Don Bosco School Guwahati now has a replica of its patron saint’s house. The Salesians of Don Bosco installed a replica of the house at Becchi in Italy, in which saint John Bosco or Don Bosco was born and spent his childhood, on the Don Bosco School premises at Panbazar. The structure is to inspire kids  to ‘dream big’ like the 19th century Italian Catholic priest.

The house has been designed and built to resemble the one where Don Bosco was born and spent his childhood. The architecture  is similar to the hillside hamlets of Becchi, Italy, nearly 200 years ago. The house will have 40 paintings depicting different phases of Don Bosco’s life. The paintings will give an idea about Don Bosco’s vision of life and education, said  Fr V.M. Thomas, the Salesian Provincial of Guwahati.

The house was built by a young artist, C.M. Jose,reports a local newspaper.

Fr Thomas said the objective of this venture was to inspire the young of the Northeast to dream big, like the saint.

“Don Bosco was born in a poor family and had lost his father at the age of two. Poverty came in the way of John Bosco to make a serious attempt at schooling. John’s early years were spent as a shepherd and he received his first instruction from a parish priest. Despite such a tough life, Don Bosco dared to dream big from his small house at Becchi and in the later years, he was successful in becoming a great educator across the globe. Both his house and mother were great motivators for him. So I have decided to build a replica of his house to tell the story of Don Bosco’s life, struggle and dream to the present generation,” Fr Thomas said.

Fr Thomas said the Don Bosco Society has plans to convert the house into a museum in the coming days. He said the house was part of his initiative, ‘Becchi to Guwahati’, on the occasion of the bicentenary birth year of Don Bosco.

“As part of my initiative to promote Don Bosco’s system of educating youth, I have initiated another idea, Youthopia, to inspire and motivate college students to remain on the right track regarding their career and life. Many college goers are often misguided and suffer from depression because of various external factors. Under Youthopia, we will guide them to take the right decision so that they can channelise their energy and talent in the right direction,” Fr Thomas, a Harvard-trained MBA, said.

  Catholic Church, education