On January 12, 2025, we were happy to celebrate the Berber New Year called “Yennayer”.
In fact, for several years, our community of Hydra-Alger has been celebrating this day with the friends of the White Sisters of yesterday and today. This year, more than 30 women responded with joy to our invitation. Each of them brought something to share with the others.
It is always a great joy for them to meet to exchange their news and remember our sisters from Saint Charles to the present day.
For this year’s celebration, we were able to find about 40 names of former Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa and 10 current sisters present in the country. This made sharing easier, because we could remember some of them by seeing their photo or name. We began with a time when each one spoke, to express their wish for the new year: “May it be a year of peace, prosperity and good health to be able to work and help each other to live in joy”. They also spoke of the good memories lived with one or the other sister, former or new.
They prayed for the gift of rain, so that there would be enough food for everyone.
One of the particularities of this year’s meeting was the presence of young people from 9 to 13 years old. They came with their grandmother, their aunt, etc. One of their wishes was that the world would improve. It was also an opportunity for this young generation to discover who the White Sisters are! The elders told them with joy and enthusiasm everything they knew and still remembered about us.
It was very moving to hear the women testify with passion to the younger ones, of the fruit of the work of the sisters. Everything was summed up in our: “BEING WITH… BEING ALL TO ALL”.
It was an opportunity for missionary animation experienced in our context. After this sharing, one or the other expressed herself again on how she feels today as a worthy woman, thanks to the White Sisters. For example, one told us:
“I have known the White Sisters since I was four years old and now, I am over seventy years old! I am what I am because they took care of me. They helped me to root myself in my belief as a Muslim woman”. “These sisters only do good works. They taught us values. They helped us to value our culture”.
We ended with a snack and some dance steps.
The women left our house urging us to remain true White Sisters who respect people in their culture and serve without discrimination. We are proud to be the heirs of our sisters.
