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Siloam, Meghalaya
Participants of the LAF Training from the three provinces of Dimapur, Guwahati and Shillong.
81 Youth Leaders Gather in Meghalaya for Salesian Formation Programme
News reported by: Mukhim Bivan [ING]
Eighty-one young leaders from the three Salesian Provinces of Northeast India gathered in Siloam, Meghalaya, for the Leaders and Animators Formation (LAF) Programme.
Organised by DBYA-SA and hosted by the Salesian Province of Shillong (INS), the three-day programme, held from August 21 to August 23, centred on the theme, “Arise! Be Light. Be Hope. Be Don Bosco’s Youth!”
Fr Anthony Kharkongor SDB, former Youth Ministry Delegate and currently Social Experience Dimension Coordinator of the Shillong Province, was the chief guest at the inaugural programme. He stressed that authentic leadership rests not in position or authority but in service, inspiration and the ability to bring out the best in others.
Drawing on Mahatma Gandhi’s call to selfless service, Fr Anthony urged the young leaders to embrace servant leadership and replace the question, “What can others do for me?” with “What can I do for others?” He reminded them that leadership begins in everyday situations—in the family, classroom, community and among friends—rather than only when one is entrusted with a formal role.
Reflecting on the lives of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln, he identified service and simplicity, forgiveness and reconciliation, and courage and perseverance as key qualities of effective leadership.
Fr Anthony encouraged the participants to respond to situations with action rather than complaint, listening rather than domination and responsibility rather than blame. He also urged them to reach out to those who feel lonely or excluded and to lead by personal example.
Concluding his address, he quoted Eleanor Roosevelt’s distinction between leaders who inspire confidence in themselves and great leaders who inspire people to have confidence in themselves. He challenged the participants to become leaders who serve, inspire, unite and leave others stronger than they found them.
The LAF programme includes formation sessions led by the Youth Ministry Delegates of the three Northeast Salesian Provinces. The sessions focus on the Salesian Youth Movement, Preventive System, Salesian Youth Spirituality, and the role of Salesian leaders and animators in guiding, animating and accompanying young people in the digital and media age.
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Publisher: Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Year of publication: 2026
Available from: 4 March 2026
Pages: 928 pp., Paperback
