SMIT

DON BOSCO CENTRE – SMIT

(Estd. 2006) INS 17;

Smit; Shillong – 799006

BRIEF HISTORY

In 1898, Fr. Marcus Dombrowski, one of the Salvatorian missionaries, came to stay at Smit. The king, Khlur Sing was quite friendly with him. With the permission of the authorities, he began his stay at the Dak Bungalow at Smit. Later, Fr. Dombrowski shifted from Smit to Kut and in 1901 to Lamin where a small group of baptized persons, 19 in number, formed the first Catholic community.

The Salesians from the time of their arrival in Shillong in 1922, began to visit Smit and the nearby villages. From 1924, Fr. Constantine Vendrame began visiting the villages with a great sense of missionary urgency. After the formation of a small Catholic community at Laitkor, Fr. Vendra turned his attention to Smit. Initial breakthrough came in 1928, on the Christmas night, 11 persons from Smit (Nongrum and Thangkhiew clan) were baptized by Fr. Vendra in the Laitumkhrah Church. In the following months many more were baptized, but always in Shillong. In 1929, with the permission of the king, Fr. Vendra put up a small chapel at Smit where the present St. Peter’s School is situated. But after some years the chapel was dismantled, the tins were sent to Mawkynrew. The reason being that at certain time, the baptized group of Smit lost their fervor and nobody was using the chapel. However, in the following decades the Catholic community grew gradually. At the beginning of 1980, Fr. Michael Balawan began to stay at St. Peter’s and engaged in active missionary work in the area. Fr. NT Jose joined Fr. Balawan at Smit for some time. Fr. Sylvanus Sngi and few brothers from Sacred Heart Theological College often visited the area especially on Sundaysas a result the Catholic community at Smit began to increase. In 1984, the Salesian Province of Guwahati bought the plot of land in view of further apostolate. Fr. Balawan began the construction of the Chapel in 1988. After dedicated missionary work for several years, Fr. Balawan went to his eternal reward on 11 October 1989. The newly constructed chapel was blessed in 1990.

Fr. Francis Kottekarotte, Parish Priest of Nongthymmai (1999-2004), built the additional school building at Smit and the Secondary section was introduced in 2001. Meanwhile, after much discussion, plan for a Don Bosco Centre at Smit was drawn up. An understanding was reached between the Archbishop of Shillong and the Salesian Provincial of Guwahati that Salesians would take care of newly erected Laitkor Parish and at an appropriate time it would be handed over to the diocese and Smit would be recognized as a Salesian Parish. Fr. Edmund Gomes was given charge of developing the Don Bosco Centre at Smit. With this mandate, Fr. Gomes began the work while staying at Laitkor. On near completion of the residence of the confreres, on 24 May 2009, Fr. Gomes began to stay at Smit. Meanwhile, the construction of the school building was in progress. Thanks to the effort of Fr. Gomes, the School obtained Government recognition on 3 August 2009. The number of Catholics at Smit and in nearby villages is on constant increase. From May till December 2009, Fr. Edmund Lakra served as Assistant at Smit. Fr. Anugrah Kerketta, ordained on 9 January 2010, joined Fr. Gomes at Smit on 20 January 2010. The school was upgraded to Higher Secondary (Arts) from the academic year 2014.

STATISTICS as on 2016