The JAAI West Zone Congress 2019 was held on 10-12 May 2019 and  hosted St. Xaviers School, Kolhapur and organized by Xavier’s Ex-Student’s Association, Kolhapur (Xesakop) The venues for the Congress was St Xavier’s High School and Hotel Pavilionn, Kolhapur

The Theme of the congress was Being Responsible

Expected Outcomes for the JAAI West Zone Congress 2019

• Becoming Aware of Individual responsibilities towards Environment – starting from home.
• Identifying specific areas for improvement: as individuals, as business leaders, as corporate citizens, as a network, as alumnus of Schools
• Sharing across JAAI leveraging existing networks

Day 1: 10 May 2019 (Session at St Xavier’s High School, Kolhapur)

Welcome of the Participants
After the registration, all the delegates were welcomed by Mr. Pravin Solanki, Convener, Mr. Babaprasad Lanka, Co-Convener, Mr. Frank Monteiro, Mr. Prasad Gavas in the hall where tea and snacks were served.
As part of the registration each Participant received a Jute bag along with a plantcil – an eco-friendly pencil. A plantcil is made out of recycled paper (unlike a pencil made of tree wood). And also has a capsule with seeds at the end of the plantcil. After using, the plantcil can be planted in the soil.

Welcome and address by Fr. Provincial –
Fr. Denis Borges welcomed the participants. As the host province, Fr. Provincial Andrew Fernandes addressed about 120 delegates from Gujarat, Mumbai, Goa, and Pune Provinces. Keeping in mind the theme of the Congress, a plant was watered through the hands of Fr. Provincial to mark the inauguration of the congress. In his address to the delegates he covered topics such as Jesuit legacy, expectations from the JAAI. He shortly put a light on ‘What does Being Responsible mean’.
The first day’s session concluded with a dinner.

Day 2: 11 May 2019 (Session at Hotel Pavilionn)

Francisco DCosta, President, JAAI West Zone, welcomed participants on behalf of JAAI.
Pravin Solanki, Convenor, welcomed the participants on behalf of Xesakop.
Fr James Thorat, Pune Provincial Coordinator, welcome participants and spoke briefly about St Xavier’s and JAAI and the Congress.
The Chief Guest, Dr Devanand Shinde, Vice-Chancellor, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, gave a highly motivational key note address. He highlighted the difference between a house and a home and said that the topic chosen was appropriate. The importance of our homes in our lives and the lives of our loved ones is significant. If the West Zone Congress can help improve the lives in our homes, even in a small way, it would be a good step forward.

Dr Medha Kumthekar gave another inspirational talk on Quality of Life. She started her presentation with a quote from the Rigveda which highlighted the importance of “keeping the Mother Earth in harmony, silence”. She said that Environmental Protection is a Socio-Psychological Process dealing with norms and values. It also deals with complex human behavioural patterns. Dr Kumthekar then proceeded to identify Behavioural Patterns e.g. Anti-Green Characters, Green Consumers, Green Citizens. She also spoke about the Behavioural and Attitudinal change and associated challenges. A couple of interesting videos were also presented. She highlighted various kinds of Interventions, norm managements. She then defined Quality of Life and the importance of Right and Duty. There were a lot of questions and animated discussion.

Dr Nilkanth Shinde, an expert in the area of Energy project management, gave an interesting presentation on Zero Energy Concept. He started with highlighting why we need Energy (to improve GDP) and the mistakes that come about due to mis-management of the same. Countries started generating more and more energy and consuming the same in a race towards development. He then highlighted that , globally, 90% of the Energy comes from Fossil fuels and 60% of CO2 presently comes from Energy conversions. This has led to Global Warming, Ozone Layer depletion, change in bio-diversity. He highlighted the impacts if the Global temperature increases by 0.8 deg C, 3 deg C, and higher too ! He then proceeded to identify ways and means to correct the mistakes – starting at our homes. Various forms of energy consumption such as electricity, gas, fuels, foods were highlighted. The concept of Net Zero Energy and Balance was introduced. He then presented a case study for a family of 4 to Balance their CO2 emission. He concluded highlighting the importance of Technology (such as Solar) in reducing the CO2 emissions.

Ar Anjali Jadhav gave an innovative presentation on Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ). She started with a quote from the Buddha which highlighted our duty of keeping our body in good health so that we can keep our mind strong and clear. We spend more than 75% of our time indoors and it is important to understand the quality of the environment inside our homes. IEQ deals with: Indoor Air Quality, Light Quality, Sound/Acoustical Comfort, Odour Quality, Comfort. Indoor air pollution is one of the largest concerns highlighted by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The level of indoor pollutants is about 5 times that of outdoor pollutants. This leads to short term problems (such as headaches, nasal congestion) to long term problems (such as coma). Ar Anjali then highlighted typical sources of Indoor Air Pollution in an office building. She then presented parameters that could be measured. In terms of Light Quality, improper and poor lighting and effects were presented. Sound comfort, Odour Quality and Human Comfort were then highlighted. Ar Anjali also presented how to achieve IEQ in home and office and maintain the same. A Case study was also presented which had implemented the principles. Participants felt that they had learnt something new.

The Post lunch session started with John Neelankavil presenting the JAAI and WUJA Structures that revealed the big picture to the Alumni. The structure was well explained making the overall organization clearer to the participants.

This was followed by the Being Responsible Workshop conducted by Babaprasad Lanka and Anthony D’Souza. The Workshop suggested a methodology for computing the Carbon Footprint of an individual based on two bills: Electricity and Fuel bill. The exercises were conducted in Groups and there was good participation. Some of the exercises were easy but for some others it was felt that some kind of tabular format with values could have been provided so that it could have been conducted quicker. The methodology was well appreciated and the participants felt it could be taken forward in Schools and also practised individually.
The soft copies of the presentations were made available to the participants.

The Post tea session was all about presentations from Alumnus across provinces.

Dr Vipul Trivedi made a presentation on “Go Green” highlighting various aspects.

Shapath Shah and Bhowmik Thakar presented on the Gujarat Province activities (also called JAAG). This is a supercharged group and several activities of the alumnus were highlighted. The JAAG associations regularly conduct medical camps, career counselling, blood donations. The group contributed over Rs 30 lac for the Kerala Relief Fund. JAAG has always raised their hand and are willing to walk the extra mile. APX highlighted their annual Calendar and Signature Events. They also spoke about JAAG and the structure and good practices such as the Leadership Quality and the Legacy they take forward.

Gerry Mascarenhas presented on the various activities of the Mumbai Province (JAAB). These included Teacher’s Healthcare, Nutrition program, Annual Inter-Jesuit Alumni Football, Child Rights, Child Protection, Bringing eco-awareness through the School diary of each student, Child Parliaments. Major support provided for setting up Autonomous System at St Xavier’s College. Gerry highlighted a pain area for Alumni to have a seamless online donation system.

Fr Robert Das presented on “Some Eco-Friendly Initiatives in Jesuit Schools” and mentioned that our Aspirations should be better channelled through appropriate Advocacy. He concluded by saying that Ecological issues are Social issues.

Conrad Gonsalves presented on the Human Life Cycle and the need for Smart Spaces for Seniors including interaction, general well-being and indoor environment quality. Prasad Gavas presented about the activities of Xesakop. The Golden Jubilee celebrations had several highlights. He also covered the Tree Plantation, blood donation camps, cricket pitch donated to School, health cards to Ex-Teachers , the plastic rally cyclothon. He ended with a tribute to the Swachtadhoots for their dedication in cleaning up the streets and shared his own humbling experience.

Emmanuel Furtado spoke about the initiatives taken by the Goa and Belgaum Alumnus.

Day 3: 12 May 2019: Feedback and Concluding Session (At St Xavier’s High School)

The day started with a visited to the New Palace, Kolhapur and meeting with the Royalty - Princess Madhurimaraje Chhatrapati. The Princess explained the various artefacts of the Palace bringing alive the rich legacy. She was gracious and hospitable.

• Gerry Mascarenhas felt that the main take back was to take forward the Carbon Footprint workshop forward to Schools and students. He felt that an online application or an easier way to take inputs would help.
• Dr Vipul Trivedi appreciated the overall management of the Congress. He mentioned that his take away was to see how to change lifestyle to an extent. E.g. sharing a ride, better usage of lights, and energy appliances. Nourishing the youngsters by alerting and practicing changes in lifestyle of students, parents is importing. He also felt that Government Legislation is important and cited the Bhutan Constitution.
• Emmanuel Furtado thanked Xesakop and St Xavier’s High School for the overall management of the Congress. He said his take home was more awareness including things like opening the tap a little less.
• Father Charles praised the Expert Speakers and Hospitality.
• Bhowmik Thakar mentioned that reducing carbon footprint was important. He felt that the methodology suggested in the Workshop could be made more interesting by providing a gamification interface. Need to put in efforts, incentives to inculcate values into Students. He also felt that by and large no one would want to waste energy unnecessarily but lack awareness of the wasteful habits. There is a need to incentivise and come up with a blue print that can be taken forward.
• John Neelankavil said that education, awareness, planning and control are key. The ideas are good and can be taken up at a National level too. John appreciated the efforts and also the Palace Tour. He specifically appreciated the Gujarat Team’s participation.
• Conrad Gonsalves felt that the Event was well organized. The various topics covered were original, significant and could be taken forward.
• Robin Baros appreciated Father James Thorat and the team’s effort. He expressed concern on the Global Warming situation. He had a great time and sessions were informative and can be taken forward to Schools
• Richard Fernandes, representing VOBA, complemented Father Thorat and the team.
• Father Charles shared a concern as a Jesuit. While the Congress was organized well, there should have been better coordination within Poona province. Better integration between the Schools in the Province would have helped better integration and registration. He felt local participation was also less. Gerry replied that the number of Active Alumnus are less and felt, in his view, that more support was required from the PCAs. Father Charles mentioned in terms of financial commitment, the host institution has to be the major contributor and support from other Schools/Alumnus in the Province is required. Better engagement with School Principals is required.
• Darshan Jhaveri, speaking on behalf of Gujarat team, mentioned that focus on reducing carbon footprint via reduce, recycle, reuse is important. He also said that we should teach differently to children by helping them identify their needs and wants. The “needs” should be done and “wants” should be reduced. These attitudes will help reduce wastage.
• Jitendra Bamane felt that the consistency in the theme was reflected in the Speaker’s presentation. He also share his own personal experience of cycling everywhere.

A common conclusion was that the Methodology suggested for Measurement of Carbon Footprint of an individual and reduction of the same should be suitably packaged for easy calculations and implemented across schools through the students to impact the family units and to raise responsible future generations.

Formation of new JAAI West Zone Council Group
The new JAAI West Zone Council Group was setup as per the JAAI norms. The New West Zone Council Members and the Office Bearers :

From Pune Province:

• Mr BabaPrasad Lanka
• Mr Dattaprasanna Singbal
• To be Nominated

From Goa Province:

• Mr Francis da Costa
• Mr Emmanuel Furtardo
• Mr Robin Baros

From Bombay Province

• Mr Ashish Godse
• Mr Vincent Lobo
• Mr Benison

From Gujarat Province

• Mr Ravi Chhabra
• Mr Shrider Derasari
• Mr Janak Bhatt

JAAI West Zone Council Office Bearers

• President Mr Richard Fernandes\
• Secretary Mr Ravi Chhabra
• Treasurer Mr Vincent Lobo
• Jt Secretary Mr Shrider Derasari