Sister Shares Her Many Talents With no prior experience of being in ministry as an archivist, Mary Chackalackal, SCN, has set up an excellent archival center in Mokama, India. Recently retired, she has dedicated her life to collecting, preserving, and sharing the Congregation’s rich history in India. It is a history that spans more than seven decades. Sister Mary recalls her surprise when she was asked to begin this new ministry in 2000. “When the provincial asked me to discern about setting up a room for the archives in Mokama for the first time, I had no particular interest in it and tried my best to get out of it. I told Sister Bridget Kappalumakal that I did not even know the ‘ABCs’ of working in archives.” However, those that know Sister Mary were not surprised that she said yes, and further that nothing stopped her once she took up this task. Having entered the Congregation from Kerala, India, in 1961, Sister Mary was trained as an educator. She has served as a teacher, principal and vice-principal of many schools. An innovator, when living in the village of Biharsharif, she saw that many children were not attending school. She set up a program, and from 1985 to 1987, taught countless students. In another village, she did the same, teaching around 65 children. Within a year, many of these young men and women had learned enough and gained enough confidence to take admission tests for formal schooling. Though she continued to teach for short periods when needed, Sister Mary also set about establishing archives. She 22
SIS TERS OF CHARIT Y OF NA Z ARE TH • VOL . II 2021
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