January 19th
We spent the day in Delhi. In the morning, we celebrated Mass with the Jesuit Community at ISI, then visited with members of the community including Joseph Xavier, SJ, Secretary of Social Action for the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, who provided an overview of the social apostolate in India.

Our next stop included a tour of St Xavier’s School and the Vidya Jyoti Jesuit Theologate in Delhi, where we met with students and staff. We talked briefly with the Provincial of South Asia, Hector D’Souza, SJ, who was on visitation at the Theologate. At 5 P.M. we boarded the Rajdhani Express train bound for Dhanbad.

January 20th
We arrived in Dhanbad around 7:15am in time for breakfast at DeNobili Bhavan with George Fernandes, SJ. He brought us to one of the DeNobili Branch Schools in Dhanbad (CMRI) where we met with staff and students. The Provincial reviewed English spelling words with 1st graders and briefly led a class in calisthenics.

We then traveled by car to the remote village of Tundi (45 min) and met with the pastor George Anthony, SJ and staff. The SND’s (originally from Cleveland) run a Hindi medium boarding school for tribal children (Santals) in the area.

On our way back from Tundi we stopped at the Damien Social Welfare Center (DSWC) to visit with Fr Walter Crasta & Staff. DSWC is a residential center for adults with leprosy, which includes a job training program, medical hospital for leprosy and TB treatment, and a boarding school for children of parents with leprosy. After a light lunch & rest we traveled to the main De Nobili School in Digwadih where we spent the night. At 5:30 pm we celebrated Mass with the Jesuit Community followed by dinner and an informal sharing session. George Hess, SJ is a resident of this community and he gave us a tour of the school (with over 1,400 students) including the science wing which he helped to construct.

We then traveled to Jilling, a remote village in the State of West Bengal. The Jamshedpur Provincial, James Kalapura, SJ met us there. He started this mission in 1992 and now there is a new school with grades K through 7th, with the high school grades to follow. The current Principal is the former Provincial Charlie Pereira, SJ. The local Sabal tribe has a custom of greeting teachers and elders with a sign of respect by touching the person’s feet and then touching their head. Upon arriving the children surrounded us and gave us the traditional greeting. Many of the children board there and in the afternoon they do chores for 45 minutes working in the garden and cleaning.

By late afternoon, after a long ride on rough roads we arrived in Jamshedpur. Our first stop was the Jesuit Novitiate and Spirituality Center in Jamshedpur where we met two other Maryland Jesuits Dick McHugh, SJ and Carl Dincher, SJ. We ended our day with dinner at Xavier Labor Relations Institute (XLRI), a well-established graduate school of business, with the Jesuit community, Provincial and Socius, the current and retired bishop of Jamshedpur, and Gus Welch, SJ another Maryland Jesuit who is Minister and Treasurer of the community.

In the evening we gathered with Jesuit and area clergy at Loyola School in Jamshedpur for a presentation by Tim Brown, SJ and Tim Kelly followed by discussion and dinner.

While at Loyola School we met with the principal and Jesuit staff and learned about the Hindi language school they’ve started in the evenings for local children. We also met Rich Kenna, SJ, a Maryland Jesuit, who was hosting a lecture by a former student on astronomy.

The two parties then met up in Chaibasa where we stayed at the newly constructed Tribal Research and Training Centre (TRTC) in Guira Village. Michael Thanaraj, SJ arranged the program in this area which started with an evening gathering of Jesuits & area clergy for informal sharing and dinner in nearby Lupungutu. We visited with Maryland Jesuit John Deeney, SJ who is a long-time resident of this area, and is the director of Xavier Ho Publications.

We then traveled with Michael Thanaraj, SJ to visit the budding Jesuit parish in Borador on our way to the remote village of Tepasai. The Jesuits have a thriving boarding school and parish, St. John’s Centre, in Tepasai for Ho tribal families in the area. The students marched for us and a smaller group of girls performed a tribal dance with musical accompaniment from the boys – all were in traditional tribal dress.

Upon returning to Chaibasa, we visited John Deeney’s Publications office and picked up the latest edition of his Ho Dictionary. In the evening, we boarded the Janshatabdi Express train for a six hour trip to Kolkata (Calcutta). We arrived two hours late but in time for a late night snack at the Calcutta Provincial’s residence.

After a brief stop at Victoria Memorial Gardens, Fr Raphael Hyde, the Province Treasurer, brought us to Udayani Social Action Centre which provides adult education in rural areas and basic education for Calcutta’s street children. We also toured a couple of communication centers run by Calcutta Jesuits. EMRC, a program of St. Xavier’s college, provides televised courses and certificate programs throughout India in collaboration with the government. Chitrabani, an extension service of St. Xavier’s college, is a center for training, research and production in mass media. In the afternoon, we stopped by St. Xavier’s School in Calcutta which educates boys in grade K through 12. The headmaster described how most students who can afford it also have a private tutor.

After dinner the Provincial’s van managed to get us through the usual Calcutta traffic jam just in time to catch the train to Bhubaneswat. We were lucky as some missed the train because of the jam.

While in Puri, we met with Fr. Marianus, a Polish SVD father who was celebrating his 88th birthday. He arrived in India after surviving five years in Dachau concentration camp as a seminarian, and completing his studies in Rome. He gave us a tour of his newly constructed Ashram/Retreat Center as well as the school he started for children whose parents have leprosy, and the Church he built nearby.

We had a brief stay at the Mayfair Hotel arranged by Tony Raj, SJ as guests of his friend who manages this beach-side resort.

On the way, we stopped at St. Paul’s Diocesan Seminary in Padampur, where two Jamshedpur Jesuits are faculty members. They run a one year spirituality course for about 50 seminarians from several dioceses.

Upon returning to Bhubaneswar, we visited with Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, SVD of the Bhubaneswar Diocese and some of his staff. After lunch, we then toured the Human Life Centre, a skills training and job readiness center started by an American, Fr William Petrie, SS in 1983 who later entrusted it to the Jamshedpur Jesuits. Ed McGrath, SJ, an administrator of the centre, provided us with a tour. In the evening, we met with area Jesuits and other clergy for a presentation, discussion and dinner. Frs. Gyan & C.L. George organized the gathering.

Around mid-day we left for the Bhubaneswar airport for a flight to Delhi, where we stayed at the Provincial of South Asia’s residence for two nights.

In the afternoon, Sig Laschenski, SJ and John Shea, SJ (NYK) guided us on a tour of the Grand Palace and Temple of the King of Thailand. We enjoyed traveling around Bangkok by car on a new expressway and also by Sky Train – an elevated transit system with a stop near the Jesuit residence.

In the afternoon, we left for the airport to start our trip back to the Baltimore with a six hour layover in Delhi – in the middle of an airport workers strike – and a four hour layover in Newark. We arrived in Baltimore around 10am on February 4th.