Lions club of Moodubelle hosts regional conference

By Dr. Eugene D’Souza, Moodubelle
Pics by Anil Alva

Moodubelle, 15 February 2010: The Regional Conference of  Region VI of the Lion District 324-D4 was held at Lions Seva Bhavan, Moodubelle on Sunday, 14th February 2010at  from 4pm to 8.30pm. The Conference was attended by 450 delegates and invitees from different Lions Clubs in the Region VI.

The Lion District 324-D4 covering the districts of  Udupi, Davanagere, Shimoga and Chitradurga in the Karnataka State has 65 Lions Clubs which are divided into six regions. Region VI has nine Lions Clubs with MJF Ln. Devdas Hebbar of Lions Club Moodubelle as its Chairman. Region VI include the Lions Clubs of-Karkala, Manipal, Padubidri, Moodubelle, Udyavara, Pernal, Shirva, Belman and Mundkur with a total membership of 295.

The chief guest of the Regional Conference- Ln. Kripa Amar Alva and guests of honour- Commodore Valentine Sequeira and Rev. Fr. Joswey Fernandes were received ceremoniously at the entrance of the Lions Seva Bhavan, Moodubelle with the band from St. Lawrence English Medium School in attendance. The senior students of the school presented the Guard of Honour to the chief guest and the guests of honour.
At 5pm, after the dignitaries were requested to take their seats on the dais, the Regional Chairman MJF Ln. Devdas Hebbar called the Conference to order. Following the prayer, the National Flag was hoisted with the guard of honour while the band played the National Anthem. Thereafter, all the assembled members observed one minute silence for world peace. As a mark of respect to the departed soul of late Subraya Hebbar, father of MJF Ln. Devdas Hebbar, the Regional  Chairman, another minutes silence was observed.

The stage programme began with the welcome dance presented gracefully by the children from the Church Aided Higher Primary School, Moodubelle.

The delegates from different Lions Club in Region VI were welcomed by the Chairman of the Regional Conference Committee, MJF Ln. Commodore Jerome Castelino, VSM. Following the welcome address, Lioness Chandrika Hebbar, First Lady of the Region inaugurated the conference and banners were presented to the nine Lions Clubs of Region VI.

Lns. Dr. Asha P. Shetty of the Lioness Club of Udyavara introduced the chief guest, Ln. Kripa Amar Alva.  Born in a Bunt family, Ln. Kripa Amar Alva had her education in Chennai, Mumbai, Baroda and Mangalore. She has a post graduate degree in History and also has the distinction of being the top ranker in the Karnataka State Senior Bharatnatyam Examination. Ln. Kripa Amar Alva is the managing partner of Amarnath exports, Amarnath Builders and Mangalore Utsav Event Management Company. She is the charter member of the first ladies Lions Club of Mangalore founded in 1994 and held practically all posts in the club and the district level. Ln. Kripa Amar Alva has the honour of  being  the first lady District Governor of the District 324-D5 in the Karnataka State in 2005-06 and first lady Multiple Chairperson of Multiple District 324 covering all six states of South India in 2006-07. She is the recipient of the Doctorate degree conferred by the Cosmopolitan University of USA for Social Service. She has won many awards in various fields.

In her address to the delegates at the conference, Ln. Kripa Amar Alva said  that Lions Club Movement  is the largest organisation that renders service throughout the world. But still there is need to do more specially in India.

The introduction of the guest of honour Commodore Valentine Sequeira was given by MJF Ln.  N.M. Hegde of Lions Club of Belman. Born on 25th may 1950 at Kinnigoli, Commodore Valentine Sequeira had his initial education up to SSLC at the Pompei School, Aikala, PUC in St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, engineering degree from the National Institute of Technology at Suratkal and M. Tech. Degree from the IIT at Karaghpur. Commodore Valentine Sequeira joined the ship building department of the Indian Navy in 1974 and played an important role in the construction of the indigenous naval ship ‘Godavari’.  He has been chiefly responsible for saving several thousand crores of rupees in foreign exchange for the Indian government by innovating indigenous steel for the construction of  Indian naval ships. For this achievement, Commodore Valentine  was conferred with the prestigious‘Agni’ Award by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2007. After serving for 33 years in the Indian Navy, Commodore Valentine Sequeira retired in 2007. Presently he is serving as the head of the Bhharati Ship Builders Company.

Speaking  on the environment and development, Commodore Valentine Sequeira said that there is need to develop the coastal region of Karnataka. The region is lagging behind in industry and development because of misconception regarding the environment.

Fr. Joswey Fernandes, the parish priest of St. Lawrence Church Moodubelle in his message to the Conference emphasised on the need for harmony among the people following different religions.

Ln. William D’Sa (Willie Master) who was the recipient of  the Karnataka Rajya Prashasthi on 3rd December 2009 was  at the Conference for  his great achievement. 

The past District Governor, MJF Ln. Wilfred D’Souza addressing the Conference promised a donation of Rs.50,000/- to start a Corpus in the Lions Club of Moodubelle  for the education of the poor children. He made an appeal to other members to contribute according to their ability so that the Corpus would grow. MJF Ln. Wilfred D’Souza expressed the hope that no child in Moodubelle would remain uneducated because of poverty.

In his presidential message, MJF Ln. Devdas Hebbar said that while people render their service to the society many will appreciate their work, but  at the same time some may criticise. However, those who render selfless service to the society should not be demoralised because of the criticism by few misguided individuals, but continue their service to the greater good of the society.

The Bhatatanatyam by  Kum. Jeshwita Mathias whose education has been sponsored by the Lions Club of Moodubelle was greatly appreciated by all the delegates for her agility and graceful presentation.

The entire programme was anchored by Lns. Lilly Lobo in a time bound schedule. At the end of the Conference, the vote of thanks was proposed by  the Secretary of Regional Conference Committee, Ln. Henry Fernandes and the National Flag was lowered with the guard of honour and the band playing the last post.

Regional Conference is an occasion during which all the clubs of the region meet and take stock of the progress of the service activities undertaken during the year and also chalk out road map to complete the remaining portion of service projects.  By the end of May 2010, Region VI  has plans to carry out  service projects to the extent of Rs. 1.25 crores primarily in the following fields: Education, Vocational Training, Environment, Health for all, Care for girl child, Aids awareness and Image building. So far, the Lions Clubs in the Region VI have been able to complete the projects to the extent of Rs.65 lakhs and are expected to reach the target by the end of June 2010.

The Regional Conference Committee that was instrumental in organizing the Regional Conference at Moodubelle on Sunday 14th February 2010 was constituted under the Chairmanship of  MJF Ln. Commodore Jerome Castelino, VSM, retired Naval Officer. Ln. Henry Fernandes was its Secretary and  MJF Ln. Benedict Martis was its Treasurer. MJF. Ln. Elias Lobo was the Chairman of the Registration Committee.