District governor Dr. T. Basavaraj pays official visit to lions club of Moodubelle

Report and Pictures by Anil Alva

Moodubelle, 05 March 2010: A special programme was organised by the Lions Club of Moodubelle to welcome the Lions District Governor (324-D4) MJF. Ln. Dr. T. Basavaraj on Thursday, 4th March 2010 at 7.30 pm. The programme was presided over by MJF. Ln. Benedict Martis, President of Lions Club, Moodubelle.

After the preliminaries, Leo Roshan D’Souza read out the report of the various activites conducted by the Lions Club of Moodubelle during the last year. The treasurer of the Lions Club of Moodubelle, Ln. Henry Fernandes presented a cheque of Rs. 82,000/- to Fr. Paul Sequeira, Principal of St. Lawrence Composite PU College. This amount is towards the Fund constituted on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebration of St. Lawrence High School in December 2009 to finance the studies of the poor students.

In his brief response, Fr. Paul Sequeira said that he accepted the cheque with great gratitude on behalf of the Correspondent of St. Lawrence Educational Institutions, Fr. Joswey Fernandes and greatly appreciated the generous contribution of the Lions Club of Moodubelle towards the education of the poor students of the institutions. He also reminded the gathering that the Midday Meal scheme that the Lions Club of Moodubelle had started on the initiative taken by Commodore Jerome Castelino some years ago, is being carried forward by the school management in a well organised manner.

The Education Trust that was started by Prof. Wilfred D’Souza with his initial donation of Rs. 50,000/- on the occasion of the Regional Conference held on 14th February 2010 swelled to rupees one lakh when some of the generous members of the Lions Club of Moodubelle made their contributions during the programme. This Education Trust meant to help the poor, but bright students of St. Lawrence Educational Institutions irrespective of religious or caste affiliations is expected to grow further during the coming years.

Leo Melinda Lobo introduced the District Governor, Dr. T.Basavaraj. Born on 4th January 1951 in the Jigali village in Davanagere, Dr. T. Basavaraj acquired the MBBS degree from the JJM Medical College of Davanagere in 1981. He started the Ashoka Clinic at Malebennur and became popular among the people of the surrounding villagers by rendering dedicated medical service. He has been a member of Indian Red Cross Society, State Science Council and Kannada Sahitya Parishad. In 1983, Dr. Basavaraj became a member of the Malebennur Lions Club and successively became its President, Zone Chairman, Zone Advisor, and Region Chairman. He was instrumental in starting the Lions School in Malebennur in 1992. In 2008-09, Dr. Basavaraj was the Vice District Governor and was honoured by being elected as the District Governor during the present year (2009-10).

In his address, Dr. Basavaraj appreciated the good work that the Lions Club of Moodubelle has been doing in the field of promoting health and education in the village. He emphasised on ‘unity in diversity’ and pointed out that the Lions Club Movement is the best example of this ideal.

During a brief ceremony three new members were inducted into the Lions Club of Moodubelle by the visiting District Governor, Dr. Basavaraj. They were introduced by the Region Chairman-Mr. Devdas Hebbar. These three new members are: Mr. Gilbert Braganza, Dr. Eugene D’Souza and Mr. Denis Martis.

Mr. Gilbert Braganza is originally from Virajpet in South Coorg and presently resides at Belwai near Moodubidre. He had retired from the Mechanical and Engineering branch of the Indian Army after serving for twenty years with Junior Commissioned Officer’s rank of Naib Subedar. Presently, Mr. Gilbert Braganza is the Principal of St. Mary’s ITI, Udupi and also the Vice President of Ex-Servicemen’s Association of Udupi District.

Dr. Eugene D’Souza, who had retired from teaching profession in Mumbai is presently in Moodubelle and is the Media Coordinator of Bellevision in Moodubelle. Mr. Denis Martis is the son of Ln. Albert Martis of Kattingeri who had been the Leo in the Lions Club of Moodubelle. After the induction, the three new members lighted the lamp.

The Appreciation Resolution on the occasion of the official visit of the District Governor was read out by Ln. Ignatius Monis which was presented by the President of the Lions Club of Moodubelle-MJF Ln Bebedict Martis to Dr. T. Basavaraj.

After the speeches by some of the dignitaries, the vote of thanks was presented by Leo Bradly Martis and the programme ended with National Athem followed by dinner.

The guests who attended the programme included-Ln Prabhakar Shetty-Zone Chaiarman (Zone II), Ln. Chandrahas Suvarna, Region Advisor (Region VI), Lns. Vidya C. Rao- Lioness Coordinator, MJF Ln. Wilfred D’Souza, former District Governor, Ln. Rudre Gowda, Cabinet Secretary and Ln. Jayakar Shetty, First Vice District Governor. The members of the Moodubelle Lions Club, Lionesses and Leos were present in large numbers.

The entire programme was compeered by Leo Brenda Martis with the assistance from MJF Ln Commodore Jerome Castelino. Ms. Brenda also sang few songs to entertain the audience.