AASHIYANA - A dedicated fundraising show for providing shelter and support – organized by St Agnes College (Autonomous) Mangaluru, was held on 1 February 2024 at the college open air grounds.. The show, which was open to all, was enjoyable and captivating, offering a delightful blend of music and dance that kept the audience thoroughly entertained. The Chief Guest of the programme was Mrs Merlyn Lobo Brito, Former Professor of English, St Agnes College, who connected to the audience virtually from Orlando, USA. Mrs Lobo Brito was responsible for initiating this charity programme 25 years ago when she was teaching at St Agnes College. With its vibrant energy, dynamic performances, and interesting presentations by students and alumni, it was a memorable experience for all the viewers. The event was held with the support of the college Principal, Sr Dr Venissa AC, who gave the welcome address, Sr Dr Maria Roopa, the Joint Secretary of Agnes institutions, the Vice Principal Sr Clara AC, and the PG Coordinator Sr Dr Vinora AC.

 The prayer was conducted by the Alumni Association, and a welcome dance by the students of St Agnes College followed. The show by the students included a wide range of performances such as instrumental music performance, folk dance, western dance, a comic dance, semi-classical dance, Manipuri folk dance, retro dance and singing in English, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Tulu and Manipuri.

The silver jubilee of NAVIDAD is being celebrated this year and Aashiyana is in honour of this best practice of the college where staff and students make a conscious choice to help in the construction of a house for a deserving member of the Agnesian family during the Christmas season. A short documentary was shown to the audience on the journey of NAVIDAD through the 25 years.

In her recorded speech played to the audience during the programme, Mrs Merlyn Lobo Brito commended St Agnes College for continuing with the practice for a noble cause consistently for 25 years. This Christmas was drowned by the futile logic of war and even today men, women and children are suffering. Homelessness is on the rise, and there’s no guarantee of housing even in developed countries. In such a scenario, she felt great joy, she said, to acknowledge the fact that St Agnes college had faithfully continued the practice of collecting funds to build a house for a needy person. She prayed that the students at St Agnes would be motivated to contribute to this and more such causes in the future. Success is not what you accomplish in life but what you inspire others to do, she concluded.

During the occasion, a souvenir on NAVIDAD was released by, Sr Dr Maria Roopa, the Joint Secretary of St Agnes Institutions in the presence of the Principal, Sr Dr Venissa AC, the editor of the book, Mrs Sandhya Nayak, Mrs Marjorie Texeira, The Vice President of Agnesian Alumni Association, Mr Ravi Bhat, PTA Vice President and Dr Deviprabha Alva, the show’s convenor.

The Alumni Association then took over the proceedings and put up an enthralling musical evening that brought the young and the old on their feet, swinging to the beat. The “Infra Violet Siblings” and the Agnesian Alumni family gave exceptional performances while Mrs Marjorie Texeira was the force behind the evening’s entertainment.

Malavika Harish of II BCom compered the entire programme. The first event of this year’s NAVIDAD show was the rousing launch of the raffle sale of Aashiyana, and many smaller events such as garage sales, food and games stalls were conducted since then in order to boost the fund collection. Tickets of Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 500 domination were sold and entry to the mega show was accessible through the tickets. Finally, the beneficiary of the fund-raising show was announced. Applications for house renovation/building had been welcomed from support staff and students, and after careful assessment, the beneficiary chosen was Arkadas, of II BCom from Guruvayanakere, Belthangady Taluk. The Vote of thanks was proposed by the show’s convenor Dr Devi Prabha Alva, Associate Professor, Department of Commerce, under whose leadership the silver jubilee celebrations of NAVIDAD was organised with much enthusiasm and energy. DJ Kiran engaged the crowd thereafter and had them moving and grooving to the tunes he played.

The unique Christmas Charity Fundraising project involves management, staff, students, parents, and alumni, contributing to the fulfilment of the prime objective of this best practice which is to instil in students a spirit of compassion while addressing the human right to housing through shelter projects.