Brother Paul Macwan sj During the Gujarat Province semianr 2013

Ever joyful Paul

Brother Paul Macwan RIP -2

Dear Agnelo,

That was truly sad news of the death of our co-Novice and friend Paul Macwan.

Besides the nearly 4 years in Vinayalaya with him, I was privileged to be in that team of 4 Jesuits viz. Pierre Ceyrac, John Bingham, Paul Macwan and myself who were assigned to work in the Refugee Camp of Phanat Nikhom i.e. from October 1980 till March 1981.  Both of us have been given permission for 6 months only.  This camp was a sort of transit camp where most of the 18,000 or so refugees had been accepted for migration to third countries and had to be cared for until such time that they got official immigration documents.  Most of them were educated Cambodians who had been in the Pol Pot camps and had escaped to Thailand before and after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge.

JRS had not yet been started when we started our Mission.  We went there on behalf of Caritas International and were working under umbrella of the organisation of the Thailand Bishops known as COERR (Catholic Office of Emergency Relief and Refugees).  Paul did a wonderful job there and was immediately given the responsibility by the UNHCR for constructing houses for the Refugees.

If it was not for Br. Paul, who gave me tremendous support and encouragement, I would have not done the little that I could do there.  He had a very close contact with people.  In the Thai town of Phanat Nikhom where we were staying, he got into contact with people.  Very soon he was conducting evening classes in English for some older persons (a couple of them teachers).  In due course he got me involved.  He would take classes for 2 of them and I would take classes for the other 2.  Then, because of his close contact with the Refugees, he realised that many of the Refugees, when they were accepted by 3rd countries were leaving with very little.  He approached me and we both decided to do something.  I got into contact with the Mission Procurators of Germany and Switzerland and very soon started getting financial support from them.  I had told Paul that I would help raise the funds but he had to plan what to do with them.

As soon as we had the funds, he approached two of the Thai ladies whom we were teaching English and they agreed to drive us to Bangkok on a Saturday where we would go to the shopping centre and buy clothes, bags, suitcases and other things needed by the Refugees.etc..  We would then take these to the camps and Paul would be the one who would give them to those who were the next on the list for flying out to either France/USA/Australia or some other country.

With these few paragraphs I just want to say "THANK YOU PAUL!  Thank you for having made those 6 months in Phanat Nikhom so special for me.  May God bless you abundantly for what you have done for so many of us."

All the best Agnelo.  Thank you for keeping me informed.

Brother Paul macwan RIP - 25th Dec 2014

R.I.P.

Br. Paul Macwan (GUJ) 76/53, died in an  accident between Umerpada and Mandvi  this evening on 25 Dec 2014. He was traveling with Fr.Aubrey Fernandes, who is hospitalized now.

May the soul of the departed  rest in peace.

Kindly click on the link to view " A journey of 50 Years in the Society"

Br Paul Macwan SJ

Br. Paul Macwan was inspired to join the Society while he was doing his primary school at Nadiad, by observing the saintly life of Br. Augustine Lobo. He joined the novitiate at Vinayalaya, Mumbai, in 1961.

After spending four years in Vinayalaya, for his noviciate and juniorate, he was sent to De Nobili College, Pune. That was his home for 15 years till 1980. He was moulded there and had been in charge of several offices, including being the first Brother Minister of De Nobili College. He was the founding member of De Nobili College Trust.

In 1980, he was sent to the Thailand Border to serve the refugees of Cambodia and Vietnam, at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees. Paul was in charge of coordinating the construction works, sanitation, electricity and water supply of the camp for over 50,000 refugees. He received a letter of merit from the UN High Commission and a congratulation letter from the then General Fr. Aruppe.

In 1981, Paul was sent to Dediapada and worked there for seven years as Treasurer, Farm Manager, In Charge of Social Work and Secretary of Adivasi Samajik Kendra Dediapada, Relva and Nani Sigloti. He collaborated with Fr. Berechi in starting the first educational project in South Gujarat, opening three Primary schools, a High school and later on a Higher Secondary school. At the same time He was asked by Fr. Berechi to improve the management of the milk cooperative society. So he went to NDDB, Anand for a course in the relevant skills.

From Dediapada he was sent to Africa (Ethiopia). It was one of his dreams fulfilled. He was given charge as Field Director of JRS, and had to oversee a huge multi project: establishing 70,000 displaced people of that country. The project was contracted with the government of Ethiopia which acknowledged the JRS project as a model project. There too Paul was given a letter of appreciation by the Ministry of Health. The Provincial of East Africa with the approval of the Gujarat Provincial, wanted to send him to Somalia for refugee work there.

In the meantime he was asked do join his tertianship at Bangalore in1989. At Bangalore he also did a diploma course in catechetic. Since he could not obtain a visa to Somalia, he was sent to Khambhat mission in 1990.

At Khambhat he worked for eight years as an Administrator, Treasurer and the director of Agricultural project, building the high school, hostel, renovating the Fathers’ residence and building a compound wall. He was also in charge of buying land and building a school, hostels and a convent at Varasada and the Shrine and the Retreat House in Nagra. He also took care of the construction of the extension of St Xavier’s, Gandhinagar.

The sudden demise of Fr. Herero at Ankleshwar resulted in the transfer of Paul to he take charge of completing the construction of one wing of the Technical school and the fathers’ residence at Catholic Church, Ankleshwar.

In 1998 he was called to Premal Jyoti, Ahmedabad, to work in the Province Curia. He was appointed Province Treasurer, the first Brother to hold the job. He was also the Province Revisor of Arcarum and Domorum and the Director of XKM Vehicle Office. He was a secretary and treasurer of the Province-run trusts including the Secretary of Xavier Kelvani Mandal Pvt. Ltd. He resided with the community of Gurjarvani. There too he was made Secretary of the Gurjarvani Society and given the charge to supervise the building of the Parish Church (Prayer Hall) on the college campus.

Paul had been trustee of several trusts and had taken keen interest in the development of many centres. Paul was very reliable. He was very good in human relationships. He made friends easily and his friendships lasted long. He was a good administrator, and good at organizing things. He was good at accounts. He was creative. He wrote and spoke well, especially in Gujarati. Before joining the Society he had written a play which was staged at the Town Hall in Baroda.

Since Last 20 years he was assisting a centre for the handicapped children run by an ex-Jesuit Brother at Inderanaj in Varasada mission.

In 2010, he was given a year off to study scripture, Catholic doctrine and catechetics to help in the Pastoral line and for his own spiritual good. In 2014, he was appointed, Treasurer, Building Incharge and Farm Incharge at Nanisingaloti.

Fr.Lawrence Dharmaraj SJ

Socius

Human rights day

Advent 2014 2nd Sunday - James B Dabhi sj - Gujarati talk

ALLWYN FERNANDEZ PASSES AWAY

ALLWYN FERNANDES PASSES AWAY, CHURCH AND CIVIL SOCIETY MOURN THE LOSS OF A BRAVEHEART

                                                                                        -by JOHN DAYAL

ALLWYN FERNANDES, veteran journalist, communication consultant and lay Catholic activist, expired late on Tuesday evening in Mumbai after a two year battle with cancer which he fought as tenaciously as he had fought many social ills in his long and distinguished career.

He is survived by his  wife Enid, children Rohini and Rohan. He is mourned by a large circle of friends in the Media, Politics, civil society and  management circles, including a large number of students he mentored over the decades. His death was announced in social media by Fr Cedric Prakash, SJ, the noted human rights activist and a close friend.

Allwyn Fernandes, born 1 June 1948, headed the Media Practice and conducts Media and Crisis Management Training for Edelman India Pvt. Ltd. Drawing on his 25 years of media experience with The Times of India, Mumbai,  where he held several senior positions, he has been counseling a wide range of global clients on media strategy and sensitivity for almost 20 years. He headed the Communications Skills Training for company spokespersons, Crisis Management Training for senior management and media awareness sessions for key executives, helping them to understand what media is looking for and avoid needless conflict.

Allwyn  conducted media training sessions for senior management of several global and Indian companies including the Tata Group, GE, Citibank, J&J, Wal-Mart, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and technology companies like Yahoo!

Besides media  training, Allwyn was been involved in several crisis management situations and public affairs campaigns that involved spokespersons training. He was invited to share his experiences on "Biotechnology in Asian Agriculture – Generating Public Support" at the Asian Agriculture Congress at Manila in April 2001.

Allwyn majored in Physics-Mathematics from St Xavier’s College (Bombay University in 1969) and then did his journalism from Bhavan’s College of Mass Communication and the International Institute for Journalism in Berlin.

============

May ALLWYN rest in peace!

He is definitely enjoying the eternal happiness to which he has been called to!I have the consolation of spending value time with him on November 10th and again on Nov 14th and finally on November 30th..He was prepared for THAT FINAL CALL! A great soul who has contributed so much to Church and society...A totally authentic and committed person..WE WILL MISS YOU DEAR ALLWYN!!!
His funeral mass will take place on Wednesday December 3rd 2014 at 4.00 pm at St Vincent Palloti Church (Marol Maroshi) , Marol Mumbai followed by burial at St John the Evangelist burial ground Marol

Ancy S DSouza Paladka

Very sad to inform you that my friend and Communications Professional Allwyn Fernandes expired today 2 December 2014 at 11 pm

He was a well known Communications Professional, a compulsive communicator! He spent the first 25 years of his working life as a full-time journalist and the last 17 years in corporate communications.

He was Senior Asst Editor (1969 - 1994) of The Times of India:
He has been a ANZA High School Teacher, 1966 - 1969
He used was do Media Practice for Edelman India since 1994

He did Advanced Journalism, (1979 - 1979) at Int. Institute for Journalism, Berlin
Journalism Course (1969 - 1970) at RP College of Mass Communication
College in Physics-Maths, (1966 - 1969) at St Xavier's
Schooling (1960 - 1965) at Fatima High SchoolHigh School
Primary (1954 - 1960) at St Ignatius High School Primary & Middle School

He also used to do lot of communications skills training and crisis management. He has been a teacher in journalism schools, written books (the last one being on the late consumer activist and India's Ralph Nader, M.R. Pai). He used to network a great deal in person and on the Internet through discussion groups.

Contacts:
+91- 98 200 48601
Tel: 29253152 /29207125 --->29253152
Res: Flat 11, Prerna, Military Road, Marol, Andheri (E), Mumbai 400 059

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