Diocese: Gulbarga

Pioneers: Sisters Helen Monteiro, Christina Mary and Sherine Dimple D’Souza

Itga is a Muslim and Lingayat dominated village of the Diocese of Gulbarga in the district of Bidar. It has been a contact spot of the Bidar missionaries, Fr

Robert Michael Miranda and his companion priests ever since the inception of the Bidar Mission in June 1982. On June 1, 2000, the Ursuline Franciscan

Sisters ventured into the Itga hamlet, located 42 kilometres away from Kaudiyal, the venue of their first establishment in the Bidar Mission. The Sisters

serving at Kaudiyal had set aside two days in a week for Itga; however, their course of action was limited to attending to a few Christians belonging

to other denominations. They motivated them to pray and live their faith with commitment. This in a way was the continuation of the work undertaken by

their predecessors, the priests. Visiting the Hindu families was risky as the Christians were associated with conversion – converting Hindus to

Christianity.

Gradually the Sisters assumed greater responsibilities at Itga. They started sowing the seeds of faith and facilitating their socio- economic empowerment.

During the long duration of two years they carried out their mission at Itga by commuting from Kaudiyal. They had their meals at the Mission Centre and

took shelter in the village among people. As they gained confidence of people at Itga, they moved on to a neighbouring village called Bannhalli.

Meanwhile it was realized that Itga was a good ground for their work, though rather challenging due to mainly poor availability of transport to the

place and lack of accommodation there. At the proposal of the diocesan authorities, the Sisters started a sub-community there in June 2003 with

Sisters Helen Monteiro, Christina Mary and Sherine Dimple D’Souza as its members as well as pioneers. Sr Evelyn Pinto, animator of Kaudiyal,

supported them financially; she also directed their work.

The trio undertook works of faith formation and empowerment of women, children and youth. In spite of initial hitches, they succeeded in gaining confidence of and cooperation from the people. In order to function more effectively the trio were replaced with another trio, namely, Sisters Evelyn Pinto, Pramila Mascarenhas, and Savita Sequeira in the following year. Along with Fr Stany Lobo, Director of Bidar Mission, the Sisters ventured into new villages, undertaking tasks of faith formation and empowerment of the people. The mission of faith formation included visiting families, catechizing, which included adult catechization, leading vocal prayers such as Rosary, and preparing children for reception of the sacraments. The youth was singled for extra attention. They were formed into groups and accompanied regularly in their psycho-spiritual needs. Through day’s retreat they were guided to pursue their studies and to choose fulfilling careers. They were also motivated to contest in panchayat election. The empowerment of children was also an area of concern of the Sisters. They were brought together for daily Eucharistic celebration, daily prayers, Rosary, and Bible reading. They were coached in their studies, instructed on self- hygiene, and involved in recreational activities like sports and picnic. Efforts of the Sisters could be subsequently seen bearing fruit in the form of a well-formed youth and children at Itga. The number of Catholic population currently is 200; thirty families accepted the Christian faith.

Organizing women and facilitating their empowerment was another significant feature of their ministry at Itga. The women were formed into SHGs linking the groups to banks for drawing benefits; awareness programmes were conducted on various issues related to their well-being. Women’s Day celebrations were held in villages on a grand scale; the occasion was used to conscientize women in self-hygiene, in preservation of environment and in animal husbandry. They were trained in keeping accounts; they were also enthused to fight for their rights. Initiating education ministry became a further achievement of the Sisters at Itga. Sisters Evelyn Pinto and Irene Albuquerque with their limited experience and expertise in the field of education initiated and administered the Milagres School belonging to Gulbarga Diocese for two years. As the number of students increased consistently, Sisters Anisha Pinto and Divya Reshma, two trained teachers were appointed in the school. Ever since, progress in the education field has been remarkable. The Sisters have been taking an active part in training the children for programmes on Independence Day, Children’s Day and other national festivals.

In 2007, 5.5 acres of land was purchased by the Sisters. A new convent building, Ashraya Mathe was built and inaugurated on August 21, 2008. It was canonically erected on April 12, 2009 by the Superior General and the Blessed Sacrament was installed in the chapel of the Convent by Fr Robert Michael Miranda. Sr Evelyn Pinto was appointed animator of the newly erected community. A tube well was drilled in the plot to meet the need of water for both cultivation and consumption. People came to appreciate greatly the presence of the Sisters in their midst. They acknowledged and expressed it by their presence at the occasion of the silver jubilee celebration of religious profession of Sr Evelyn Pinto in 2008. A French group of students who had arrived at Itga for assisting in the construction of the school building have also acknowledged the service and toil of the Sisters in the mission land.

Itga offers too large a scope in the field of education, development, and evangelization. Three strong pillars of the work perform these tasks at Itga with commitment. Sr Anisha Pinto administers the Parish School, Sr Irene Albuquerque has undertaken social work, and in particular, she has been conducting tailoring classes at Shanthi Kiran Technical Institute in Humnabad, a government-aided technical centre of the Sisters of Little Flower of Bethany. She also fosters ecology specifically by cultivating bio-products in the convent premises. Sr Evelyn spends practically her whole day and even nights in visiting villages for the faith formation of the people and for their socio- eonomic empowerment. All the three feel that the region offers ample opportunities to proclaim the Kingdom of God and wish that many more opt for such noble work in the area.