By Barnes Mawrie
“This year 2023, the congregation is celebrating the hundredth anniversary of their arrival to Northeast India in 1923. At this juncture it is relevant and significant to look back and see the tremendous contribution that this congregation has made to our region. First of all in the area of education, the sisters have rendered a yeoman service to society since their arrival. Today the congregation runs as many as 33 schools and 4 colleges of their own and 27 schools and 3 colleges in collaboration with others.’’
“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of a hundred years, teach the people” (Confucius)
Way back on 8th December 1923, six sisters of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, popularly known as the FMA sisters, arrived in Northeast India, one year after the arrival of the Salesian missionaries. The six pioneering sisters were Sr Innocenza Vallino who was their leader, Sr. Maria Bricarello, Sr. Giulia Berra, Sr. Clotilde Appiano, Sr. Cecilia Da Roit and Sr. Antonietta Rosetti. The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) are a congregation co-founded by Don Bosco and St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello in Mornese (Italy) in the year 1872. Their charism as spelled out by their founders, is to work for the material and spiritual well being of poor girls especially through the ministry of education. The congregation today ranks as the biggest women congregation in the Church with over 13,653 members of which more than 1272 are in India alone. In the last one hundred years, the congregation has grown immensely in India with seven provinces spread all over the country. In Northeast India alone they have two provinces, namely, Shillong and Guwhati with over 600 sisters of whom 500 of them being local sisters.
This year 2023, the congregation is celebrating the hundredth anniversary of their arrival to Northeast India in 1923. At this juncture it is relevant and significant to look back and see the tremendous contribution that this congregation has made to our region. First of all in the area of education, the sisters have rendered a yeoman service to society since their arrival. Today the congregation runs as many as 33 schools and 4 colleges of their own and 27 schools and 3 colleges in collaboration with others. What is more admirable about them is that most of their educational institutions like schools and hostels are situated in rural areas, catering to the poor and marginalized people. Some of their prominent schools are St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School in Guwahati (1932), St. Joseph’s School in Tezpur (1936), Sacred Heart HS School in Shillong (1938), Auxilium HS School, Shillong and Little Flower HS School in Imphal (1958), Little Flower HS School in Kohima (1964), St. Mary’s HS School in Maligaon (1967), Auxilium HS School in Agartala and many others. These schools have churned out thousands of eminent leaders in the region and in the country as well. Many of their past pupils have played and continue to play important roles in society at large. Through education, the sisters have been able to empower especially rural girls who otherwise would have been left at the periphery of society. The sisters have also devoted themselves to health care as well. They do have a large number of trained nurses and infirmarians. It ought to be remembered that they were entrusted by the Assam Government to look after the nursing staff of the Ganesh Das Hospital from 1946 till the year 1979 and they were the pioneers of the Rapsbun Nursing College in 1979. In Assam the sisters were a part of the nursing staff of the Guwahati Civil Hospital from 1932 to 1962. Today the sisters are actively engaged in rural health care through their dispensaries which are situated all over this region.
Since their arrival here, the Salesian sisters have always catered to the socio-economic needs of the people. As we all know, the tribal communities of this region during those years were really backward in every aspect of life. The sisters have dedicated themselves to difficult tasks like running orphanages, doing social-upliftment services, running non-formal and vocational training schools, organizing youth centres and empowering women in every way. In many rural areas, the sisters are instrumental in initiating Self Help Groups which have been responsible for the economic progress of rural communities. Today the sisters have a large network of SHGs in the region. Working side by side with the Salesians of Don Bosco in most of the parishes, the Salesian sisters are playing a great role in the transformation of Northeast India. Definitely we cannot ignore the contribution of other women congregations like the Loreto sisters (IVBM) and the RNDM sisters who in their own rights have been giants especially in the field of education since the start of the 20th century. Today there is a plethora of other women congregations who work in this region two of whom, namely, the MSMHC and the VSDB sisters are indigenously founded by late Mgr. Stephen Ferrando and late Mgr. Hubert D’Rosario respectively. The former congregation (MSMHC) was in fact groomed by the Salesian sisters in the initial years of their existence.
In conclusion, I would like to make a comment on the opening quote from Confucius. It is evident that the Salesian sisters who came to Northeast India in 1923 had a long-term plan and that is the reason why they have committed themselves totally to the task of “teaching” people – teaching them the basics of life, fostering knowledge in them, instructing them on basics of health care, teaching our youth an honest way to earn their living and above all inculcating in our youth fundamental moral, human and religious values which have gone a long way to make Northeast India what it is today.