Sunday, the 19th of January 2014, was the Commemoration day of the Death Anniversary of Fr. Victor Van Bortel. There was a solemn Celebration of the Eucharist with Fr. Florence Kujur s.j., Principal of St. John’s School, as the main celebrant. After the Mass there was the blessing of the grave. After the breakfast the Old Boys, who were present for the occasion, walked around the campus, recalling the days they had spent in Kishor Nagar.
Old students at the grave
At 10.30 a.m. the group of Alumni gathered in the big Hall for a formal meeting. Fr. Nabor Lakra, Vice-Principal of St. Xavier’s College, was the Guest Speaker. Fr. Nabor is the coordinator for the Alumni Associations of Jesuit Schools and colleges of the Ranchi Jesuits. In that capacity he addressed the Old Boys of Kishor Nagar. He briefly explained the activities of Old Boys Associations in educational institutions and the steps to be taken to start such an association.
The first step is to contact as many Old Boys as possible. An ad hoc Committee can take initiative to find out their addresses and get in touch with them. The second step will be to get organised and start a formal association. For this purpose an organising committee has to be formed, which will take charge of organising programmes and activities. The committee has to be constituted with a President/Chairperson, a Secretary, a Treasurer and others members, who can devote time for guiding the association and organising its activities.
The purpose of the Association is to be a bond between the Old Boys, helping them to remain in touch with one another. At the same time the Old Boys are aware that they have received a good education in the Jesuit School/institution and they are keen to give something in return.
Fr. Nabor addressing the meeting of Alumni
To make the Association fully functional it will be required to draw up the statutes of the association.
All the members expressed their readiness to initiate the process of forming an Alumni Association. In order to get things moving a small group will meet soon to prepare a brochure, which can be sent to the old students. As there is already a list of some Old Boys in different parts of the country (Kolkata, Delhi and other places), brochures will be sent to them with a request to collect the addresses of other Old Boys in the same city/place.
It was also agreed to send out an Annual Newsletter and hold a general meeting of Old Boys during the Christmas Holidays this year (i.e. in 2014).
At the end Fr. Walter Beck thanked the Old Students for their participation in the meeting. He also thanked Fr. Nabor for his talk and his presence in the meeting.
Hi it is nice to seep the organization still keeping the spirit of Rev. Fr. Van Vortel. Even I miss him of his drive towards excellence of poor and needy people and their children. I was part of this family since if I remember 1971 to 1980 a child from Mother Teresa Home. Best of Luck. Pascal