austraLasia
1559
Blind Thai
therapists gather for ancient massage dedication
ceremony
PAKKRED: 12 May 2006 -- Thursday
11th May saw a gathering of 250 blind massage therapists gather at the Salesian
administered Skills Development Centre for the Blind at Pakkred, Thailand, for
an ancient and solemn ceremony to bless their art. They represented more
than a thousand such therapists in Thailand.
The event was
a mixture of the ancient and contemporary, the Christian and Buddhist, the Thai
and Chinese and, of course, the Salesian! The group was gathering for an
annual ceremony of paying respect to the Chief Trainers, or the ancient
therapists who developed and taught the art, and the present-day
trainers.
The ancient ceremony involved the lighting of
candles and joss sticks, offering lotus flowers and much profound bowing to the
trainers. It began with a speech by Fr Charles Velardo, Director of the
Centre, who encouraged them and blessed the gathering. This was followed
by the chanting of an ancient text by a Thai Brahmin, and the anointing with
'sacred paste' of the fingers of the hand used to give the
massage.
The image of 250 therapists in their neat white
uniforms was a sight to behold. They were accompanied by their wives and
children and many other spectators to the event. In true Salesian
tradition, the ceremony was followed by a sports competition - goalball -
amongst seven teams of blind athletes. Lots of fun and good
competition. The day finished with a huge Chinese
dinner.
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