Harnaut is a village situated seventy five kilometers away from Patna. Harnaut mission has a Catholic population of one thousand four hundred and it is spread in thirty five villages. The Province’s ‘option for the poor’, is accomplished here as well. The people are very poor Dalits. The Province started this foundation on 23 rd. February 1998. The Archdiocese of Patna provided a house for the sisters to stay. His Grace Bishop Benedict Osta S.J. the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Patna blessed the house.
The Archbishop invited the sisters to begin a school and to take care of its administration along with teaching. The Loyola school was opened on 17 th January 2000. The School changed the syllabus to CBSE in 2007 and got the affiliation from CBSE in 2012. The sisters made a significant contribution to develop the school with the values and pedagogy of St. Marie Eugenie.
Besides the school, the sisters serve in the parish and in the health center. They are also active in socio-pastoral activities such as evangelization, faith formation, women’s development and non-formal ministries like literacy, health education and awareness programs etc. The Community soon started a dispensary, tailoring center and supervised non-formal centers. Faith formation was a challenge to the pioneers in the initial stages.
On 9th December 1999, His Excellency Benedict Osta, the Archbishop laid the foundation stone for the convent building. Harnaut community shifted to the newly built convent in 2001. Some parts of the house were used as a dispensary and for women’s programs in the early years. Sisters were engaged in building up the Christian community of Harnaut, visiting them in their hamlets, organizing Mathru Sangh, SHG, tailoring classes, health ministry, rehabilitation of the physically handicapped children and youth.. Integral development of people was the goal of these programs. In the year 2005 the mission in Harnaut extended its social apostolate with greater enthusiasm and developed the activities on a larger scale.
The Harnaut community is well appreciated and encouraged in the Archdiocese of Patna as well as in the villages. Doing good and showing mercy to the poor especially the Dalits and educating them following the pedagogy of Assumption education is bringing much result in the society. This way the sisters in Harnaut are revealing that a few of the sisters along with their co-workers could make a difference to this world.
