After two years of much grey and darkness due to the pandemic, we thought of bringing the colour back to life by organizing some meaningful activities during the summer camp. The summer camp was held at Montfort Bhawan, Sardhana from 18th May to 10th June, 2022. The participants were 7 Pre- Novices and 5 Novices. Bro. Alex Diamond, Director, Montfort Bhawan, Bro. Rakesh Sharma and other college going Brothers (Brothers Rajan, Alok, Prem, Suraj, Fuldeep, Abinash and Bernard) were part of the organizing team.
The long 24 days of camp went off without any boredom because of the exciting activities cum total involvement of the participants. During this camp, we did not want them to be trapped in doing mediocre activities, instead we tried to give them a holistic formation with various useful inputs by keeping their future formation in mind. I personally think that after two years of social distancing, restrictions and lockdowns, we are all craving for a return to more in – person interactions. Although some things have changed we did not want to give up and organized mostly group activities to experience the importance of coming together and learning lessons for life.
During the camp, a few classes on English language speaking and writing skills, Good Manners, importance of silence, life in the Novitiate and Pre- Novitiate were explained. We helped them to make time to learn something new and pursue the talents developed earlier. As physical and mental well-being goes hand in hand, we made them understand the importance of physical activities which lead to a healthy and balanced life.
The following competitions were organized: Group Singing, Solo Singing, Group Dance, Solo Dance, Drawing, Fancy Dress, Mime, Extempore, Basketball, and Badminton. All the participants along with Brothers were part of Church activities during the camp, especially took part in the choir on Sundays. On 5th June, we were part of “Synod 2021-2023: For a Synodal Church - Diocesan Synodal Celebration” in Meerut. The take-away from the gathering was that without having the divine assistance and fresh outpouring of the Spirit we may not be able to have a SYNODAL CHURCH as dreamt by Pope Francis.
Bro. Thampy Alex, the Provincial Superior, visited us on 9th June and spent quality time with the participants. He appreciated the organizing team and encouraged all the participants to become great Brothers with lots of enthusiasm and dedication. He further requested them to be aware of themselves as they are about to enter into an important stage of formation. His presence was a boost to the entire camp as he inspired us all to go ahead with a positive frame of mind.
The camp ended with the concluding ceremony on 10th June. Bro. Balla Francis was the Chief Guest for the same. He enlightened all of us by sharing the importance of vocation, silence, health, and self-discipline. I assume that the camp had a lot of positive vibes and I personally felt that our participants left for Novitiate and Pre- Novitiate with much optimism. Their feedback about the camp was so encouraging and an eye-opener for the organizing team too.