Bernadette Sangma – “The implantation of the FMA in north-east India vis-à-vis the service of education: ideals, answers, results” in “Implantation of the Salesian charism in Asia – Ideals, challenges, answers, results”

This article looks at the first thirty years of the presence and implantation of the Salesian charism on the soil of North-East India. The first group of six FMA missionaries disembarked in this region on 8 December 1923. During the span of time under consideration, there were eight foundations of which seven were in the North-East and one in West Bengal.

The study focuses on the foundation, consolidation and growth of the FMA in the region with special reference to educational services, in order to appraise the extent of human promotion afforded to poor children and orphans, and particularly to girls and rural women of the region through education, and to study the impact of such services on the Church and the society at large.

Questo articolo ripercorre i primi trent’anni di presenza e radicamento del carisma salesiano sul suolo dell’India nordorientale. Il primo gruppo di sei missionari FMA sbarcò in questa regione l’8 dicembre 1923. Durante l’arco di tempo considerato, vi furono otto fondazioni di cui sette nel Nord-Est e una nel Bengala Occidentale. Lo studio si focalizza sulla fondazione, consolidamento e crescita delle fma nella regione con particolare riferimento ai servizi educativi, per valutare l’ampiezza della promozione umana offerta ai bambini poveri e agli orfani, e in particolare alle ragazze e alle donne rurali della regione attraverso l’istruzione e studiare l’impatto di tali servizi sulla Chiesa e sulla società in generale.

Index:

• Introduction
• 1. The FMA in North-East lndia
• 2. The Sources
• 3. The Role of the FMA in the Field of Education
• 4. Salient Features of the Style of Education
  • 4.1. The Role of Religion
  • 4.2. Human Formation in Preparation for Adult Life
  • 4.3. Education to Cheerfulness
  • 4.4. Educational Continuity Offered to the Past Pupils
  • 4.5. Motherly Tenderness as a Distinctive Trait in Care and Relationships
  • 4.6. Some Aspects Regarding Culture and Beliefs
• Concluding Observations

Reference time period: 1923 – 1953

Reference institution:
ACSSA