Sadbhav Mahotsav, the annual community festival for farmers, traditional practitioners and villagers from the San Andre Constituency was celebrated on the 28th of September 2024 in collaboration with the Goa Velha Panchayat, at Casa do Povo hall, Goa Velha. It was organised by Sadbhav – an endeavour of the Society of Pilar for fostering interfaith relations and communal harmony. This festival also saw the collaboration of Fr. Agnel College, Pilar; Goa College of Agriculture Old Goa; Dept. of Agriculture (Govt. of Goa); Zonal Agriculture office (Tiswadi) and the seven village panchayats of Curca-Bambolim-Talaulim, Siridao, Batim, Goa Velha, Agacaim, Neura, Mandur-Assosim, located in the San Andre Constituency.
In the morning session dedicated to high school students, saw the participation of over 100 students from six High Schools (St. Lawrence High School, Agacaim, Immaculate Heart of Mary, high school, Goa Velha, Popular High School, Goa Velha, St. Andrew High school, Goa velha, Fr. Agnel Central School, Pilar, Jesus and Mary Sarvajanik High School, Carambolim), in the various interactive learning sessions. It included, Nature Walk, Biodiversity Rangoli, Palm leaf craft and my unique village poster collage. The students also brought along with them natural and traditional assets from their respective villages which they displayed and later explained to other students. The morning session was facilitated by Architect Tallulah D’silva, Mr. Vishal Rawley and interns of Architecture – Nigel, Vardhan, Avni, Ishita and Jithin. The activities made the students aware of their immediate landscape and motivated them to connect to the natural assets around them.
In the afternoon, the farmers, villagers and the students of Fr. Agnel HSS, Fr. Agnel College and Goa Agriculture College took part in the community lunch prepared by the villagers of the seven village panchayats. Fr. Hilario Fernandes led everyone to a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing before the lunch. Post lunch, Fr. Agnel College performed a Street play titled Samudhayik Ekchar written and directed by Asst. Prof. Vindya Gauns of Fr. Agnel College, Pilar, exhorting the audience to respect religious diversity and strengthen inter-religious trust and solidarity. The afternoon session began with the lighting of the lamp followed by an invocation dance by Devyani of Fr. Agnel College, while students of Fr. Agnel HSS, Pilar performed a konkani fugdi, trained by Teacher Roshan Gaonkar. Shri Andre Pereira the sarpanch of Goa Velha welcomed the gathering. Later an informal balcao-style sharing by the farmers and traditional practitioners was facilitated by Agriculturist Miguel Braganza in the presence of Environmentalist Rejendra Kerkar who later shared his inspiring thoughts on preserving our land, promoting agriculture, protecting our natural assets and fostering harmony among people. Jaime Soares, salt harvester from Batim; Krishna Anant Sinari Gaonkar, State awardee for Organic Farming including piggery; Vasudev Kunkolikar, Vegetable farmer from Siridao-Pale; Ana Nunes, Paddy farmer from Goa Velha; and Socorrina Fernandes, sausage maker from Agassaim spoke about their produce, the daily rigour, the legacy, their skill and the cultural and ecological significance.
The facilitators along with the farmers, traditional practitioners and sarpanches were felicitated by Dr. Fr. Ferderico Rodrigues the principal of Fr. Agnel College. The participants had the opportunity to interact with the officials of the Directorate of Agriculture who had set up an exhibition booth to disseminate information on Agriculture and various agricultural schemes. The entire programme was compered by Marisha Gonsalves, a student of Fr. Agnel College. The festival was well planned and executed under the leadership of Fr. Elvis Fernandes, the convenor of Sadbhav, Ms. Irene George (student counsellor) and students of Fr. Agnel College, Pilar.
