The Panel of guests at the opening ceremony consisted of the Vice Chancellor of Goa University, Dr Satish Shetye, Chief Guest Professor Edgar Ribeiro (Head of Task force for Regional plan of Goa), Dr M. Srikanth (Associate Dean International Programs and Collaborations, BITS Pilani) and Dr Subodh Kerkar (Renowned Installation artist).
The inauguration was also attended by 60 young students of Auxilium school called the “Eco group”. The panels of guests were very impressed with the efforts of the Bharat Soka Gakkai in Goa and happy to be a part of an exhibition that was raising awareness.
Professor Edgar Ribeiro said, “He states the Buddha, that not by birth but by conduct does one become a person worthy of respect. A Buddha is one who brings the power and compassion of enlightenment from within oneself and therefore is at peace with its environment.”
BSG representative, Devika Punjabi in her vote of thanks appreciated the panelists for their insights. She also thanked Don Bosco School and BSG members for their tireless efforts.
The next two and half days saw 2267 visitors viewing the exhibition. The “I WILL” Panel of the exhibition was overflowing with post-it notes making pledges to make personal contributions in making a change for the world. One of the most heart warming notes written by a student was, “First I want to clean myself, then slowly I want to clean my country and then the whole world. I want to protect the environment!” Some of the visitors, especially the teachers, who wrote in the visitor book also expressed themselves with heartfelt thoughts such as “Thank you SGI for making our children aware of their responsibilities.”
One of the visitor said, “ The Exhibition was an eye-opener and encourages us to do something for our environment. To become a front-runner and not wait for the other person to take initiative. A good effort!”
The film “A Quiet Revolution” was also screened at the exhibition. The exhibition also received extensive coverage in the local newspapers.