Sr M Suman BS
Superior
Members of the Community
Convent building
Teaching Catechism
Pastoral care
Medical ministry
Social ministry
Bethany Convent, Kathalcherra has its beginning in 1983. Fr Hormis csc was then the parish priest of Kumarghat. Kathalcherra was a Sub-Station of Kumarghat till it was erected into a Parish in 1987. Kathalcherra is about 18 kms away from Kumarghat. The inhabitants of this area are mainly Darlong and Garo tribes.
Though there was a Bengali Medium School, the people of Kathalcherra were pressuring the Fathers for an English Medium School. In 1983 having obtained the permission from the District Superior, the Holy Cross Fathers opened the school and Bethany Sisters were invited to help in this new venture. Mother Sylvine, the then Superior General, and Sr Canice, the Regional Superior, took the bold step of sending three sisters to Kathalcherra. Sr Assumpta Maria, Sr Isabella and Sr Malati were the pioneers to this mission. They reached Kathalcherra on 5 February 1983 and on 8 February a thatched hut in the heart of the village was blessed and inaugurated by Bishop Denzil D’Souza, the Bishop of Silchar, as a residence for the sisters.
On 3 July, 1983 the community was canonically erected and Sr Christita was installed Superior. Sr Isabella, late Sr Irene Therese, Sr Malati and Sr Elize Mendonca were the members. On 31 May 1992, the present Convent building was blessed and the Sisters moved into it.
Understanding the needs of the people the sisters introduced saving schemes, animal husbandry, informal education, sewing, health and hygiene classes. One of the outstanding initiatives was the founding of Sugandha Incense Stick Society, a small scale industry founded in 1995 with the intention of helping the local people earn by making use of the locally available resource- bamboo. Tailoring and weaving are two other skills in which the women were trained. Through the government scheme, women were also trained in candle making. Formation of ‘Self help groups’ in every village made things much easier for the people. Other activities taken up included rubber and pine apple cultivation, training in pig rearing, rubber plantation, ginger and vegetable gardens. Life was tough, yet enriching. Most of the people were simple farmers and majority of them were illiterate. Road communication was very poor and getting provision and mail was a difficult task.
In 2008, after 25 years of service, the dispensary was handed over to the Bethany Sisters by the Holy Cross Fathers. In 2010 the Bethany Health Centre was constructed. In 2012 Holy Cross girls’ hostel was handed over to Bethany by Fr Immanuel csc the then Provincial Superior of the Holy Cross Fathers, North East Province.
From its beginning the Sisters were engaged in the socio–medical, pastoral, youth, educational and hostel ministries. The brunt had to be borne by the pioneer sisters with initial struggles of travel, communication, tradition and culture. We feel proud to partake in the vision of our Father founder through our mission to the church in this part of the North East (Tripura).
Year of establishment : 08.07.1983