On the Road to Shillong

Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise…

Oh, you know that little proverb popularized by Benjamin Frankin and Poor Richard, do you? Yes, well I don't know about wealth or wisdom, but I severely doubt that getting up so early helps ones health. Here we are at the eastern edge of the Indian time zone and so the sun rises at 4.10 am. We were up before then. Anthony Valluran decided last night that we should celebrate mass at 5.00 am and get an early start. I could barely believe it, but everyone got up. The young people from the girls boarding and the boys boarding joined the Salesians for prayers and Eucharist, as they did yesterday. But it was all an hour earlier. Yesterday I merely concelebrated; today I was main celebrant. How do you preach at 5.00 in the morning? What is astounding to me is that all the young people prayed with us and knew all the responses for the mass, even though more than half are Hindus and Moslems.

"There is no hesitation to join in prayer here", Anthony pointed out to me. "India's tribal people are all very religious. The conflict between Hindus and Catholics, or between Moslems and Christians -- or even among the different Christian churches is something dreamed up by the politicians. The people overwhelmingly accept one another".

By 7:00 we had said goodbye to all the young people and to the Salesian staff of Don Bosco Conference Centre. We were on the road north to Shillong.

Don Bosco Centre in Silchar - a decade of efforts for the poor.

Now in Silchar, I need to say something about this center.

Anthony Valluran is the founder of this school and center. It is amazing really to see all he has done. I will post some photos and try to describe the work with them. This will make it easier.

In the year 2000 this area was nothing but swamp and field. The Salesians were interested in developing a presence for youth here for several reasons. One is that they had become aware that Silchar and the villages surround it were beginning to grow, thanks to an influx of immigrants from Bangladesh. Secondly, the province of Guwahati had outposts with missions in Misoram state and in Tripura and in the hills of Meghalaya, but these were very distant from one another. Silchar was between them. Having centers there could help the communication and travel between the mission stations and Salesian schools.

For this reason, Anthony Valluran, who had been instrumental in developing the Salesian works in Misoram, was asked to set up some new presence in the area of Silchar.

The work that Anthony developed is quite complex, as I hinted yesterday: a center for training teachers that can also serve as a retreat and conference center; a trade-training center for young men and for young women, specializing in the kinds of trades that are both needed and marketable; a school for local children that begins with elementary and continues into secondary; a boarding or youth hostel for young men (ages 17 to 22); a boarding or youth hostel for young women (ages 18 to 22). Both hostels cater to youth who come to learn trades, or English, or both. There are plans to transform the main building of the center to include accommodations for young teachers in the very near future.

Don Bosco School

Don Bosco School

Don Bosco School (or St John's School) begins with the primary grades and continue until grade 10, which is the last year of mandatory schooling according to Indian law. In the near future the Salesians plan to expand to include grades 11 and 12, which are a pre-university type of structure and, in many places, can stand alone. Years 11 and 12 do not receive the full government funding that years 1-10 do, and until now, very few in the area of Silchar ever dreamt of university education for their children. Don Bosco School is changing all that.

Inner patio of Don Bosco School, where the younger children play; older children play in the field behind the school building.

As soon as years 11-12 are functioning, the school will add a kindergarten and pre-K program. As it is now, the school functions in levels. The primary and elementary grades operate on the ground level; the middle and superior grades operate on the upper levels. A library is being developed that will serve all levels of the school, as well as a computer learning lab for the older children.

Don Bosco Technical Training Centre

Don Bosco Technical Training Centre

Don Bosco Technical Training Centre is more than a trade school: DBTTC includes a youth hostel for boys, shops for carpentry and welding, training in building contracting, language laboratory for English, a kitchen and dining facility for day students and hostel youth. The young men staying there showed us around the facility, beginning with their dormitory, where their bunks are clustered together in an airy upper storey room. They proudly explained their programs and told us of their hopes of future job opportunities, speaking to us in English as best they could. Some have only begun to learn English in the last two months, and we were impressed by their progress.

Don Bosco School and Training Centre seen side by side

There is a long pond between the school and the training center. This is not by design, but because one of the landowners refused to sell the parcel. He is not developing it. Everyone thinks that he sees the opportunity to let his land increase in value to sell it later to the Salesians… Little does he realize what a hand-to-mouth operation Don Bosco really is.

Don Bosco Conference Centre

The main building of the campus is Don Bosco Conference Centre. The Salesians live here in this building, although I am told that this is a temporary arrangement. On the ground floor there are dining rooms and a central kitchen, a library/resource center and a computer lab. Upstairs there is another dining room for the Salesians, a community chapel, a meeting room, laundry and residents for the Salesians. The plan is to amplify this facility so that it can house visiting teachers. The Salesians will be housed in a different structure.

Don Bosco Conference Centre (soon to expand to Teacher Training Centre)

Immediately adjacent to Don Bosco Conference Centre is what is now called the Girls Boarding. This residence can accomodate young women who sleep four or six to a room, and is similar to the boys' boarding across the campus. Since many of the primary teachers are women, the hope is that, as the Conference Centre develops, this facility may serve as housing for women who will frequent the short courses that will be put on offer. For the time being, however, the Girls Boarding welcomes young women (teens and early twenties) who enroll in computer, music and courses in Spoken English.

Don Bosco Girls Boarding, with girls participating in English-language courses this summer. Fr Anthony Valluran poses with the group.

View of the Girls Boarding as seen from the Teacher Training Centre

All in all, Don Bosco Silchar center is both complex and totally amazing.

Traveling eastward

Salesian Provincial Headquarters on Choudhury Road in Kolkata

It is Sunday and my time in Calcutta has come to an end. After joining the provincial community for mass this morning at 7:00 am (evidently sleeping in on a Sunday is not a tradition here), I repacked my things and spent some time visiting with the Salesians of the house.

The Salesian Provincial Headquarters are interesting. Besides a large residence for the Salesians and administrative offices, the compound hosts a huge center with services for Youth Counseling. Immediately adjacent to the Salesian compound is a school run by the Loretto Sisters. This is the group of religious to which Mother Teresa of Calcutta belonged when she first first arrived in India, and it was by working with the girls of this same school that she became aware of the horrendous poverty of the area — the realization that prompted her to leave Loretto and form a new community: the Missionaries of Charity. The Salesians bought the property for their Calcutta provincial center from the Loretto Sisters. In fact, this is the first of the Salesian provinces in India and goes back to 1926 (the same year that the San Francisco province was formed). The Salesian moved their headquarters to the present site in 1973.

I quickly understood that Salesian action in this quarter is extensive, but I did not have much time to explore. After an early lunch, Thomas and his driver took Anthony, George and me to the airport. We had to catch a 1:05 pm flight on Indian Air to Silchar.

The 60-minute flight took us over Bangladesh to land us in India’s northeast region. Anthony explained to me that the name Silchar means "field of rocks" and the city is nestled among the rocky hills in the southern part of the state of Assam. Until recently Silchar was not much more than a village. Recent development is due to the town's central location so that it has become a trading center for agriculture and light industries.

The Salesians have only been in Shilchar a few short years. Anthony Valluran is the founder of the work here. He arrived alone in the year 2000. In 2003 the first phase of the complex opened and two other Salesians moved in with Anthony. In 2005 Don Bosco at Ramnagar became a canonical community, with an elementary school, non-formal trade school, teacher training center and hostels for young women and young men who arrive for professional training and language study.

Extensive ponds and rice paddies: view from the Salesians' dining room at Don Bosco Shilchar

On the drive over from the airport, Bro. Regy Cherukunnel explained to me that the Don Bosco center has really been a boon to the area. In fact, what was only swamp a decade ago is now becoming populated as people establish their homes and shops close to the Salesian complex. What is more, interest in the Catholic faith is growing, thanks to the presence of the Salesians here. There is talk of creating a diocese soon for this region.

Anthony Valluran, famous for planting roses in Berkeley, poses in the flower garden that he planted at the boys hostel at Don Bosco Shilchar.

It got dark fairly soon after we took afternoon tea. I was able to see the boys' hostel and trade school. Anthony promises to show me more tomorrow.

Salesian educators in West Bengal

Last night we were met at the provincial house by Fr Anthony Valluran and a classmate of his by the name of Fr George Ukkran, who is from the Chennai province and works in formation. Both Anthony and George joined Thomas and I in a little tour of Calcutta surroundings today.

In the morning we visited the Don Bosco school at Park Circus.

Don Bosco Park Circus is the first school built by the Salesians in this area of the country. It is an English-medium school, and includes academic and trade sectors for children, teens and young adults. The new programs for job preparation are attracting a whole new clientele and the school is under expansion, which is incredible to me in this day and age when money is scarce. Still, from all appearances, the Salesians and their collaborators are moving ahead with great enthusiasm and solid support.

Fr Anthony Valluran (Guwahati province) and Thomas Kayyalackel (Kolkata province) both participated in the ISS at Berkeley in this past year (2008-2009)

Classes were not in session because the students were on their June break, we were told. However, the school grounds were filled with students playing organized games of football (soccer) and cricket (India is a leading country for this game, of course). As we toured the plant, however, I realized that there were a number of students still at work. Those enrolled in the trade-training programs were preparing for examinations. Passing these exams would land them placement in the job market of Kolkata and surroundings, if not across India. To have a Don Bosco diploma is credential enough for those in the trades.

Don Bosco Park Circus, Calcutta: cricket for the youngsters from the neighborhood and boys from the school.

Shortly before noon we arrived at the Marian Shrine of Bandel. This shrine, situated in the Hoogly district, goes back to the 17th century and centers around the recovery of a statue of the Virgin Mary that was originally placed in a Portuguese chapel 1599, but which was recovered from the river after the siege of Hougly in 1632. She is called Our Lady of Happy Voyage, and the original statue is today situated in a niche high up in the bell tower of the church built by the Christians in the 17th century.

Façade of the Basilica of Our Lady of Bandel

The shrine was made a basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1988 and so is known as the Basilica of Our Lady of Bandel. It is the oldest church in Bengal, and the Salesians have ministered here since 1928. As part of the shrine apostolate, the Salesians have created a retreat center out of the original Augustinian priory, and this attracts groups and individuals almost every day of the year for directed and group experiences. There is also a junior seminary as part of the complex, and a parish as well which is growing each year.

Frs Thomas continued to guide us through the Shrine, which neither Fr Anthony nor Fr George had ever visited before (and of course, this was my first visit as well). We met a lot of pilgrims who came to pray: religious women and men, laity, youth and young adults, families. There were many non-Christians who came to visit the shrine as well and they did so with great devotion.

Frs Thomas and Anthony and George at Marian Shrine Bandel

The church carries all the beauty of a Portuguese mission church. In fact, the church does not look too different from what you might find the Spanish mission churches in California, New Mexico or Texas. The exterior of the church is vested in granite and stone, but this is not original. The Salesians who came from Italy had all the exterior walls completed this way, not so much in imitation of the churches in Italy, but as a way to cut down on maintenance. What a good idea!

Main altar and sanctuary, with statue of Our Lady of Bandel

The church's interior is like a jewel box. It is cool and dark, and pilgrims remove their shoes, in typical Asian style, when they enter. The sanctuary of the church follows the Portuguese style, with the statue of Our Lady of Bandel at the center above the tabernacle. Processional statues decorate side altars, and the church invites recollection and devotion.

Journey to India - Kolkata

Arrived this morning in Calcutta, after a long journey that took me from San Francisco (SFO) to Washington (IAD)… to Dubai (DBX) on United Airlines… to Calcutta (CCU) on Air Emirates. Okay, officially it is Kolkata, but so far everyone who is from here is saying "Calcutta" to me. Interesting.

On my arrival at the international airport in Kolkata, Thomas Kayyalackel met me. Thomas did this past year in Berkeley for the ISS at Don Bosco Hall. His mother's failing health necessitated his early departure during Holy Week. It was a loss for us at Don Bosco Hall, but did a world of good to his mother, whose health immediately recovered.

Thomas has a driver, and he picked me up in a landrover right from the arrivals lane at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU). It was about 10.00 when we arrived at the Salesian Provincial Headquarters in town, and after a quick shower and change of clothes, I was able to meet members of the provincial staff there in this very busy center. I joined the community for lunch and in the afternoon Thomas took me into the city, directly to the house founded by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Mother Teresa's founding center is in a very busy area of the city. One still sees street people and children begging… although the heavy traffic makes the area so noisy that it is very difficult to hear what people are saying to you. When we stepped out of the landrover, it was immediately obvious that here was a European and several children approached me asking for alms. I had no rupies with me. In fact, I had not even brought my wallet. Thomas took care of giving them something as he led me into a side alley and into the entrance of Mother Teresa's house.

We visited the care center, the children's hostel, and of course the rooms that were inhabited by the saint. A few of the sisters recognized Thomas, and invited us to stay for the Eucharist at 5.00 in the afternoon. We did stay and were able to concelebrate at the mass celebrated with over 100 people at Mother Teresa's tomb.

Of course I had brought my camera with me but was unable to take any photos of Mother Teresa's house. To my horror, I discovered that I packed the wrong batteries for my camera. I had brought akaline batteries. They did not work with the camera. Whoa!

Thankfully, Thomas had a contact who has contacts, and we went into a place into a popular shopping area filled with booths and stalls. What I needed were lithium batteries, and after conveying the concept in Bengali, we bought rechargeable lithium batteries and a recharger. Now we're in business.

Buying lithium batteries and a recharger on a Calcutta sidestreet… Frs Thomas and Augustine.

Aside from almost getting hit by a speeding bus, the trip around the streets of Kolkata was enlightening in itself.