Advocating for teenage girls’ education in Uganda
Uganda, like all other countries, was very much affected by the Covid 19 pandemic. Among those who suffered the most are the nearly 15 million children and youth who did not attend school for almost 2 years due to the pandemic strict lockdown. Some of its consequences are a big number of early marriages among girls and teenage pregnancies. The government issued a policy allowing all children (pregnant ones included) to go back to school, once it was opened in January 2022. The Church in Uganda saw how much the girl child was affected by the Covid lockdown and her education challenge in post-covid period. At the end of April 2022, I participated in a workshop organized by Africa Faith and Justice Network, Association of Religious in Uganda and John Paul II Justice and Peace Centre, entitled “Education and decent work for all: Address the impact of Covid-19 on teenage…
The creation of a business school
Madeleine Jacqueminet spent more than half a century of her African missionary life in Burkina Faso. A teacher by training, she has done secretarial work and accounting. The years have passed and today she is at the St Charles retirement home in Verrières-le-Buisson, where she has kept her good mood, her dynamism and her joie de vivre… For me, the “All to all” of our founder Charles Lavigerie, began the day I responded to a request from Cardinal Zoungrana (from Ouagadougou), who asked for someone to start a commercial school. There was a lack of secretaries in Burkina. But what to do? I started from NOTHING, I had to find a group of students, equipment, a room, organize everything! My first job was to prepare an entrance exam to select the most suitable girls to start this training. Then I went to see the headmaster of the technical school…
Missionary and vocational animation in Poland
Our Lublin community came to be strongly linked to Africa due to the significant contribution of many sisters who have lived and worked here in Poland. People who desire to know more about Africa, to travel to Africa or to support Africa are referred to us by those who know us. Parishes and even schools within and outside Lublin invite us every year to speak about Africa and our MSOLA charism. We also have an African Museum which attracts different groups yearly. These invitations and visits have been very few for almost 2 years due to the pandemic. However, there is more life and joy since the beginning of this year as we are able to visit schools and receive students in our museum for animation. The joy of meeting children of basic schools so eager to know more about our charism and Africa is so encouraging. We normally begin…
My experience with children on and off the street
BY SR. MARIETTE MACOZI KAPUTA, KINSHASA, DRC When I arrived in Kinshasa three months ago, I received the appointment to work at ORPER (Oeuvre de Reclassement et de Protection des Enfants de la Rue), a structure that welcomes children on and off the street for various reasons. As I welcomed this appointment with joy, I was still apprehensive about how to deal with these children, whom I imagined to be very difficult. To my great surprise, these children welcomed me with open arms and after a few days they were at ease with me as if we had known each other for a long time. They immediately noticed my twisted Lingala and since then, they have not hesitated to make corrections while encouraging me that I will eventually speak well. These children surprised me with their spirit of solidarity and sharing. When there is food, for example, and one of…
Arab course, on-site and on-line
Learn Arabic the Tunisian way at the Maison d’Etudes des Soeurs Blanches in Montfleury! Also online, with the method of Sr Madeleine Prim. The Level 1 manual has been reissued. The dialogues have been written as a comic to facilitate learning. The content of the manual remains the same.There are now 4 Tunisian Arabic textbooks with the Prim method:- Level 1- Level 2- Level 3A-Level 3B. These four manuals cover all the courses given. For information write to m.etudes_cours@yahoo.fr
Miracles of Mother Marie Salomé, an invitation…
On March 3, we celebrated the 175th birthday of our Venerable Mother Marie Salomé. I felt an inner call to share with others the example of the life of holiness of our Mother Salomé. With our newest community in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the St Julien community, we have decided to invite our neighbours from the basic Christian community, St Julien CCB, and the nearest community of the Missionaries of Africa of the parish of Saint John XXIII. Being new to the neighbourhood, we couldn’t imagine what it would be like. We shared the tasks: invitations, liturgy, and reception. Already in the preparations, we were unanimous. The day far exceeded our expectations. The community of our brothers, the White Fathers was complete. Around 60 of our neighbours came. Our joy was immense. Mother Marie Salomé gave us two unexpected gifts. After the rosary with her thoughts, we had on the program…
The formation of the sisters in the spotlight
“… It is necessary to continue our training. The times of spiritual and professional deepening will only bear fruit if they are linked to a continuous personal effort, which knows how to exploit the means, even modest ones, within our reach. (Constitutions No. 86)” From the beginning, our congregation has been very attentive to the study path of the young people who wanted to join us. Alongside doctrinal studies, there has always been a mandate to form us in professions that could enrich our apostolate with specific methodologies and tools for our mission. First and foremost there has always been the study of local languages and dialects. At the beginning it was Arabic and the dialects of North Africa and some sisters had acquired such a mastery that they became teachers and professors. As for the professions, at the beginning they were all provided with practical courses to face the…
Speaking the Tunisian language changes everything!
The Tunisian Arabic lessons given by the White Sisters have a long history! After the courses given by the White Fathers at IBLA, the White Sisters organized a basic plan of more intensive courses from 1937. A Learning Centre was founded in 1957 in Montfleury (a district of Tunis) as well as a library for secondary school students. Intended initially for young White Sisters studying literary and dialectal Arabic, with training in Islamology, the language centre has gradually opened up to other foreigners living and working in Tunisia. The first candidate was a doctor who felt the need to speak Arabic with patients and their families. The Learning Centre ensured the teaching of Tunisian Arabic to foreigners and training in Tunisian culture. In 2017, the “Maison d’Etudes de Montfleury” closed its doors and the Tunisian Arabic lessons were transferred to Tunis, to the premises of the Prelature, near the cathedral…
The joy of moving towards…
By early 2020, following lockdowns imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of ZOOM increased sharply and thousands of businesses and educational institutions had switched to online courses using ZOOM. As the company offered its services free of charge to schools from kindergarten to high school in many countries, the number of users per day increased from 10 million in December 2019 to 200 million in March 2020, with many new participants working online for the first time. ZOOM has also become a social platform and its users have organized family reunions, sports classes, concerts, weddings, etc. Our congregation quickly adopted this new medium of communication. At first with some difficulty but very quickly, and with a lot of practice on the spot, several sisters became very skilled in the use, and ZOOM became the means of bonding between individuals and communities. What a pleasure to connect between Europe, America and Africa to…
