Celebration of “Yennayer” 2975
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…
Jubilee of the World of Volunteering
The entire period of the Jubilee 2025 is characterised by a rich calendar of religious, cultural and social events. The Holy Year programme includes several ‘jubilees’ dedicated to different categories of people, identified according to their profession or their role within the family, the Church and society. The two days of 8 and 9 March are dedicated to the world of volunteering, as a reminder of the role played by non-profit organisations, NGOs, social workers and volunteers from all associations working for the benefit of the community. Today we also want to remember and thank all the volunteers with whom we continue to work on various projects. We do so with an article by our sister Elisabeth Biela, who has left her role in the Karlsruhe community as leader of the refugee ministry in collaboration with many other Christian and lay associations. Here are her thoughts on the occasion of…
International Women’s Day 2025
Photographer Esther Ruth Mbabazi took this image in Juba, South Sudan, in September 2018, when the country was at war, yet ‘these graduates were full of hope for a brighter future’ On 8 March 2025, join us to celebrate International Women’s Day under the theme, “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” This year’s theme calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind. Central to this vision is empowering the next generation—youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls—as catalysts for lasting change. This article is a collection of memories, quotes and resources to celebrate International Women’s Day together, from the websites of the United Nations and the Vatican. Sr Oluwakemi Akinleye fsp – Vatican City writes: The journey towards an International Women’s Day began in the 1900s in New York and…
If the Lord does not build the house…
The sisters in the Nouakchott Community, Mauritania, share with us the Blessing of the Medina 3 Complex (The apartments, the Paul VI center, the sisters’ house and the magnificent chapel) Ps 127:1 “If the Lord does not build the house, the builders have toiled for nothing.” It is with great emotion and gratitude that we experienced the blessing mass of the Medina 3 complex and the installation of the tabernacle in our chapel. A project prepared and supported for many years by Bishop Martin Happe, bishop emeritus of our diocese. How many hours of insomnia are hidden behind this audacious project! Where can we find the funds necessary for its realization? It was surely a great emergency: the parish halls of Paul VI were dilapidated and too narrow, the house of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Apparition dated from the 1970s and needed to…
Intercommunity meeting in Algeria
Sr. Bernadette Djekoye for the community On December 26, our sisters from the communities of Oran and Algiers courageously set off for Ghardaïa where we were impatiently waiting for them. We welcomed them with great joy. It had been so long since almost all of us had had the opportunity to meet. On the morning of the 27th, we celebrated the Eucharist in our community, presided over by one of our brothers of the Missionaries of Africa. After a good breakfast, we set off for Sebseb where we were able to live our time of sharing about our mission as MSOLA in the M’Zab Valley, in Ghardaïa. Along the way, we discovered this environment until our destination. We had a very warm welcome in this desert place, with beautiful tents. We were even able to have a room to ourselves all day. It was at this time…
Enjoying little things: a trip to Antwerp Zoo
Written in July 2024 by Ludovica Hofmans and Reninca Van Elzen Summer was slow in coming to Belgium and rather temperamental … We did decide on a date for a visit to Antwerp Zoo, and on that day, 19 July 2024, the weather was very fine, even a little too hot (30°C). But, equipped with hats and bottles of water, we went ahead with our trip to the zoo. We (Anna Hendrickx and ourselves) were lucky enough to be accompanied by Claire, our coordinator, and Sr Marcelline and Sr Maïté, our leaders, who were visiting Belgium! Pauline, a friend of Sr Mia Van Looy, was also on hand to help transport us as all three of us were in wheelchairs. We thank her again very much! I, Ludovica, really admired Pauline, Marcelline and Claire, who pushed us all the way. Thanks to them, I had a great…
Ambassadors of hope: together against human trafficking
Ambassadors of hope: together against human trafficking Every year on 8 February, in the liturgical memory of Saint Bakhita, we celebrate the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. People on all continents unite their prayers against human trafficking. Among them, we, the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, as members of Talitha Kum, the international network of religious against human trafficking. Join us and other Ambassadors of Hope in praying against human trafficking. Join the Online Pilgrimage of Prayer and Awareness against human trafficking on the 7th of February. For more information and prayer materials visit preghieracontrotratta.org
Unspoken voices of women in Maaji Refugee Settlments
By Sr. Julienne Bouda, Ukusijoni Community, Uganda Amidst the large population of Maaji Refugee Settlements, the majority are children, women and youth, with fewer men. Some are widows, but others have husbands in South Sudan who are working to help their families in Uganda, which is sometimes not obvious. So women remain the breadwinners. This is a challenge for many who try their best to earn a living by doing casual work, renting land for farming, brewing the local beer or relying on the little or nothing their husbands can send. This makes it very difficult to provide for their children’s formal education, health, food and clothing. A family in Maaji is made up of relatives, but also of adopted orphaned children who were separated from their families while fleeing the war. Nowadays, life is even harder for the refugee women, as the UNHCR ratios are…
Empathy in Action: Lessons from the World Day of the Poor
Sr. Valérie Kaboré on mission in Algeria “While part of the world is condemned to live in the depths of history, while inequalities increase and the economy punishes the weakest, while society is dedicated to the idolatry of money and consumption, the poor and the marginalized often have no choice but to continue to wait (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, n. 54). … It is us whom his grace makes shine; it is our life, imbued with compassion and charity, which must become a sign of the Lord’s presence, always close to the suffering of the poor, to soothe their wounds and transform their destiny.” Link to the PDF https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2024/documents/20241117-omelia-giornatamondiale-poveri.html I feel very inspired by this quotation from Pope Francis. He recalled these words recently, on 17 November, during the World Day of the Poor. Several events and celebrations that we have experienced in these days can be linked…
Sisters of temporary vows on the path of transformation
From our Sr Sylviane Rouamba and Sr Domina Dusenge Dear readers, We send you greetings of peace and joy! As temporary vowed sisters of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, we are writing to inform you of our 2024 session and retreat in Uganda – the land of martyrs. The meeting took place from 28 November to 13 December 2024. It was divided into two parts: a week of deepening the theme of the 2023 General Chapter and a week of retreat. The first part was led by our sisters: Sister Angela Kapitinganga, Superior General of our congregation, Sister Jeanne d’Arc Ouattara, her assistant (who joined us on line), Sister Furaha Kamanyura Jeannette, leader of the ECA entity, Sister Élisabeth Villemure, Sister Revocate Kabahuma and Father David Sullivan, Missionary of Africa. The session took place in an atmosphere of openness, listening, sharing and trust.…