The 16th JAAI - South Zone Jesuit Alumni Congress was held at St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru in Karnataka from 27-28 May 2022.The theme ‘Accompanying Youth in the Creation of a Hope Filled Future'. Organisers, speakers and delegates from five provinces came together in exploring different aspects to echo the Motto of the Jesuit Alumni Association of India (JAAI), that is ‘To give and not to count the cost’.

The inauguration ceremony was highlighted by release of the book on 'St Ignatius of Loyola cannon Balled to Sainthood' marking the Ignatian Year authored by Prof. Edmund Frank.

The registration counters opened at Gelge Hall by 1.30 PM on 27th of May 2022. There was an overwhelming response from five
provinces – Karnataka, Kerala, Madurai, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Twenty five Jesuit Priests among 168 delegates participated in this event.

The cultural programme and fellowship meal were moved to the St Aloysius Institute of Management and Information Technology (AIMIT) Campus in Beeri. Buses were arranged to transport the delegates to and fro. The evening's highlight was an hour's cultural spectacle, which was followed by a grand fellowship dinner.

The inauguration commenced at 3.00 PM IST at the Fr. L F Rasquinha Hall, LCRI Block. Rev. Fr. Dionysius Vaz SJ, the Provincial of Karnataka was the Chief Guest at the inaugural presided by the Rector Rev. Fr. Melwin Pinto SJ. Mr Chenthal Kumar, National President JAAI; Rev. Fr. Swebert DSilva SJ, Province Coordinator Alumni, Karnataka and Mr Krishna Reddy, President, South Zone JAAI were the special invitees.

Session I : Resource Person Mr MV Nair, Chairman - Trans Union CIBIL, Eminent Aloysian Awardee 2022

Topic: The Role of Alumni In Promoting Entrepreneurship Among Youth -Start Ups -Incubation.

Chief Guest : Rev. Fr Bujji Babu SJ

Moderator: Prof. Edmund Frank

The resource person was Mr M.V Nair, Chairman- Trans Union CIBIL, Eminent Aloysian Awardee 2022. He deliberated on the role of alumni in promoting entrepreneurship among youth – start ups – incubation. Mr Nair presented a few case studies wherein academic partnerships are successful in building start-ups. He highlighted on training programmes, state-of-the-art physical infrastructure and access to a network of like-minded collaborators and partners. He focussed on rigorous research and data driven tools, learning resources and shared insights for enterprising. The areas to focus for NGOs with their proven models was presented. The Digital Health is an area of prominence for research was emphasized.

Session II: Resource Person Dr G Srinikethan, the Director of Technical Research, NITTE Education Trust and former Professor from NITK Surathkal.

Topic:'Engaging the youth in Sustainable Development'

Chief Guest : Rev. Fr Paul Benedict SJ, Province Coordinator of Alumni (PCA) of the Chennai Province

Moderator: Dr Cletus D’Souza the adjunct Professor at St Aloysius College (Autonomous) and the former Professor of Biochemistry from Mysore University.

Rev. Fr Paul Benedict SJ welcomed the speaker, and shared his thoughts on 'engaging the youth in sustainable development'.
Through the interactive session the the delegates from the audience paused questions on the topic.

Report Presentation from Provinces

The contributions made by each alumni organisation in their regions towards Covid-19 relief efforts during the Pandemic, the alumni meetings, blood donation camps, tree plantation, as well as the recognition of staff and exceptional students were the key features of the reports.

Andhra and Telangana reports were presented by Dr Mariadoss, of Chennai by Mr Thomas, Rev Fr Jose Mathew the PCA of Kerala province presented reports of Kerala, Mr L Regis of Madurai, and Me, Mr Naveen Mascarenhas, presented of Karnataka. Mr Candy, Mr Roger, and Dr Charlet Rose Mary Vijaya from Madurai augmented their work at their alumni organisation.

Mr Regis personally requested that the congress delegates consider the role that alumni associations should play in nurturing alumni, as little is being done for the student community oncethey leave the institute's portals.

Mr Pradeep Kumar Madhavan, the JAAI Governing Council member from Kerala Province and also the representative of JAAI in the World Union of Jesuit Alumni (WUJA), spoke on the WUJA matters and the upcoming Barcelona Congress to be held in July 2022.
He Requested the members of the South Zone to attend this Congress in large numbers.

Mrs Brinda Adige, a leading social activist from Bengaluru, kicked off to a grand start of the congress' third input session at 1.45 p.m. She lectured on 'Gender Sensitivity, Families, and Me'. Her presentation, which included real-life scenarios and statistical data, captivated the audience. "I am not for Gender Neutrality, but I am for Gender Sensitivity" she said answering the question from the audience. This session was ably moderated by Dr Rose Veera D’Souza the Dean of Arts Faculty of St Aloysius College (Autonomous)

The business session of the Congress was piloted by Rev. Fr Swebert D’Silva SJ the PCA of Karnataka Province.Each Province nominated five members to the GC and thus 25 members were chosen for the southern zone.

New GC members and office bearers were elected for the term 2022-2025. The house unanimously elected Dr Richard Gonsalves from Karnataka Province to lead the GC as President, Mr Thomas from Loyola Chennai as the Secretary, Mr D Ramesh from Andhra and
Telangana Province to be the Vice President, Mr Ram Prakash from Kerala Province to be the Joint Secretary and Mr Mani S from Madurai to be the Treasurer. JAAI President spoke on the occasion and congratulated the outgoing team lead by GVSR Krishna Reddy for the last 5 years and the Newly elected President and its Office Bearers.

The valedictory ceremony began at 4. 15 pm with CA Chenthil Kumar, Presidentof JAAI as the Chief Guest. Twodelegates Dr Mariadoss from Andhra and Mr Mani from Madurai gave thefeedback of the 2 days congress. Rev. Fr
Melwin Pinto SJ, Rector of St Aloysius Institution congratulated one and all for their presence in the congress and urged
the members to implement the suggestions and ideas shared, in developing the youth especially the student community at the respective provinces.