Mangaluru: The Catholic Sabha Mangalore Pradesh City Varado Level Elocution Competition was held at St Lawrence English Medium School Bondel on Sunday, 19 Nov 2023 at 3 p.m. The programme began by invoking God’s blessings through a beautiful prayer song.
The competition was held at St Lawrence English Medium School in Konkani and Kannada, respectively. There were five categories. Seventy children and youth participated in the competition and exhibited their oratory skills. There were three prizes, namely, first, second, and third. The prize included a certificate and a cash reward. Recognising the effort put in by the participants to prepare for the competition, those who could not make it to the top three were awarded a participation certificate and a cash prize.
Rev Fr Andrew Leo D’Souza Parish Priest, Rev Fr Peter Gonsalves –Principal St Lawrence English Medium School, Wilfred Alvares-President City Varado, Henbert Pinto-President Bondel Unit, Vilma Monteiro General Secretary /Secretary City Varado, John D’Silva Vice President Parish Pastoral Council Bondel Parish, Stephen D’Silva Competition Convener , Elocution Judges of the Competition from Pezar Varado: Delcy Rodrigues, Ruben D’Souza, Arun D’Souza, Stany Rodrigues, Sharon Mendonca, Pachhu Ferar were on dais.
• While thanking the organisers, on behalf of the judges, Delcy Rodrigues shared her feelings as the quality of competition was at a premium and informed her and her judge friends that she and her friends had really a tough time making a choice. She also congratulated all the participants for their wonderful show of quality speeches on this stage and wished the winners all the very best in the next or final level.
• The competition was presided over by Rev. Fr Peter Gonsalves. “The pen is sharper than the sword, words are sharper than swords, and elocution competitions are an excellent way for children to express their oratory talents. Children are the leaders, innovators, change-makers, and dreamers of tomorrow. If today’s children are directed down the correct path, they can assure us of a bright and proud tomorrow.
Rev. Fr Andrew Leo D’Souza, in his addres, said that the Catholic Sabha has provided an excellent opportunity to budding youth leaders to sharpen and fine-tune their public speaking skills in Kannada and Konkani for the last couple of decades.
Rev Father congratulated all the participants, parents, and Catholic Sabha members. Vilma Monteiro introduced the judges, Guests at the dais distributed the prizes for winners and participants with cash prizes and certificates. The vote of thanks was given by Stephen D’Silva. The programme was compered by Flavia Moras from Kelarai Parish
