End of year session 2023 in Nouakchott, Mauritania

From our Community in Nouakchott

Every year, between Christmas and New Year, the pastoral agents of the diocese of Nouakchott come together for a time of training, meeting and relaxation.

The theme of this year’s session was “Discovering current Mauritania through its religion, cultures and traditions” because of the importance of the number of pastoral agents newly assigned to the diocese, and because of the complexity of Mauritanian society. We were 48 pastoral agents of 23 nationalities. Among us 11 new people who participated in the session for the first time.

We had two speakers. Mr Gabriel Hatti is one of the faithful Christians, former official of the Mauritanian administration, and currently president of Caritas-Mauritania. He spoke about his life in Mauritanian society where he held important responsibilities which led him to a unique experience of Christian life in this land of Islam where the Lord sends us to bear witness to his presence.

Mr Mohamed Maatala, Mauritanian jurist and head of the Caritas Prison project, spoke to us about the societal composition of Mauritania, its culture and its religion. The sharing of the two speakers and all the questions asked by the participants aimed to help us know the country and its inhabitants, its culture, the things permitted and prohibited in Mauritania to better adapt our apostolate.

During this session we also held the General Assembly of Religious Women. It was really a great joy to see all of us again. In all, we were 27 sisters from 5 different congregations including the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany, the daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of the Holy Heart of Mary and us MSOLA.

For this year, the Office of the Union of Religious Women offered a morning of training on various human and social issues existing in Mauritania and which affect the most vulnerable population (women, children, migrants, girls, victims of human trafficking, etc.) We had invited a Mauritanian lawyer, Ms. Fatimata Mbaye, a woman very committed to the fight for women’s rights and against discrimination against black populations. She is President of the Human Rights League. She spoke about the reality of early marriage, abused women and victims of slavery and mistreatment of all kinds. She was very open, concrete and simple in answering all our questions.

Ms. Fatimata Mbaye helped us to discover what is already in force to combat these issues (in terms of the law, the NGOs that exist and what they do in these different areas) and what steps we can undertake, as Church, for more justice and to whom we can turn in case of need. She encouraged us to be alongside women, girls and all vulnerable people. She renewed her availability to collaborate with us if necessary. At the end of the Assembly, our sister Lucile Nzigire was re-elected president of the Union for another 2-year term.

The relaxing evening arrived for the pastoral agents of Nouakchott. The atmosphere had changed and the animation was present. It was a moment to exchange, to have fun, to share our different cultures and to conclude that finally, we are only one culture. Our recreational evening showed the fruit salad that we are, as our father Bishop likes to say. Each fruit was represented and the mixture of all fruits numbering 23 (nationalities) out of 48 fruits (people) who were on site. I admired our proximity and the interest in discovering each other’s culture through poems, songs, dances, as well as other activities in different languages. After the presentation by community, each member gave a gift to their invisible friend and we finished by wishing each other a good and fruitful mission here on Mauritanian soil.

On December 30, 2023, after three intense days of meetings, we went to relax by the sea, at kilometer point 28 on the Rosso Road. After the mass, the procession of cars with 43 pastoral agents set off. The chosen location houses a small fishing village where men of Senegalese origin come to earn their daily bread. Arriving on site, once the cars which had gotten stuck in the sand were freed, some walked along the sea, others chatted, played ball and petanque… After lunch, it was time for dancing and then a few brave people even dared to enter the sea which is not very warm at this time of year!

During the outing we were the guests of a high-ranking gentleman in the SNDE company, the Mauritania Water Distribution Company, who welcomed us in his house by the ocean. He was honored to welcome all these strangers, part of the Church, and he told us many times that we are always welcome in his home.