Hostels

The compassionate pastor that he was Mgr RFC Mascarenhas strove that girls should receive education on an equal footing with boys as the neglect of their education was a great concern of his heart.  To provide this facility to the children from the remote villages he opened boarding houses and hostels for girls. Bethany opened its first boarding house in 1922 and Sister Gertrude was appointed the first boarding mistress. Together with the secular knowledge, he desired to give special attention to their moral and spiritual formation.  Eventually for the benefit of the poorer children he opened orphanages at Kinnigoli, Taccode, Kinnikambla and Kulshekar attached to the schools which continue even today as children’s homes.  

The sisters carried on this mission so effectively that these boarding houses and orphanages became the seedbeds for many vocations to religious life. The founder encouraged the sisters to pay special attention and to give maternal care to the children.   In his own words, “Let the sisters remember that it is in their schools and boarding houses particularly that the seeds of the growth and prosperity of their Congregation are sown and out of those whom they form therein will in great part be drawn those sisters whom in future our Lord will associate with them or give them as successors in the work they do for His love and service” (Const)