Social work institute observes founder’s death anniversary
By Thomas Scaria
Mangaluru, June 2, 2023: Roshni Nilaya (house of light) a school of social work in the southern Indian city of Mangaluru, has celebrated its foundation day and the third death anniversary of its founder Olinda Pereira.
At the May 31 function, a book on Pereira’s life and mission was released published by the Center for Leadership and Social Development and Roshni Nilaya.
M. Vijayakumar, the vice chancellor of Mangaluru’s Yenopaya Deemed University and Jesuit human rights activist Father Cedric Prakash jointly released the book, “The Legacy of the Legend.”
Releasing the book, Vijay kumar, said Pereira was not only an educationalist but a woman of empowerment. She built a bridge between education and development, he added.
Father Prakash, who is Pereira’s nephew, in his keynote address on her life and mission, compared the social worker with historic social reformers in India.
“She was a social reformer with multifaceted personality, who always followed a developmental approach with an inclusive ideology,” said Father Prakash, a recipient of several national and international awards for his social work.
“She always stood for equality, fraternity and liberty in her mission, and followed the right attitude, articulation and action,” the Jesuit priest added.
Father Prakash asserted that social work should be a liberative mission from oppressive structures, inequality, cast system and social exclusiveness.
Sister Philomina D’Sa, provincial of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary that manages Roshni Nilaya, said Pereira was an inspiration and motivation for the institution that enkindles its vision, ‘Love made fruitful in service.’
The students of Roshni Nilaya performed a dance drama depicting the life and mission of Pereira.
The event was organized by Roshni Nilaya and Center for Leadership and Social Development, a Roshni Alumni project based in Bengaluru.