The Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo

Kamba village, Varap post, shahad, Kalyan west,
Thane Dist, Maharashtra, India - 421103

The house at Jolarpet would serve as a base from where the sisters would reach out to the surrounding villages as well as to the hamlets on Yelagiri Hills. A house named ‘Hill View’ at the foot of Yelagiri Hills belonging to Mr.A.B. Melder, was bought by Fr.Guezou for the convent. The three pioneers were Sr.Angela, Sr.Helena and Sr.Ursula who arrived in Jolarpet on October 7, 1964. They immediately started extending their services to the people in the villages.

In 1964, Fr.Mathew Menezes, the parish priest, of Joloarpet requested Mother Christiane, the Provincial Superior to install a community in his Parish and it was realized with the arrival of the new parish priest Rev.Fr. Francis Guezou, S.D.B. He was a missionary seized with the desire to make Jesus known in the mission land and to create new Christian communities. He also requested Mother Christiane to provide sisters’ support in the development of the tribal people at Yelagiri Hills, about 20 kilometres from Jolarpet. Mother Christiane accepted it.

Jolarpet has its own historical and geographical significance. It was also a junction to have Charismatic prayer services, Mother and Child health programes camps by doctors for medical checkup of babies and women. When Sr.Paula was the Superior of the house from 1981-1985 she had a busy schedule in the dispensary being a trained nurse. Apart from dispensing medicines for people of Jolarpet, she also organized MCH – Mother and Child Health – programs and through a mobile dispensary catered medical services to people of the sub-stations, Veppempet and Pudur.

In 1985 when Sr. Anne Mary was Superior, an land measuring one acre and ten cents adjacent to the convent was bought, it had a good well and coconut trees which are a boon to the community even to this day. The constant support and guidance received from Rev. Fr. Guezou S.D.B. and Mr.Duhayon right from the inception of this house is worth recording. In March 1986 the foundation stone was laid for the boarding house meant for the poor children which was sponsored by Fr.Guezou S.D.B. Sr. Renee, the Provincial Superior, had a dream to make the poor children of the sub-stations stay with us so that they could have an easy access to the school and receive better care from us.

May 28, 1987 was a ‘Red letter day’ for Jolarpet as it witnessed the opening of the free boarding house for the poor children of Jolarpet, Pudur, Veppempet and other neighbouring villages. It was blessed by Rev. Fr. Guezou SDB.

Needle work and embroidery classes also started in full swing. Sr. Saroj, the next Superior, in all confidence continued the good work started by her predecessors.

October 7, 1989 marks an important milestone in the history of Jolarpet convent – SILVER JUBILEE of the foundation of the convent. It was a fitting occasion to count joyfully the fruitful years of Jolarpet community, keeping faithfully the charism of the Congregation with great enthusiasm and confidence. Responding to the needs of the time, Sisters engaged themselves in various apostolates, such as social work, dispensary and nursery school, tailoring section and so on – all centres of love, sacrifice and dedication to the poor, the sick and the destitute. It was also an appropriate moment to recall with gratitude and raise our hearts to Almighty God for what has been accomplished through the selfless sacrifices of all those who spent themselves for the cause of this house, specially Mother Christiane, Mother Benedicta and Mother Renee. More than once Jolarpet was the venue for Final Profession ceremony, meetings of various types including the yearly get-together of our convent girls and their families. Coming to Jolarpet has always been a joyful occasion when one revives her belongingness.

Management and Students of St.Charles Community College

After having spent 23 long years in Belgium, Sr. Jacinta Raju returned to India and joined the community on January 18, 2005. Sr. Mary Queen, the then Superior and Sr. Lovina walked on the unbeaten path to realize a dream they had for this community. They attended a seminar on ‘Community College’ conducted by Fr. Alphonse Xavier S.J. This inspiration paved way for the new venture at Jolarpet. Permission was obtained from Mother Benedicta, Superior General and her Council to take up this new initiative. 

On June 13, 2005, the Community College was blessed by Rt. Rev. Dr. Freddy D’Souza, the Bishop of Jhansi and the brother of Sr. Renée. The function was attended by 15 Priests, parents of the students, and Sisters from neighbouring communities. Sr. Jacinta was appointed Principal and Sr. Mary Queen as the Directress of this college. Tamil Nadu Open University granted recognition for the college to run four courses. Many girls from poor economic background are profitting by this one year course.

The student-strength of the college has been decreasing year by year due to various reasons, but efforts are being made to strengthen it. The play school which had started in 1998 was a great help for the students of the Community College. In 2008 it was closed down due to decrease in the number of students in the college.

From the year 2017 the strength of the children in the boarding home is on increase, the highest number recorded was  135. Most of the students are from ‘Jawadi’ Hills.

The strength of the students in community college varies every year.

The community has a plan to utilize the tailoring Centre in to a School Uniform fabricating Centre that will enhance employment for women of the locality and income for the Centre.