HOPE Founder's Day.... Sr. Noelline Pinto
In memoriam of its founder, Sr. Noelline Pinto, H.O.P.E. celebrated its first “Founder’s Day” on 14 August, 2015 – Sr. Noelline’s birthday. About 150 guests followed the invitation and came to H.O.P.E. Centre to spend an afternoon of celebration and commemoration.
Following the example of Sr. Noelline who had rendered love and service to every human being regardless of sex, age, social status, or religion, the theme of the day was “Lived to Love”. The programme started at 4 pm and comprised welcome prayer, facilitation of Chief Guest and Guests of Honor, release of H.O.P.E. magazine, speeches of religious representatives, Sr. Noelline Pinto Awards, facilitation of certificates to women trainees, words of thanks.
Guests of Honour were H.O.P.E. co-founder and trustee, Fr. Francis D’Sa, and Sr. Lucy Kurien. Chief Guest was Group Captain Conrad Dalton, who has commanded Air Force Station Belgaum as the Station Commander. He retired in 2002 and now spends his retired life in multifarious social causes. On Founder’s Day, he gave a speech on the topic of Independence Day that is celebrated on 15 August.
One of the highlights of the programme were the speeches of representatives of different world religions. H.O.P.E. had invited representatives from Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism to speak about love and service to humanity in their respective religions. Their sharing underlined that all religions teach us to uphold and respect life. The Representatives were:
Another special moment came when the Sr. Noelline Pinto Awards were facilitated to long-standing supporters of H.O.P.E. And yet another moment of happiness and pride: 28 women received the certificates for having successfully taken part in one of the skills training programmes H.O.P.E. offers.
Sr. Noelline Pinto Award
She had dedicated her life to the service to the poor and needy: H.O.P.E.’s founder Sr. Noelline Pinto. In remembrance of her life-long work, H.O.P.E. now has created the “Sr. Noelline Pinto Award” to honour schools and institutions that have been associated with H.O.P.E. for a long time giving valuable support in every possible way. The awards were facilitated for the first time on Founder’s Day on 14 August, 2015. Awards went to:
