Early Life

Joachim Guezou, a decorated veteran of World War I, chose the simplicity of a farm life with his spouse Josephine at Yvias, in the region of Britanny, France.
To this humble and devout family, their youngest son Francis Guezou was born on 7th of April 1924 at Yvias. He was their third and last son.

Fr. Mansard, a Salesian, brought Francis to spend a weekend in their College at Coatandeau. The spirit of the community captured the young mind and he joined the college later. 

Msgr. Louis Mathias who met Francis for the first time, prophesized that Francis would be with him one day. Bro. Guezou sailed to India and reached Chennai in the year 1952. After his meeting with Msgr. Louis Mathias, at Madras, he proceeded to Mawlai, Shillong for the completion of his theological studies. He was a neophyte to English. Moreover, he did not know the local languages like Khasi or Nepalese. And yet, he efficiently organized oratories, and animated youth groups. His professors in the seminary admired his way of being different.
Much later when he came to Tirupattur, Tamilnadu at Sacred Heart College, there was a rule that one should always go in a group of three persons. When a staff member saw Bro. Francis going alone he asked him: “Where are the other two?”  “Why” Bro. Guezou wonderingly replied, “I came from France alone (without any harm). Now why should I have two to accompany me?” This reveals the unique nature of Fr. Guezou’s character and his desire to achieve counting on his strengths.

Bro. Guezou was ordained as priest on August 01, 1953 at Tirupattur in Tamil Nadu, India. And he was sent to the Novitiate in Yercaud.

But Fr. GUezou desired to be a missionary and the first step in this missionary desire happened when he was sent to Vaduthala in Kerala from Yercaud

Kochi-Vaduthala Life

A ship is safe in the harbour but that is not the reason for a ship. It was made to be out in the high seas and accomplish its purpose. And thus, Fr. Guezou left the comfort and security of Yercaud where he was assigned to assist in the Salesian Novitiate.

A total stranger to local culture and without knowing the language Fr. Guezou proceeded to Vaduthala (Kochi, Kerala) with Bro. Varghese. The people of Vaduthala were too hostile. In the mornings, Fr. Guezou found a bunch of human hair attached to the beam outside his hut. It seems, it was to cast evil upon on him! He had to face the hostile neighborhood and warring local thugs for long. 

The mission work of Fr. Guezou started with such eventful days. He began to realize Jesus’ prayer, ‘May all be one’ as a paramount theme for his work in Vaduthala.

And so he gathered the people, irrespective of party, religion or ideology. He sowed the seeds of goodwill by doing good to them. He worked and improved the dwellings of the poor. By this time, people affectionately called him Guezou Achan. Even the communists, who kept away, began to frequent the Church and the oratories. Fr Guezou along with Fr Varghese founded Don Bosco Youth Centre which played a pivotal role in activities of sports and culture of the place: cinema, theatre, dance, music, library, and conferences. The medical professionals, students, workers, military personnel took an active part in the activities of this centre. The centre could accommodate two thousand people.

When all was well, once again the pioneering spirit clamoured within for challenges and risks in Fr Guezou. Vaduthala already gave a taste of pioneering. And, Fr. Guezou wanted a place for authentic living. After seven years of sojourn in Kochi, he was nominated as vicar of Perambur, Chennai. But even here he was not satisfied and the yearning to face difficult and adverse circumstances in the path of the priesthood was not fulfilled. It all led him to Yelagiri!

Beginnings of Life at Yelagiri Hills

On Fr. Guezou’s persistent request for a more challenging ministry, Mgr. Mathias expressed his decision: “I wish heartily a Christian presence on Yelagiri.” And so, Fr. Guezou was once again commissioned to an unknown place. He was prepared for it.

After a short stay at Koviloor, Father decided to go to the Hills, without knowing where he would shelter himself. On 31st December 1961, he set out to the hill on foot with some men who helped to transport a table and chair. At dusk the men left for the plains. And the pioneer was in the forest, alone in the night. Not knowing where to go, he had to spend his night under the table!

In 1953, Lyon Duhayon an international magnate from Roubaix, France took up the case of Fr. Guezou and his mission to the Vincent de Paul conference. Since then, he had been coordinating the regular shipment of food, clothing and money to Fr. Guezou’s mission.

Association of Friends of Fr Guezou was born around this time. Fr. Francis Guezou’s love and concern for the poor far surpassed all imaginations. He had compassion for them as his Master had compassion on the people who followed Him. To quote him: “We want absolutely to give chance to the poorest to come up....And this is gospel; this is the evangelisation... and we have to be human. It is in the measure in which we are human, that we are Christ-like.”  His love for the poor remained unabated till the end of his life.

Fr. Guezou invited the sisters of St Charles to start a school in Jolarpet and then at Yellagiri Hills. This was the beginning of the sisters of St Charles’ presence in Jolarpet. And from 1969 onwards, the sisters made their residence on the Hills.  Fr. Guezou was no longer alone in his missionary ventures.

Fr. Guezou was all in all. He, the water diviner had excelled as a land terracing and land reclamation engineer, as well as a farm instructor. The Hill witnessed all that – he dug wells, helped to construct schools, dispensaries, boarding houses, and institutions. Personally, he helped to bring quality of life for many young people.  

Life Milestones

Works of Fr Guezou

The medical mission: St. Charles sisters started a convent on Yellagiri in 1964. Their small dispensary catered to about 30 to 40 patients a day.

Drought relief measures: Lack of rain and poor soil conditions drove the hill people to near starvation. So they were employed in the Don Bosco Centre, in gardening, levelling the terrain, sinking open wells, and constructing of buildings. Nearly 100 families solely depended upon Don Bosco Centre. During a particularly severe drought that lasted for several months, more than 450 people were employed, one from each family, to help them earn some food for the entire household.

Giving them a home: Every year, about 100 huts were thatched or rebuilt for poor tribals. The night school boys and other school-going children participated in the work and assisted the regular hut builders. He also funded, at least in part, deserving families to build a decent stone house for themselves.

To give a glass of water: Water had always been a rare commodity to the people of the hill and to all in Vellore district in general. To alleviate the water problem, both for agriculture and household purposes, Fr. Guezou had about 35 open wells and 15 bore wells sunk. Consider: as a result, hundreds of acres of dry land that depended entirely on unpredictable rains could be more productive throughout the year. People from other parts of Tamil Nadu as well, approached Fr Guezou for help to quench their thirst. Large open wells were sunk in Veppampattu village, Tirupattur, Polur, Tiruthani and on Jawadhi Hills to provide drinking water.

The light of education: The night school students soon became residents. The out-of-school students studied for some hours in the morning and worked in the afternoon occupied in various projects. Once the fundamental reading, writing and arithmetic skills were acquired, these children were sent to the Government Primary School in Athanavur and elsewhere. The revelation on the importance of education came gradually to the people of the hill, as many of their children had found good jobs in the Indian Railways, The Post and Telegraph Department and other Government establishments earning handsome salaries. Many parents, initially hesitant, were later eager to send their children to school.

A home away from home: The situation in many families was not conducive for the children to pursue their education. So in 1978 a boarding with 60 primary school children, for both boys and girls, was started at St. Charles convent, Athanavur. As the boys grew in number and size, in 1980 a boarding for the boys was started separately in the Don Bosco Centre. The first group of inmates numbered 32. Within two years, the number grew to over a hundred and from then on the average number of the inmates (aged 6 years to 18 years) has remained 240.

A social curse reversed: Jolarpet being a railway junction served as a centre for a variety of beggars – the most important being the lepers. Their children were often forced to beg along with their parents or used in petty crimes. Father Guezou who was already caring for the lepers wanted to give the children an education with a family experience. Ennagam and Anbagam, the homes for boys and girls respectively – all for the children of the lepers – came into existence. They attended school and got themselves integrated with other children.

Technical education is as important as the formal academic studies – especially for those who were too old to enter the primary school. A carpentry workshop was started where about 15 boys could learn carpentry every year. More than 50 masons and bricklayers who have passed out with the informal training have found employment on Yelagiri or elsewhere.

Institutionalizing education: With the help of St. Charles Sisters a Primary School exclusively for the children of the hill was started which soon grew into a Higher Secondary School. The two schools are equipped with a well-equipped laboratory, a vast playground, spacious classrooms and halls and a scenic view of the hills. Over 800 students are studying in both these schools. Meanwhile, the Government school in Athanavur was suffering due to lack of space. Guezou constructed three classrooms with the capacity of 30 students each. The teachers were thus spared the trouble of looking for shady trees under which to conduct their classes.

Placing them in the mainstream society: After completing the Higher Secondary, the boys and girls of Yelagiri went for higher studies to the various colleges and universities all over India. Some of them took professional courses such as medicine, veterinary science, engineering, nursing, teaching, and other degree and diploma courses. More than 120 boys and girls from Yellagiri Hills who pursue higher studies are given scholarships to pay their various fees. Over Rs.80, 000/- is spent every month for this project.

“Let the little children come to me”: The women of Yellagiri are generally agricultural coolies. Most working mothers found it necessary to withdraw the older daughter from school to look after their little children. So, crèches were started in Athanavur, Mangalam and Nilavoor for the twin purpose of helping the mothers and preparing small children to enter the primary school. About 40 children benefit from these Day Care Centres.

Roping in the congregation: To satisfy the dire need to train and mold young men as Salesians, Idaya Deepam Salesian Novitiate was started in Mangalam. Every year about 25 young men take the vow to serve God and their fellow men for all their lives as priests and religious of the Salesian Society of Don Bosco. These young men have reached out and touched the lives of the youth of the hill by involving themselves in various social activities.

Making Yellagiri an e-hill: In 1998 Don Bosco Centre made a tremendous leap forward into the world of Information Technology. Fr. Guezou joined hands with Fr. Thaddeus, Head of the Department of Computer Science in Sacred Heart College, and Fr. Maria Arockiaraj, to start BICS InfoTech Computer Centre in order to bring computer education to economically and socially disadvantaged boys and girls from rural Tamil Nadu. About 200 students undergo professional computer training at the diploma, degree, and postgraduate levels every year. It is a heartwarming fact that all those who have passed out of this institute have found good positions in the IT industry.

BICS InfoTech comprised also a Software Development Centre and a Data Processing Unit called BOSCO ITS, where about 100 young men and women work and earn to support their families. Most of them are past pupils of BIIT section of BICS itself.

Sponsorship programme: Fr. Guezou brought up literally several hundreds of boys and girls through his sponsorship programme. Information about poor children and their condition was communicated to Mr. Leon Duhayon. And he would spend five days a week travelling the length and breadth of France talking to people in parishes, schools and clubs, trying to get people to sponsor them. He inspired the people and they felt that with this sincere man in France and with Fr. Guezou in India living among the teeming millions of poor people, their money would be put to good use. People would sponsor individual boys or girls and take care of all their needs. The money received was not given to the children straightaway. Fr Guezou prudently helped children’s education, the needs of the family and also other children who were not sponsored, but were in need. The sponsors had total confidence in Guezou’s judgment about the use of money for ‘their’ child and for other deserving children.