports and funds individuals who have done outdstanding work in Goa through the annual Goa Sudharop Fellowship Awards instituted from the year 2000. These Fellowships not only reflect Goa Sudharop's continuing commitment to certain key issues like childrens' and womens' rights, civil rights and the environment, but also allows Goa Sudharop to build living partnerships with outstanding individuals and groups in Goa, all working with a common mission -the betterment of Goa and Goans worldwide.

For more information visit the Goa Sudharop website:
www.gosasudharop.org or contact Goa Sudharop's local representative Ibonio M.B. D'Souza at 2751002 or
ibonio@sancharnet.in.