History
The history of the house. PDF Print E-mail

Orphanage Family of Mary, was founded in autumn 1920 in the city Szamotuly. The initiator and founder of the educational institution was the Polish Primate of that time, Fr. Cardinal Dalbor. In 1921 the Society for the Protection sent to the Sisters the first orphans under her wings, and thus they created a first nursery for orphans, and then the Orphanage after a break of occupation, which is led by the Assembly continuously since 1945. In the first year sisters lead only orphanage. There were 60 Children. Since January 1922, the sisters lead a school, at the beginning two-classes in five wards then branches.

In the 1931-1932 school was transformed into the second degree private elementary school. The orphanage protected 150 children. Child of the city profit by two-class school or departmental too. The school taught always up to 300 children. The sisters also conducted a boarding for pupils attended the school. There was up to 60 residents . Beautiful and fruitful sister’s work was stopped by the war. In September 1939, during World War II in the orphanage lived 159 children and 24 sisters. From the very beginning, Germany was very taken an interest in the facility. On 12 December 1939, the sisters were given a formal order to leave the house until January 1940. Children under the care of the sisters left to Poznan, Warsaw and was placed in other homes.

Some of the sisters went to Warsaw, the other dispersed to the family houses. Three sisters, a few months remained in the concentration camp in Bojanowo. When the first sisters returned on February 20, 1945 they found the house totally robbed and many devices had been heavily damaged. But they didn’t give up, and vigorously got down to work. As early as spring of 1946 was adopted children evacuated from Sambor. Department of Education in Poznan and Warsaw began to send war orphans. The orphanage has been changed to Children's Home.

After the Second World War there have been enormous economic and social changes. The working conditions were also changed in the facility. In 1954, there lived 140 wards from age 3 to 18 at the orphanage. One-third were children of kindergarten age. Eleven students attended secondary school. The rest of the children went to primary school. In the years 1950-1990 House remained under the management of the Association of Catholics ”Caritas”. It was a difficult period, full of tension and anxiety. Especially difficult were the years 1950-1970. The state authorities pursued to take the House from Sisters. Nevertheless, thanks to Divine Providence, House survived the storm and lived to see historical moment, when he was moved completely under the administration of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary since July 1990.

Since 01.01.2007, due to the reorganization of the house and the EU standardization process the Orphanage was named Care and Educational Unit of "Family of Mary". Currently, from the team emerge autonomous facility. There will live only 14-member groups of children. The first of facility under the name "Canaan" sacrificed 1 June 2009, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki.