Diwali,
the grand Indian festival of lights, was ushered in by Infrastructure Leasing
& Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), at a unique celebration held at its
offices in Mumbai. Kripa Foundation was invited to participate in these
festivities, held in a ‘mela’ ( village fair) like ambience, to create a
general awareness about the NGO’s pioneering activities in the field of helping
drug and alcohol addicts recover from their vices and assisting HIV/AIDS
victims, along with other marginalized sections of the society.
The
corporate Diwali celebration, held at IL & FS headquarters at the
Bandra-Kurla Complex featured, among other attractions, a Henna (mehndi) art
stall, ‘Rangoli’ ( art of making designs using colored marble dust on floors)
and a ‘Kathputli (Indian traditional puppets) show. Invitees and guests were
treated to a sumptuous Diwali feast.
A
five-member team from Kripa Bandra, led by Brett Rodricks and four recovering
addicts participated in these celebrations, with a stall at the venue. Kripa
volunteers educated IL&FS employees, their families and guests about the
hazards of drug and alcohol abuse and how to avoid falling prey to these deadly
vices. They also detailed the Kripa Model, which focuses on a three-dimensional-
physical, mental and spiritual-recovery of addicts, through a PowerPoint
presentation. Volunteers helped dispel various myths about HIV and AIDS,
especially over methods of HIV contagion. The team spoke of their personal
experiences in combating addiction.
In line with assisting marginalized sections
of the society, Brett and his team offered for sale, earthen Diwali lamps, hand
crafted and skillfully decorated by residents of Kripa’s Dharavi Street Children
Project and gift envelopes made by patients at Kripa’s rehabilitation center in
Bandra (West), as well as other merchandise aimed at spreading awareness
against substance abuse. “IL & FS is pleased that Kripa Foundation educated
our staff and visitors, most of whom are young and parents, against the evils
of substance abuse and common myths about HIV and AIDS. Kripa’s presence helped
us give an educational angle to these celebrations. We are confident that
awareness and knowledge shared by the Kripa team will help our beloved ones stay off substance abuse,” said Kajal Sadhnani,
spokeswoman, IL &FS.
“We
were overwhelmed by the response from visitors to the Kripa stall and are happy
we were able to create awareness against substance abuse, HIV/ AIDS and
their preventions.” said Brett, adding Kripa Foundation is grateful to IL & FS for
inviting the organization to participate in the day-long event.
Submitted by
Ashwin Honawar
Photographs
Brett Rodriqgues
Collage
Newsdesk
