Un unsung HERO: “MSOLA”
The story tells how MSOLA – Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa- keeps close to her heart the cause of the woman in the world; she wants to make a difference in the life of the one who brings to life; the one who carries life in a secret place and brings it as a gift to this world; male and female; slave and task master; rich and poor, king and prince. MSOLA cares for humanity because the woman she cares for is at the center of human life. On her mission to serve the woman, MSOLA knows no boundaries. The mountains so high, the ocean so deep, the wilderness so dense would not prevent her from responding to the cry of a woman in despair. In this amazing story, our unsung HERO “MSOLA” has brought a special touch to the lives of vulnerable mothers and their babies in…
« Calor y Café », in Málaga
“CALOR Y CAFÉ” The new born of CÁRITAS MÁLAGA To testify that Love breaks all the barriers: Idolatry of money, an economy that kills, selfishness which seeks only to enrich itself at any cost : two homes for the homeless. “Pozo Dulce”, a home for the homeless : During the jubilee year 2000 a home for the homeless was born: “Pozo Dulce” which gives shelter to 55 residents. “Calor y Café” is also the fruit of another jubilee year: the Year of Mercy. Both centers were created to address the big problem of people who live on the streets. “Calor y Café” and “Pozo Dulce” are signs of mercy. Several volunteers have offered to make these places real welcoming homes. The people who live on the street do not do it because they want it, but because of various unfortunate circumstances in their lives. The personalized support given to…
The senoufo language and the wisdom of Nyanyogo
Sister Nicole Robion : What I have learned from the wisdom of a woman of the traditional religion : While learning the Sénoufo language one day this woman Nyanyogo, came to the dispensary. As I had noticed her speaking clearly, I followed her to her home. For years, we had a beautiful friendship and this is what I can share of her wisdom. Welcome : God does not like someone to be sad. If your eye is bitter, your heart is also bitter and everything in you is sad. If people come to you, receive them with both hands. If we honor one another, God will honor us. An Enemy: Someone might hate me but since God who gave me life does not hate her, I cannot make that person my enemy. I laughed with her and she said: “What? You want us to fight? No, laugh…
The missionary heart has no boundaries
AFRICA…and then what? Sister Monique, Belgian Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa, returned from Burkina Faso several years ago. However, back home does not mean “retirement”! Rather, the missionary heart has no boundaries, and spontaneously she found places of work, or rather people to love, particularly the very poor. In mission at Louvain-la-Neuve “Our mission can be lived wherever we are sent,” we read in the MSOLA Constitutions. Upon my arrival in Louvain-la-Neuve, a multicultural city, I discovered that we could live the MSOLA charism in a special way. Africans are everywhere. We meet them while shopping, in parish activities, on the way to school. To share with young people what I have lived in Africa always gives me great joy: The director of a school in Ottignies (section of Louvain-la-Neuve), and a religion teacher, asked me for an animation. In the 39 high school…
Beauty and feminine identity by Lucienne Brousse
“The art of tattooing as an attribute of feminine beauty was once the prerogative of North African women. As in all millennial civilizations, this pageantry which embellished the features of the face, the limbs or certain parts of the body formed the adornment of the woman following the example of its current practice in European countries with piercing, a new contemporary form inherited Hindo-Asian civilizations which today attracts casual and rebellious young people. The work which has just been published by Dar El Khattab editions looks with a corpus of signs, symbols drawn on the origins of Berber female tattoos in the regions of Biskra and Touggourt, spreading a little more in the regions of Kabylie, to provide a modest study that attempts an ethnographic understanding of the original symbolism of tattoos, often referring to testimonies of women who practiced it: “It is…
Embracing the past and the present
On the way to Banzo It looked like 15 August would be a beautiful day for the Bobo Dioulasso novitiate community… First we had to get up earlier than usual and be on the road before sunrise. Besides the dirt road and deciding which pot-holes to avoid… After two hours of travel, well shaken, we arrived at Banzon, where this year would take place the feast of the Assumption. Also celebrated in our diocese is the feast of the Association of Catholic Women of the diocese (LAFCD). We were warmly welcomed by the parish priest of Our Lady of the Valleys, Father André Baro. He impressed us with his simplicity and openness. Under a tree, the first White Sisters to Banzo After greetings, he spoke about the history of the parish and the place of the White Sisters in it. “You see the little house below…
Delwende Center in Ouagadougou
What is Delwende Center?
Surprised by the Spirit… twice!
In defining our new Community Apostolic Project we of Winooski were very pleasantly surprised by what happened. We are seven, of very different characters and personalities and often find it difficult to come to consensus. Some are independent living and others needing infirmary care. However one sister suggested that what was needed was a new word carrying a new emphasis. After a pause, she proposed that HOPE was becoming very meaningful to her and could be such a word. The idea was contagious. It was as if it passed from one to the other, each one endorsing it. It was easily translated into “becoming a Messenger of Hope”. We all liked that. Then we could almost feel the invisible Spirit spelling out to each one the direction she could take. One said it could only be according to her own gifts and her God-given strength which varied…
They do not let themselves be discouraged by these daily sufferings
As I was discovering how Mary personifies hope, I felt the strong link between Mary and the Congolese mamas. I understood why these mamas personify hope for me. MAMA SIFA rapidly comes down the hill. It is 6 am. She goes to Lake Kivu like every morning, with a plastic bag and … her rosary. On the shore, she fills her bag of roughly 50 kg of sand. She puts it on her back and ties it with a braided belt that encircles her forehead. With other mamas, she slowly climbs up the hill, a long calvary of a half hour, an hour or more … Whether the sun shines or the rain falls in torrents, She carries on, head bent. Mama Sifa is young. She can make three trips a day. Her rosary in hand, heart full of hope, she walks; happy to think of…
Break down all unjust structures
We join with other women in their aspirations and their struggle to be recognised in their dignity. Today women are called to unite in an effort to bring about the integral liberation of the human person and break down all unjust structures. Let us participate actively in all these efforts to make our world more human. This is also true for the Church. May it give women their rightful place; may it welcome and encourage women’s initiatives. Bishops of Uganda – 1997: “The absence of an adequate education was and still is a big obstacle to the full liberation of women. A community or a Church which ignores the educational promotion of their women will neither grow nor have a positive influence on the population, as it should have.” Mgr Mpundu – 2nd Synod for Africa – 2009: “Denial of equality to women is an affront to…