Four Sisters were sent to the East. After a long and perilous voyage, one had died at sea, three of them landed at Penang in April 1852. That same year, the three Sisters established a convent that contained an orphanage and school in Penang. In September 1852, the Congregation sent four Sisters to Penang, with Mother Mathilde Raclot in charge, to guide and support the group of sisters who had arrived earlier. The school, Convent Light Street (Malay: SMK Convent Lebuh Light), is Penang's oldest girls' school and has occupied its current site along Light Street near historic George Town for over 150 years. While on the peninsula, the Sisters continued establishing schools with help from the local community such as Kuala Lumpur's oldest girls' school Convent Bukit Nanas and the only Chinese convent girls school Convent Datuk Keramat in Penang. In 1952, St Bernadette's convent school was built in Pusing Road, Batu Gajah Perak with land donated and funds raised from communities. During World War II, the Japanese invaded Malaya and either took over or closed down many such mission schools, notably the iconic Convent Primary School in the hills of Tanah Rata. The Tanah Rata convent is one of the few in the region which still contains an operating school and a church. Today, CHIJ schools can be found in most states and many major cities and they continue to educate local girls of all races and religions.