ST. JOSEPH'S PROVINCE, Thalassery

“Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me”.(Mt.25:40).

Jesus became one with the poor and lowly, by choosing the life of the poor and taking over the sufferings of humanity in keeping with our charism we organize various social welfare programs in order to improve the suffering people around us. We must recognize the voice of Christ in the cry for help of the people who suffer from despair, oppression and social discrimination. Exploited and abandoned women, children and elderly persons deserve our special care and compassion. We run social welfare institution to rehabilitate the victims of social evils and undertake formal and informal programs to eradicate the pain misery and poverty of the people around us and help them to experience the joy and peace of redemption.
We SABS Thalassery run institutions for the mentally, physically and socially challenged - destitute and orphans, old and terminally ill etc. So as to help the poor around us to become economically independent, we run vocational training institution. We try to raise the standard of education of the poor around us through adult education, literacy classes, remedial education, condensed classes and free tuition etc.We work for the welfare of all families regardless of cast and creed. We pave the way for the foundation of good families by concentrating on the character formation and personality development.

We who are called to have a personal relationship with the Eucharistic Lord follow the example of Jesus and show compassion to the poor. Frequent seminars and meetings of sisters involved in this field are conducted to make their work more efficient and effective. The Provincial team has taken interest in training sisters to make home visits to deal with their psychological and spiritual problems. In a number of parishes our sisters conducted home mission program and the people appreciated the help they received.

We have a number of charitable institutions in the province.

Shanthal Nilayam, Palaparamb

Shanthal Nilayam, Palaparamb is a home for the elderly who have nothing and no one to take care of them. The home admits aged and orphaned women regardless of cast and creed. The operation of the house is support by various sources. The province, especially Josgiri gives a monthly allowance for the running of the institution. Government grant and pension are available for a few residents. Some of the stores donate vegetables and rice regularly. A great number of people volunteer to give food to the residents.

Sr. Elseena Vettikattil, the director of the home have received many awards from the municipality, Panchayath, Nirmalagiri College, Rotary Club and other organizations for service of excellence. The Rev. Fathers from the diocese especially Nirmalagiri college have been generous to attend to the spiritual needs of the residents here.

Divine Holy Articles, Thalasserry

Divine Holy Articles, Thalasserry is a work centre that prepares all the articles used for the Church functions and provide labour to many poor girls.

Eucharistic Centre, Manikadave

Eucharistic Centre, Manikadave Started to give jobs to poor girls prepares Eucharistic bread, garlands and bouquets for wedding, First Holy Communion and Baptism.

Angel Villa Social Work Centre, Parottipoil

The centre was started to provide labour to the poor girls. The centre makes and sells Eucharistic bread, garlands and bouquets for First Holy Communion, Wedding and Baptism.

Little Flower Children’s home, Kilianthara

The home was started to provide room and board for orphaned and poor girls and to get an education that would ensure a good living. At first the children stayed with the sisters in the convent but as the numbers increased it became necessary to have a separate building that can accommodate 35-40 children.

Vimala Matha Balabhavan, Thomapuram

A lot of orphaned, poor children came to the convent in Thomapuram seeking residence while studying in the local school, the superiors decided to start a home to house those children. About 40 children could be accommodated in the building.

Jyothi Bhavan Special School, Thomapuram

The school operated by the SABS sisters try to give special training to the mentally challenged children of the area. Musically talented children are given training to participate in a band. They are often invited to other institutions on special occasions to participate in the Welcome March.

JyothiBhavan Special School, Chittarickalis a school for speciallyabled children.This institute belongs to St. Joseph’s province, Thalassery for uplifting our society. It is an important field of SABS ministry for spreading merciful love of Eucharistic Jesus. There are four sisters, two teachers, therapists and dance, music, band teachers who are specially trained for teaching speciallychallenged children.

The students of agegroupbetween 4 to 48,are speciallychallenged in mild, moderate and severe level. Most of the students are from East Eleri panchayat, West Eleri Panchayat and Cherupuzha Panchayat. Totally 64 students are studying in different classes like Care group, Pre-primary, Secondary, Pre-vocational, Vocational level.

Training programs:

Vocational Training
Vocational training programs are book binding, candle making, soap and detergent making, envelope making, umbrella, muffler, greeting card, flowers, stitching etc.
Home Science: Cooking, dressing, washing and cleaning etc.
Agriculture : Gardening.
Yoga, Physical and mental Activities
Music Dance
Band
Physiotherapy
Speech Therapy
Sports
Sensory room training

Sports

Our students received fourteen Gold medals, ten silver medals and nine brown medals during State Special Olympics, Trivandrum,LNCPE. And they got six Gold medals, ten silver medals and nine brown medals during Special Olympics at Kalpatta.

Arts

One of our students secured ‘A’ Grade in Mohiniyattam during State special school Kalolsavam. During district level competition they received the following prizes: First Prize – Mimicry, Light Music, Recitation, Pencil drawing. Second Prize – Folk Dance and Group Dance

Celebrations

1. We celebrate every year Onam, Children’s day, Teacher’s day, Christmas, and Birthdays of our students very solemnly.
2. Band set: There is an expert band team of sixteen students in our school. They are invited during church feasts, common celebrations and other memorable programs.
3. We arrange picnic, tour and pilgrimages every year to different places for overall betterment of our students.
4. A vibrant and co-operative PTA is a blessing of our school.