Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter August 2012

The Value of Freedom

Happy Independence Day

Called to be Freedom Fighters for a Better India

Leonard E. Read wrote in Elements of Libertarian Leadership, free tigers that have been captured and caged for years forget the freedom they once had and, forgetting, they have nothing against which to contrast their existing condition, their confinement becomes their normalcy. As India celebrates her sixty fifth Independence Day, we recall the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom". Life and Freedom are two birthrights that we have often sacrificed. We have been caged in the shackles of a Culture of Death and bound by Imprisonments of thought, prejudice, and selfish concerns. Such confinements have become a normalcy! We have forgotten, sadly, the birthright we once so proudly possessed and are free no more. This Independence Day is a wake up call to reclaim our lost birthright. Freedom comes with a Price and a Responsibility. And, only those who are ready to pay the true price will be able to live in the light and peace of Freedom. Today, Corruption has become normal. The Indian Railways have become travelling coffins, our roads have become avenues for death. Medical care, sadly, just fast tracks ones movement to the grave. Education, instead of bringing out the best in every student, has become a vessel of competition and tution mania. Politics has seen the death of culture and true values and given birth to corruption and despondency. When we value true freedom, we value life and respect for all. In the name of Freedom, Responsible living is abandoned. Values are often replaced by insignificant personal agendas that are reflected in the daily choices we make. Life that is not guided by a Value Compass becomes misdirected and fatal. We are all responsible for Indias Freedom. Today, we are all called to be Freedom Fighters for a Better and Valuable India. Tagore, more than just poetically, prophetically invites: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

For to be Free is not merely to Cast off Ones Chains, but to Live in a way that Respects and Enhances the Freedom of Others Nelson Mandela
Fr. Glenford Lowe sdb

Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter August 2012

If you had the Freedom... What would you choose?

For Violence and Disharmony Religious Values For Peace and Harmony

For Greed and Inequality

Social Values

For Justice and Equality

Evil over Good

Ethical Values

Good over Evil

Environmental Destruction

Environmental Values

Care for Mother Earth

Greed & Corruption

Personal Values

Integrity and Respect

What would you choose? It is your Values that define your Choices & Lifestyle... Freedom is not doing whatever you want, but to Responsibly Choose what is True.

Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter August 2012

Reflective Value Moments for Students

!ncredible !ndia: Do You Value your Seven Fundamental Rights in !ndia?
1 ) Right to Equality, including equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and equality of opportunity in matters of employment, abolition of untouchability and abolition of titles. 2 ) Right to Freedom which includes speech and expression, assembly, association or union or cooperatives, movement, residence, and right to practice any profession or occupation ( some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality ) , right to life and liberty, right to education, protection in respect to conviction in offences and protection against arrest and detention in certain cases. 3 ) Right against Exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic in human beings; 4 ) Right to Freedom of Religion, including freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion, freedom to manage religious affairs, freedom from certain taxes and freedom from religious instructions in certain educational institutes. 5 ) Cultural and Educational Rights preserving Right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. 6 ) Right to Constitutional Remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. 7 ) Right to Education which ensures that children up to the age of 14 get education. It can also be free of cost.
Never Agree Sometimes Normally Always agree

Into that Heaven of Freedom , My Father, Let my Country Awake

Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) )E-Letter Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC E-Letter December 2009 August 2012

Value Coordinators Forum 2012

The Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC) Invites ALL SCHOOL/Jr. COLLEGE VALUE EDUCATION COORDINATORS affiliated to the ABEMumbai To a VALUE COORDINATORS FORUM 2012 On October 4, 2012 At Don Bosco Primary School Hall, Matunga From 8.304.00 pm Guest Speakers: Ms. Kia Scherr: World One Life Alliance ,President Ms. Sherly Paul: Educational Consultant and Principal Mr. Sanjay Srinivas: I Love my Mother Earth, Founder
Kia Scherr
In an act that surprised many around the world, Kia Scherr publicly forgave the men who killed her husband and daughter in the coordinated terrorist attacks on Mumbai, India, November 26, 2008. In a press statement, Mrs. Scherr shared these words, Details of the VALUE FORUM 2012 will be communicated to you soon.

"Life as I knew it changed on November 26, 2008 when my husband, Alan and 13-year old daughter, Naomi, were shot and killed by terrorists in the Tiffin Restaurant at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai, India along with 158 other people. "We can create a positive outcome to this heart wrenching tragedy by taking a stand to honor the life we all share. The time has come to join together as one. We are one human family. Let us honor the sacredness of life in ourselves and in each other. Together we can shift the scales of balance to a life affirmative focus. It begins with each one of us, with the choices we make moment to moment. Let us choose love, understanding, acceptance, compassion and forgiveness as a baseline for all of our interactions. In so doing, we elevate not only ourselves, but everyone we meet."

Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter August 2012

SCHOOL AS A NON-VIOLENT ZONES

Make A Difference: I
To bring the Value of True Freedom into our Schools/ Colleges, every student has to become an APOSTLE OF AHIMSA. Ahimsa, Non-Violence or Non-Injury is a Value that we need to Mahatma Gandhi became a Apostle of Ahimsa through his deep understanding of Jesus teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. The Value of Non Violence or Ahimsa is an essential ingredient of Value Education. Freedom and Non-Violence are twin sisters. They cannot exist separately. Gandhiji understood that Ahimsa with its dynamism, its passive resistance and firmness in the face of violence, was based on the strong foundation of Truth or Satya. The force behind Ahimsa is the Power of Love over Power of Hatred and Evil. Looking at the 2012, Global Peace Index, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, which measures a countrys peacefulness in a year, ranks Mother India 146/158. Here a country is rated on its ongoing domestic and international conflict, safe and security in society as well as militarization. Where do we begin to sow seeds of Peace, Non-Violence?... The place is here, the time is now, the person is me! In our quest for saving Mother Earth, we collect our garbage, we audit our waste, recycle our refuse. Violence is a garbage we cannot tolerate. We need to turn guns into ploughshares, bullets into tablets, terror into peace. Mindsets have to be changed and hearts transformed. Value Education has an important role to play in truly Saving Mother Earth. Make the Difference now: Promote Peace Clubs in your Schools Challenge Students to be Apostles of Ahimas in the neighbourhood Join and Support Peace Rallies Voice your Opinion in matters of Truth against Student Ragging Let your first words be Peace be with you. Promote the One Life Alliance Pledge by Kia Scherr.

Ahimsa

Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter August 2012

AVEC : Activities for July 2012

St. Aloysius: BandraTeachers Orientation Program : 7/7/12

Holy Family: Pestom SagarStudents Std X Orientation: 9/7

St. Teresa: Girgaum Teachers Orientation Program : 10/7

St. Dominic Savio: Andheri Student Leaders Orientation 11/7

Regina Pacis : BycullaStudents Orientation Program: 12/7

Regina Pacis : BycullaTeachers Orientation Program: 12/7

St. Agnes: Byculla Student Std X Value Orientation 13/7

Carmel Convent: KalamboliStudent L:eaders Orientation 18/7

Convent of JM Khargar: Catholic Students Retreat Khandala 20-21/7

Holy Cross: Lower ParelStudents Std X Orientation 27/7

Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter August 2012

AVEC : Activities for July 2012

Cardinal Gracias: BandraTeachers Value Orientation 28/7

Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) Leaders Animation: Wadala

COMPETITION FOR AUGUST ESSAY COMPETITION

Freedom my Birthright

Please send the best three entries in each category to AVEC by the August 27, 2012. All entries must be signed by the Value Coordinator and sealed with a school stamp

RESULTS for PHYSICAL VALUE - SPORTS PROJECT: Growing United and Healthy through Sports, will be declared in the next issue. We have
received some very good entries so far. Congratulations and wish you every success !!!

Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter August 2012

AVEC bids farewell to

Ms.Margaret Dubey and Michelle and

welcomes

Ms. Veronica Dlima to AVEC

AVEC E-Letter Values for the Yatra is an initiative to provide Animation Resources for Teachers involved in Value Education in the ABE schools/ Jr. Colleges .Values for the Yatra will be published every month and is for Private Circulation. Your valuable suggestions are most welcome to assist us in making Values for the Yatra a useful tool of animation and bonding among the teachers and students of the ABE schools in Mumbai. CONTACT: Fr. Glenford Lowe, SDB / Rochwyn Fernandes / Sr. Vera / Veronica Dlima AVECDon Bosco Youth Services, Matunga 400019 , MUMBAI Ph: 24154477 e-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com Blog: avecmumabidbys.blogspot.com