"When the day came for them to be purified in accordance with the law of Moses, Jesus' parents took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord" (Lk. 2:22).
Let us contemplate this icon, which introduces us to the mystery of the Incarnation, as an event in the encounter between God and humanity.
Everything happens in the simplicity of a dialogue, an exchange of glances, a respectful gesture of offering, of wonder. God and humanity are mutually engaged with one another.
After being carried in the womb for nine months by his mother, Jesus is carried to the temple by his parents to be presented to God and, while they are there, old Simeon takes the child in his arms. Christ is being carried by individuals, just as we all have been.
Being carried by someone is far from being without meaning... Being carried or carrying someone else is a gesture of intimacy and tenderness... Being carried means acknowledging our need of others. At birth as at death, we trust. We are called to follow a path of humility and dependence. In everything we do in our life - in apostolic commitments, relationships, community life, etc. - we carry one another much more often than we could ever imagine. Carrying or being carried is a pre-condition of every true encounter between two beings.
If this is how things are among us, is it not the same with God - in faith ? We live in faith in which God accompanies us and carries us all the way. And see also today how God is waiting for us to carry Him. What does this mean ? God is inviting us to take Him in our arms, just as we take his Body into our hands at the moment of communion.
He wants "to dwell in our house" (Lk. 19:5) and comes to us as the poor person or the one begging for peace and justice, or as that brother or sister who needs our compassion and solidarity. Is our heart open enough to allow God the freedom to visit us in such a disturbing way ? Is our vision sufficiently free from pride to recognise Him in an infant ? Is our desire for the encounter strong enough to make room for Him and return love for love ? To take God in our arms is to choose to live with Him in a privileged relationship of closeness and intimacy. It is to become a little like Simeon.
May we be able this Christmas, in the intimacy of our being, to live this real encounter, inspired by the conviction that, in the moment in which God carries us, we are carrying Him too, so that He can be the Light of the nations wherever he sends or leads us.
With best wishes to each one of you!
Your sisters of the General Council
Presentation
Throughout this year, in response to a suggestion from the General Council, Sharing has paid particular attention to the "Objectives of the Millennium Campaign", which provide the connecting thread between the different themes. This last issue for 2007 continues this thrust.
Is not the wish to be present to the world of the little ones and the poor - all the people to whom we remain attentive - always effective and palpable in us all, regardless of our age and our different ways of living the mission ? Today, our elderly sisters in four communities - two in Canada and two in Belgium - tell us how they continue to realise this wish, now that they have returned to their home countries. As one of them recalls, "Our mission is one, wherever we are". (Const. n° 13) and the 2005 C. A. specified that "Mission is at the heart of our lives... Within our one mission, our senior sisters have a specific contribution to offer" (C. A. 2005, p. 50).
The "Objectives" are still fully present in what several sisters in Africa share of their experience. There are those who took part in a session at Kinshasa on Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation, prepared by Marie-Alice Terrettaz and a Scheutist Father. There is also the involvement of former pupils in the celebration in Kenya of the centenary of the MSOLAs' arrival in that country. And then, interestingly for what it opens up for the future, there is the visit by a sister from Tunisia to the site of one of the Congregation's oldest houses, which has been completely rebuilt, in accordance with the concerns of the Tunisian national education system, which has converted it into a modern secondary school. In a fourth article, we discover how one of us, by producing icons, is helping to protect an artistic heritage by giving substance to the beauty of God, in a world called to bring that beauty to life.
The "Walk through the Archives" enables us to rediscover the beginnings of our presence in Kenya since 1907 - the same Kenya we are still discovering with the first International Women's Summit on HIV/AIDS in Nairobi. "Did you know that?", which follows, also provides a connecting thread.
To end this presentation, in accordance with the wishes of the General Council, I send you on behalf of the whole Sharing team, our warmest wishes for the beautiful feast of Christmas - a feast for the little ones and the poor - and for the new year. May each one of you, both individually and in community, allow herself to be "carried" by Him who was not afraid to take flesh in order to assume our human condition and carry it up to its greatest heights !
Lucie Pruvost
MISSIONARY AT EVERY AGE
IN THE ELDERLY SISTERS' HOUSE
IN BEAUPORT, THE MISSION CONTINUES
Without looking back
When I returned to Canada in 2000, I did not regard my return as final. I gave myself at least three more good years somewhere in Africa. But when I arrived in Sillery, I was asked to provide a service in place of a sister who had been given an appointment somewhere else. That already demanded a substantial degree of detachment, because I knew very well that, three years later, it would be too late to return to Africa. So after prayer and reflection, I accepted this new apostolate and set to work without looking back.
In Beauport
In 2004, it was decided that our house in Sillery should be sold and that a group of sisters would go to Beauport, to the house of the Quebec Sisters of Charity. I was one of the sisters concerned, being the "superior" of the community. I have to admit that, while I made myself available to do the Lord's will and prayed a great deal to be able to accept it, the change was not easy for me.
We already had a little community of sisters in Beauport and our arrival was adding a further twenty. Ten were nominated for the infirmary and ten for the autonomous community. We were welcomed with open arms by the General Council of the Sisters of Charity and by our own sisters, who did everything possible to make us feel at home.
An Inter-congregation community
We have an independent community life. We live in a beautiful environment on the 6th floor of the Generalate, with a magnificent view over the city of Quebec and the St Laurence river. We form a large inter-congregation community comprising Sisters of Charity, Sisters of the Visitation and Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, all of us devoted to the same Lord. We share the cafeteria, chapel, swimming pool and medical centre. We are welcome to share in all activities - meetings, retreats, study days and celebrations. We unite in the joys and tribulations of the house.
Accompanying our sick sisters
We practise mutual help among ourselves, particularly in looking after our sick sisters. We visit them every day, reading to them and playing cards with them. On the Congregation's feast days and at Christmas, Easter and other special festivals, they join us for prayer and a relaxing celebration. Our sick sisters constitute the primary apostolate of our community.
Services and other activities
We have friendly relationships with the large number of lay staff, particularly with the care staff but also with the maintenance staff. We share in various services in the house, such as acting as supervising a floor of the infirmary, helping in the arts and crafts workshop, singing in the choir, and doing readings on the microphone to the whole house. We take our turn in arranging the Sunday liturgy and sometimes accompany a sick sister to hospital. Several sisters from the infirmary and the community lend a hand every day to fold the linen in the laundry. Several of us take part in days of recollection, Eucharistic groups and various meetings taking place either here or elsewhere.
The Sisters of Charity have an arts and crafts centre in the house, and we are able to share in the work there. This activity aims to provide the sisters in the infirmary and those living independently in the various communities with the means of occupying themselves pleasantly, depending on their individual talents and state of health. The activities available include knitting, dressmaking, embroidery, crocheting, cross-stitching on canvas and even weaving. The sisters also take part in painting, collage and cutting-out workshops. They produce decorations, greetings cards and different items, depending on their level of creativity. A sale of these products is organised every year, with the profits going to the missions. Manual work is good for the sisters, who enjoy working in their own way. They feel useful and happy to be doing something to help the poor.
Our missionary reality
We pray one day each week for missionary animation, particularly for vocations. We take an interest in the news from around the world, especially from Africa. We enjoy welcoming sisters who come here on leave. Listening to someone speaking about our mission or about the current situation in Africa immerses us again in our missionary reality. The other sisters and the laypeople in the house are very interested in our life as missionaries, and we find it easy to speak to them about our experiences in the different countries where we have worked. We have no contact with young people, except sometimes with those young people who are committed to their vocation.
That is a brief summary of the "very active" life we lead in insertion in retirement, doing what we can to continue to live well and stay active in the spirit of mission. We are conscious that this "sending out" will, without doubt, be our last. But we live peacefully and with gratitude to our Congregation, which has welcomed us warmly, and to the Lord, who tells us not worry about tomorrow. He has also promised a hundredfold to all those who leave everything to follow Him. We are already receiving that hundredfold.
Georgette Martel,
Beauport, Canada
READINESS TO LEAVE OR TO REMAIN
In Quebec, always
available for mission
To live the sending
"Our mission is ONE, wherever we are and every service is a mission for Africa" (Const. N° 13). This conviction has always inspired my missionary life, especially since my return from Africa in 1992. It helped me to live the sending at the time of the closure and sale of our house in Chemin Gomin, Quebec, in May 2001, followed by that of Sillery in January 2005 and our arrival in the house of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi of Lyon, in Charlesbourg. The provincial Council and our treasurer had prepared us to live through these departures by informing us that our houses, given that we were getting older and there were few vocations, had become too big and burdensome to run. They accompanied and supported us in accepting these appointments.
Awareness of getting older
Being sent to Sillery, a house for elderly and sick sisters, gave rise to some struggle and resentment in me. There was an awareness that I was getting older and that I needed to give up certain activities and visits in order to embrace this phase in my life - old age with all the limitations and frailties it brought. The Lord who had charmed me in my youth had now spoken to my heart again in order to bring about this transition. (Const. no 22), and I replied, "Here I come to do your will".
To live in solidarity
A few years later, it was Sillery that we had to leave, our last house in Quebec, located amid magnificent scenery facing the river. The dispersion of the community and its belongings demanded detachment of us and called on us to live in solidarity with all the old people, immigrants and others, who are forced to leave their homes, families and countries without knowing where to go. We felt privileged to have sisters who were willing to receive us and offer us security and fraternity. Yes, the Lord is my Shepherd, and there is nothing I shall want. He accompanied us during those final months, which were hard and heavy with emotion and partings. We had to make choices in deciding what to take with us. We gave priority to what spoke to us of Africa and, first and foremost, the statue of Our Lady of Africa.
A leap of faith and trust
We had to choose a leader from among us seven sisters. My companions asked me to accept this service and, prompted by the Spirit, I agreed, counting on the Lord's grace as well as the help and understanding of my sisters. I still laugh about it like Sarah, because nothing is impossible to God, and sometimes we need a touch of madness and a leap of faith and trust in order to follow Jesus along paths no one would want to take! But something better awaited us at the House of St. Mary of the Angels with the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi (SFA).
We arrived on 19 January 2005 and received a warm welcome from these sisters S.F.A. and from a group of our own sisters, who had been living there for 13 years. The latter initiated us into the internal life and services of the house and made us welcome during the month of our moving in. After the upheaval of the move, we enjoyed this haven of peace, fraternity and joy in Franciscan simplicity. The kindly atmosphere of serenity and silence encourages prayer and adoration, as well as harmonious relationships among us all.
At a new depth
We form a great praying community at the Eucharist and Vespers. We like to gather once a week for community prayer among ourselves and to celebrate our family feast days - the Immaculate Conception, the feast of Our Lady of Africa, Christmas and our own jubilees - together with our sisters from the third floor and the sick bay, and occasionally for a Eucharist with the Missionaries of Africa. Being relieved of material concerns - cooking, washing-up, maintenance, etc - encourages us to live our mission at a new depth (Constitutions, N° 53)... by allowing growth in the values of contemplation, interiority and gratuity, which enrich this stage of our missionary life (A.C. 2005, p.50), until the day when we shall see God face to face!
Our involvements
Depending on their abilities, the sisters have agreed to lead the prayer, prepare the liturgy, singing and reading at Mass and Vespers. Those who were engaged in apostolic activities with the poor, immigrants, sight-impaired people and people living alone, or with the association Faith and Sharing, have been able to continue, as have those doing missionary animation for the diocese. One sister runs the parish missionary committee and children's catechesis. Along with a S.F.A., she is involved in an organisation for unemployed women. One of us provides a service which is appreciated by everyone, namely foot-care and hairdressing. We help one another on journeys - for example, accompanying the sick - and with the accounts.
The sharing of life
Our sisters in the sick bay have had to adapt to new staff, but they were very soon receiving good care and attention based on their needs, as in a good family. We visit them every day and go with them for medical and other examinations. An animator suggests entertainments and outings with volunteers and associates of the S.F.A.
The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi have a sense for festivity and they encourage us to take part in their celebrations, jubilees, concerts, retreats and sessions. At Christmas, all the communities open their doors for people to visit the cribs, and we also welcome them to our house. On our first open day, we told the story of the statue of Our Lady of Africa and spoke about our Founders.
The house staff has made us very welcome. We try to pass on to them our love for Africa and the African people and to live what makes us distinctive, namely simplicity of life, openness, closeness and respect for the other, as well as joy and gratitude for what we enjoy in this house - round-the-clock nursing support, medical help on request, good quality and plentiful food, help with the housework, repairs and other services.
Our exodus will continue
We feel at home here, free to welcome our sisters, families and friends, and also to keep in touch with Africa. Like for Abraham, our exodus will continue. This large house is only 46% occupied, and plans are afoot with a property developer. Strengthened by our past experience, we trust the Congregation and our leaders and, above all, the Lord, who has always led us through 'green pastures and into life in its fullness'.
"Availability to be sent is at the heart of our charism" (A.C. 2005, p.48). We wish to live it right to the end.
Charlotte Couture,
Charlesbourg 4th
ANTWERP - "MISSIONARY AT EVERY AGE"
"Our mission is one, wherever we are"
(Constitutions N° 13)
To leave everything
It is the "sending" which validates our mission wherever we are. In June 2001, the sending of the MSOLA community to the "Germeenschapshuis St. Camilius" of the Hospitaler Sisters of Antwerp, asked us to leave everything, including our familiar dwelling place. We accepted and lived this sending in faith, believing that older age also offers us a chance for fruitful missionary living, enabling us to bear fruit in abundance. Ludovica Hofmans, the eighth MSOLA arriving recently, said: "I am missionary there where I am sent. My deep desire is for a more intense and less agitated prayer life."
Testimonies
A Hospitaler Sister confided to me one day, "You MSOLA are sociable. You approach the people that you meet. You are reserved, but at the same time communicative. When we meet you, you do not wait for us to come to you. It is you who make the first gesture of welcome, of fraternity, of friendship. You thus open the way to the One who lives within you.
We know by experience that they appreciate our help, our services wherever possible. "You do not wait for us to ask your help, you offer it" they say. In that way, some of us offer a helping hand to the sister in charge of the laundry folding the linen. Is some of us offer a helping hand to the sister in charge of the laundry folding the linen. Is
that not "being a woman among women" at any age and at any time of our mission? We experienced it very strongly during the time of the sickness and death of our sister Laetitia in May 2006. During her long period of suffering and up to her death, when a service of caring for and being present to emerged between us and the Hospitalers. It was a common mission, thanks to a significant fraternal gift. Thus, our sister was able to remain with us during her eleven months of suffering. At the cemetery of Antwerp, Laetitia rests in the plot of the Hospitalers. When we thanked her, the Superior General replied: "We are truly in debt to the MSOLA. They edify us by the simplicity of their lifestyle and their good humour. They are always content."
Among us and with others
On our floor, we live with seven non-missionary Congregations of an apostolic nature (care of the sick, teachers, etc.), and one contemplative order living simply like the others. We have good relations with each one. The gifts and the identity of each are respected in all simplicity, truth, and helpfulness. From time to time, we have a meeting together. Each Congregation tries to keep what is specific to her, the charism. This does not exclude a good fraternity as well as mutual help that become visible in small daily services. We remain open to the joys and problems of the others. To a certain extent, we meet the families of the sisters who come visiting in the afternoon. All things considered, it is especially at meals that we meet one another. We do live together in harmony. As we are the most numerous group, we are fortunate in having a common room where we can come together and have our meetings.
Opening ourselves to the problems and the joys of others, also takes place with the lay staff. They are made up largely of foreigners, especially North Africans, although we do not have much contact with them. However, these contacts are always cordial and simple. The sick are regrouped on the third floor, and their care is also assured by laypersons. With the present set up, however, it is difficult to circulate at random in the house.
Our mission
in the day-to-day living
Our life in this inter-congregational house is an invitation and a reminder to continue our mission in the day-to-day actuality. Since we are all religious, we have much in common. At the same time, we are quite different because of the particular call of each charism which gives a specific colour to the vocation and mission entrusted to each religious institute! Doesn't St. Paul speak of the different gifts, calls, vocations, differences calling for respect of each other in all charity and goodness? So we see that our MSOLA mission is far from being outmoded or exhausted. It has not reached its end! It invites us at each moment to respond and to witness, thanks to the Spirit living in the charism in each of us at all times. In this way, we carry the joys, concerns, and pain of life, together also, but in the broader context.
This often leads us to unexpected possibilities to the differences of others arising from their call, and which makes us enter into their way of living and acting. Invitations from this small "universal world" right on the spot challenge our missionary heart and engage it. It is thus that Frieda Avonts was invited to give a few days retreat to some twenty elderly Hospitaler Sisters. It was indeed an unexpected way of being missionary, and how appreciated and successful it was!
Our relations with "outsiders"
Because of our aging, moving around in public transport has become increasingly difficult and rare for most of us. This does not prevent to render the Congregation particularly present on the feasts of our Institute, organising moments of missionary prayer among us and sometimes also with the MAfr. This unites us in our common mission.
Missionary at every age
In what has just preceded, we hear a missionary calling inviting us to meet together more often also in community, to better grasp what is being lived in each region, our province and in the whole Congregation. The newsletters at different levels really help us a lot. In community, we want to intensify our encounters so as to better grasp the real questions, to pray more and to better discern and find the appropriate answers to our mission here in Antwerp.
Our mission is not accomplished. It is lived out in and for our surroundings. It invites us to this small missionary universe which we MSOLA give shape to right here. This "mission at all ages" continues in another way, in a new way. It is the same at all times, in the same Spirit of God which, by the same charism, leading us towards its ultimate goal,
the CARITAS of Cardinal Lavigerie, of Mother Marie-Salome and of the entire Congregation in its past, its present and its future. Without CARITAS, mission is not possible. It is of all ages and for all ages. It will not pass away (cf. 1 Cor. 13: 8).
Frieda Avonts, Alice Goyvaerts, Mia Nouteurs,
Godelieve Zwijsen, Gaby Van den Borre et Ludovica Hofmans
The community of Antwerp
IN OOSTKAMP
A MISSIONARY "JOB"
AMONG THE IMMIGRANTS
Rosa Sintobin spent six years in Oostkamp, between 1999 and 2005, when she joined the Kortrijk Pottelberg community, without, however, abandoning an effective presence, and one which was close to her heart, among the immigrants whom she had the opportunity to meet. Rosa was very willing to share in this issue of Sharing by sending us her personal testimony. May she be warmly thanked for this!
On the occasion of the parliamentary elections in Belgium on 10 June 2007, our bishops suggested "choosing" for the immigrants a more humanitarian translation of a legal document than the previous one. In fact, immigrants are often exploited and made the object of a scandalous and inhuman trade, that of the "smugglers". Personally, I have had the pleasure of working for immigrants, firstly for six years in Oostkamp and then for around two years in Kortrijk. Being without friends, they never become integrated and are all too often sent back to where they came from... I have experience of this!
With a family of immigrants
When I had just arrived in Oostkamp, I received a visit from a priest who came to ask me to become involved with a family of immigrants, and I agreed. The family comprised the father, mother and three children aged 8 and 5 years and 3 months. They were Albanian Muslims, who were political refugees. Our first meeting was unforgettable. I introduced myself as a Catholic missionary, a friend of all the people and someone who had already made contact with the Muslims. Since we did not know each other's languages, the conversation began with a few key words from one or the other language, accompanied by meaningful gestures and broad smiles. It is incredible how much a smile can say! That whole scenario was aimed at expressing a great truth - that all human beings are of equal worth. We were so much in agreement that we were laughing with joy and happiness. The welcome was really warm.
How to help these people?
How to help these people without encroaching on the role of the official authorities or on what the people concerned can do for themselves? First of all, I had to involve myself in integrating the children into the school. This led to a conversation with the head and other teachers, none of whom were accustomed to dealing with immigrants. We were also able to speak about Islam and about respect for other religions. Near the school, there was a reception centre for the holiday period and, thanks to various approaches, Yusuf and Bari were admitted to the centre free while waiting for their father to find employment.
Getting to know the language is also essential for immigrants. That is why I made many visits to the parents to assist their progress in learning Dutch. It demands patience but it is worth the effort! I am always pleased and proud of my country when these Albanians tell me that all the people in their street are friendly towards them.
Working for unity
Involvement with immigrants is an excellent way of working for unity in this society, which is so diverse. Too many people, without being racist, are still afraid of the stranger, the other, or don't trust them. Working for unity is a long-term project. But that is not a reason for doing nothing. Rome was not built in a day either! Be that as it may, I want to make my modest contribution to building the tower of UNIVERSAL LOVE. Many people throughout the world - simple people as well as those with skills - devote their time and strength passionately to this task. It is in that spirit that I want to live. Yes, I am convinced that working for immigrants is an exciting and truly missionary "job".
I greeted her...
Having had to leave Oostkamp and go to Korttijk, I was unable to continue my work with the Albanian family. Fortunately, it was possible to arrange almost everything - residence and work permits, etc. I was able to put a stop, for my part at least, to a form of financial exploitation and to arrange free holidays for the children, etc. In Kortrijk, I continued along the same lines. One day, while waiting for a bus, I met a lady of around 40 years of age. I noticed that she was foreign and greeted her. She told me she was an Iranian Muslim, as were her husband and their three children aged 25, 23 and 5. They had left their own country in order to escape the execution with which they were threatened because they wanted to become Christians. For the seven years since they had arrived, they had been awaiting their clearance documents. So that was my first concern. I had some grounds for hope, since the two older children were doing higher studies in the University of Ghent. The following year, they would obtain their diplomas as electrician and engineer respectively and both these skills were in short supply.
I take this opportunity to express my thanks to the Congregation for its insistence on a firm spirituality, a strong attachment to Christ, who is "all things to all people", its openness to the world and its continuous adaptation to changing circumstances.
Rosa Sintobin,
Kortrijk Pottelberg, Belgium
SHARING LIFE
KINSHASA - A SESSION ON JUSTICE, PEACE AND THE INTEGRITY OF CREATION
Between 1 and 21 July 2007, some 30 missionaries working in Africa met in the Mbiti Centre in Kinshasa (D.R. Congo) to reflect on the possibility of setting up a shared JPIC network. Marie-Alice Terrettaz and Fr Gaby Gheysens CICM (Scheutist) organised this session from Rome. Pilar Delgado, from Kalemie, and Christine Bahati from Nairobi also took par. Pilar and Christine have given us this report on the meeting.
At the beginning of the meeting, Marie-Alice recalled that it was Fr Fernando Zolli, a Columban missionary, who took the initiative in Rome by launching an appeal to missionary institutes working in Africa, asking them to train their members in the field of JPIC, with a view to working through a network. The missionary was convinced that justice is an integral part of Evangelisation and he invited other institutes to join him. His aims were as follows:
- the permanent training of JPIC co-ordinators in Africa, and
- the creation by Africans of an African JPIC network.
Marie-Alice and Fr Gaby Gheysens, CICM, have taken this initiative forward by organising this meeting on the ground and co-ordinating its progress.
We set up an international and intercultural group of 38 members drawn from four continents:
- Latin America: Haiti, Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador
- Europe: Italy, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland
- Asia: The Philippines
- Africa: Benin, Chad, Cameroun, Togo, Sudan and D.R.Congo.
We represented ten missionary institutes, two of which, the MAfr. and a diocesan Congregation from Kole (DRC), are working in different countries in Africa. One layman also joined us. Two permanent animators, Abbé José Mpundu (from Kinshasa diocese) and Fr Jean-Patrick Ngoyi CICM, a Congolese working in Nigeria, assisted by some other contributors, accompanied us during those three weeks.
An inductive methodology in the image of Jesus' pedagogy was chosen. During the first week, Abbé José Mpundu helped us to analyse our experiences using the tool of the "pastoral circle", which applies the see-judge-act method.
He then guided us as we sketched out a spirituality of JPIC. The contemplation of Jesus in action in our everyday lives motivates our involvement in J&P. It places the human person and his/her dignity at the heart of our struggle.
In the course of the second week, the talk given by Professor Thierry Nlandu on "The challenges of post-election Africa" prompted us to define the principal challenges which Africa presents today. Here are some of them:
- the ethical challenge, in the face of a general loss of values;
- the challenge of financial independence and sovereignty,
which makes Africa, despite its wealth, a beggar continent whose survival is
dependent on external aid;
- the challenge of women's participation, which has the potential to change Africa
for them;
- the challenge of the movement from dictatorial power to shared power.
An analysis of injustices in the Church and in our own religious institutes makes us aware that it is not a question of "small" and "great" injustices. If injustice exists, it does so because it is supported by "pillars". I myself am one of them! Fr John Patrick Ngoyi taught us to construct a session on conscientisation and then to reflect on the formation of a network. Mme Axelle Fischer from Belgium shared two days with us. She spoke about the role of memory in the face of impunity, in making reconciliation in depth possible. Her talk opened us up to the global dimensions, since she illustrated it with examples taken from Argentina, Peru, the Balkans and Japan.
During the final two days, we mapped out some courses of action, defining first our VISION of Africa - an Africa united and flourishing, standing together and reconciled, open to the world. On that basis, we were better able to define our MISSION - to struggle in structural terms against the corruption and injustices which affect the people, while promoting justice and peace.
Together we chose a STRATEGIC ACTION to take wherever we are sent - to struggle against the violation of human rights by teaching people to read and write. We interpret 'literacy' in a broad sense, covering all forms of ignorance, which combine to violate human rights.
To ensure that the flame of this session was not extinguished, a temporary committee of five was set up and given responsibility for ensuring the follow-up.
On the other hand, we acknowledged that the majority of religious institutes already work in networks and this challenged us. We have developed a culture of networking among ourselves. A lot is learned from it and absolutely nothing is lost.
Justice and peace is not the reserve of specialists. It forms part of our everyday life. It is the response we make when faced with the injustices we encounter from day to day. The development of a "holy indignation" makes us say, following Cardinal Lavigerie: "I am a man/woman and nothing human is alien to me. I am a man/woman and injustice towards others outrages my spirit. I am a man/woman and oppression angers my being".
So that the session can be of assistance to everyone, we are inviting those who are interested to share some of your experiences of injustice, by telling us a little about how you resolved the situations. Pilar and I will share our experiences with you in the next issue of Partage.*
In conclusion, we should like to express our warm thanks to the Congregation for giving us the opportunity to take part in this session. Our WISH is that a MSOLA will be involved in the African network in order to continue the task initiated by Marie-Alice Terrettaz.
Pilar Delgado and Christine Bahati Safi
CENTENARY CELEBRATION IN KENYA
One hundred years of presence in Kenya is a long time to be celebrated in a few hours. It was joyful, and colourful, on a bright and sunny day. Our special charism for women came through all along this celebration, such as in the brief sharing from the four chosen witnesses.
Belinda Rego, a lay women, former student of ours at Star of the Sea School, Mombasa, later as a teacher at Mary Hill, Thika, pointed out our role in the education of women, a holistic training for life. Through the very animated speech of the superior general of the Sisters of Assumption of Nairobi, Sister Theresa Gachambi, we could feel their gratitude and recognition for having given them life and helped them up to today. She said to the attendants: "they are our sisters, our mothers and our midwives." A great number of them were at the feast, including postulants and novices, and students of Mary Hill School who entertained us with songs and poems of recognition to MSOLA. Were also present, two other Congregations founded by us in Uganda, namely the Banyatereza and the Banabikira.
Father Paul Hannon, MAfr, illustrated how important and precious it is for him and for his brothers MAfr, to have sisters with whom we have a good collaboration, numerous opportunities to work, share and celebrate together.
Then it was the turn of Jocelyne Morin. While thanking everyone who came to celebrate with us, she underlined our apostolate past and present in Kenya, stressing once again our long-lived contribution to the welfare of women, in working for and with them.
At the beginning of the celebration, Vicky Ciharhula introduced each one of us in turn, with our country of origin. Our great internationality was noted by some people! With Archbishop Ndingi and all the others priests, our brothers and friends priests, we, MSOLA, processed into the Church, carrying the Easter candle and a large picture of our Lady of Africa. At the Offertory procession, symbols were carried, pictures of Cardinal and of Mother Marie-Salome; the pelican; names of all our sisters who were or still are in Kenya; a basket of fruits to represent our internationalities; a palm tree, symbol of the fullness of life and peace, signifying our total avai-
lability; bread and wine, symbols of the fruit of our long presence in the country with the joys, sufferings and achievements of all those who have known, loved and been helped by our sisters. The explanation of each symbol was read through the procession.
In his homely, Father Martin Onyango, MAfr, emphasized some sayings of the Cardinal, or proverbial sayings, especially one concerning women, "When we educate a man, we educate an individual; when we educate a woman, we educate a nation." The Archbishop, in his very short intervention, strongly invited us to reconsider our being present in schools in the future.
Worth noting also was the presence of Radio Waumini, National Mirror Newspaper and Nation TV.
After the Eucharistic celebration, which took place in the Parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace, South B, where our brothers are, we walked to the near-by school hall of Our Lady of Mercy Primary School, where we shared food with over 6oo hundreds people. During the meal and after, the feast went on with songs, poems, dances and distribution of gifts from various guests who wanted to show their gratitude.
Marcelle Morin - Nairobi
LA MARSA JBEL -
A NEW LOOK
On 15 August 2007, all the sisters in Tunisia met at La Marsa-Taboq. Some of us wanted to visit our former community house in Jbel. We knew it had been completely demolished and, in fact, all that remains is one section of the boundary wall. In place of our house, a secondary school has been built - a large, single-storey building round a wide courtyard. An open air amphitheatre has been built in the former "little wood". The whole complex is painted white and orange, a sparkling cluster under a wonderful blue sky.
We were received in a friendly way by the clerk of works. All the classrooms are ready for the new session starting in September, and the playing-field, located in the orangery, will be ready a little later. On seeing us passing through, someone said in a whisper, "El babbasat" (Those are the sisters).
Our visit continued. Our memories recalled the faces and names of the sisters who worked without sparing themselves in these places, training girls in embroidery, carpet weaving and dressmaking and sisters who welcomed girls who wanted to obtain a professional diploma or a certificate of studies. Or the names of those who worked on the farm and those who worked in the clinic, caring for the very poor population of the area or as nurses in La Marsa Hospital. Or again, those who washed and mended the White Fathers' gandouras.... and I have forgotten some others. We thought of all the sisters who had given long years of dedication, faithfulness and love of the Lord in serving the Tunisian people. Their memory, and I should say even their beads of sweat - in the real sense of the term - remain there, buried mysteriously in that place, germs of a new life. Nothing was in vain - nothing is ever in vain for the Lord.
The White Sisters arrived in that house in October 1882 and left it, "not without tears", in 1979, although some sisters kept on the school until 1988, while living in the community in Taboq. Now, on 15 August 2007, the song "Turn to the Future" came to our minds. Yes, in the future it is to these young Tunisian girls and boys that this brand new school will open its doors for the next session.
Immaculada Estremera,
House of Studies, Tunis
A MSOLA MASTERS THE ART OF THE ICONS
Juliette Christiaens, of Antwerp, one of the artists of the Congregation, shares with us what has kept her breathless during the whole month of last May: in the library of Antwerp, an exposition of icons which she herself had set up. A leaflet, announcing the exposition, an invitation to come, to contemplate and buy the icons. The proceeds of the sales were designated for the MSOLA. Juliette was invited to give a presentation of her life as a missionary in Africa, Tunisia, then in the Congo and Rwanda, and how she had come to this art of the icons.
Upon my definitive return to Belgium in 1996, explains Juliette, I expressed my fervent desire to learn to make icons. This was granted. A few days before Christmas, there was a session on iconography at the Carmelites of Herne. I signed up for it. The oriental monk who should have led it, cancelled out, and one of his disciples accepted to replace him. We were four participants, and each one executed her own icon, with results very different one from the other, each very beautiful. That is how I learned to use pigments and mix them with water and egg yolks. Then I put myself to work to make new ones.
I discovered that the "writing of icons" is an attentive listening. It is a listening to Tradition, dialoguing with the Saint that one wants to make present. It is especially a listening to the Holy Spirit in one's own heart. It is a friend who one day spoke to me of having an exposition; the idea was simply held at bay while I continued to paint... Now behold the result.
The first fifteen days of the exposition were very calm. The library clientele passed by without paying much attention. Then in walked a professor from Bunia, friend of our community, interested and content to admire, and who even bought an icon. It was like a new beginning for me, and my commentary became more animated. I did not hesitate to acknowledge my ignorance of the Copt world. A Froebel (1) teacher having worked six years in Coptic villages in Egypt showered me with explanations and brought me albums, icons and drawings. In their visit, Begoña Iñarra and Madeleine Dierckx, who worked sixteen years in Ethiopia, added to them generously. A friend iconographer passed me a document of incomparable value on the history of the Ethiopian icons, which are basic to all icons. Contacts and conversations on Africa have unified all this. I felt myself one hundred percent MSOLA.
Once the exposition was finished, I displayed a smaller selection for the elder sisters on the second floor of St. Camillus. In their wheelchairs or with their walkers, they went around the tables. Their interest and joy are my greatest thanks.
(1) Frœbel, a German teacher of the l8th century launched kindergartens with a special method for them.
Juliette Christiaens,
Antwerp - St. Camillus
A WALK THROUGH THE ARCHIVES
ONE HUNDRED YEARS IN KENYA
This " Walk through the Archives " is mostly from the article of Margaret Kennedy " One hundred Years in Kenya Past and Present " which appeared in the White Fathers and White Sisters of October-November 2007. It was completed by more information gleaned from the archives of the Generalate. We thank Margaret for having authorised the additions.
Lucie Pruvost
To reflect back on our Centenary and our place in the history of the Church in Kenya is a tribute to all the sisters who have touched its soil: who taught, nursed, cared and were present in so many creative and life giving ways.
The story begins
On 21 April 1907, the first six sisters (1) arrived on the exotic Coast of Mombasa! I have often wondered what they felt at that moment. Bishop Allgeyer, Holy Ghost Father, then Apostolic Vicar of Zanzibar requested the White Sisters (Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa) to establish a Mission in Mangu, Thika, 50 km north of Nairobi. In 1909, they would return to Mombasa to transform education for girls on the Kenyan Coast.
It is good to remember that the coming of MSOLA to Kenya had been launched by M. Marie-Salome and her Council in the light of certain circumstances. There had to be remedial action to the consequences on the religious Congregations of several French laws, clearly anticlerical, applied in Algeria. That of 1901 concerned associations and created already difficulties for religious institutes. That of 1905 applying separation of the Church and State caused us to close several houses in Algeria. On the other hand, in West Africa, then under the French regime, a deadly climate added to the harassment of the French administration. This created the need to look for foundations in more welcoming environments. That is why M. Marie-Salome readily answered to calls from the Apostolic Vicars. She also wanted a refuge for sick sisters and those needing rest. She thus went in search of healthy and fertile regions, even beyond the jurisdiction of the MAfr. It would be possible to do some farming and thus bring in revenues for the upkeep of the sisters and for the needs of the mission nearly everywhere. This sounds pretty much like a return to the origins! (2)
Mangu... Holy Family Convent
On 6 June 1907, the Sisters arrived at Mangu, Thika, the first MSOLA community in Kenya. They bought land on which they planted coffee and fruit trees to respond to the desires of M. Marie-Salome and thus to find the means of financing both the new project and other needs of the mission. The Sisters learned Kikuyu and the local customs. The beginnings were hard. They began to visit people and to teach catechism. A maternity, dispensary, orphanage and school where basic skills were taught were established. The school developed into Madaraka Primary School with
Maria Goretti Hostel. While education was provided for Africans, Asians and Europeans, little was done for children of intercultural families. These children were often marginalized. A boarding school began which took children from all three Eastern African countries. This later became Mary Hill Secondary School. Both boarding schools served students of all races. In l976, they were handed to the Assumption Sisters and Kenya staff. In Keriko, near Thika, a dispensary was opened and the sisters taught and headed a Harambee School (In Kikuyu, 'Harambee' means working together). The local community financed the school. We handed the school over in 1989.
Other communities were established in Kiambu in 1909, for a few months, and at Limuru in l931. The boarding school started in Limuru was taken over by the Loretto Sisters in 1934. Some of these boarders formed the nucleus of a new local Congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph in Bura in the now Archdiocese of Mombasa. This Congregation has now spread far and wide and has remained very close to us working in education and pastoral fields.
The Assumption Sisters are born...
In 1955 Archbishop McCarthy, Holy Spirit Father, who was Archbishop of Nairobi at the time, entrusted the formation of a new local Kenyan Congregation to the MSOLA. They were to be known as Sisters of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Nairobi. The government of the Congregation was handed over in l970 under the leadership of Sr. Marie Theresa Gacambi and her Council. Today, this vibrant group is no longer a diocesan Congregation, but is of Pontifical Right. The sisters serve in a number of dioceses in Kenya: in education, medical, pastoral and administration ministries where they are at the service of the underprivileged. They maintain a special focus on women. Communities have also been established in Jamaica, in the West Indies and in the USA.
Then to Mombasa in 1909 - melting pot of cultures
In May 1909, five MSOLA Sisters began to teach on the beautiful island of Mombasa amid temples, mosques and churches surrounded by the sparking azure of the blue Indian Ocean, swaying palms, and with a distinctive flavour of hospitality. Bishop Allgeyer had requested the sisters to begin an English speaking Catholic school. The sisters also started a dispensary and visited the sick in the Government Hospital. A small farm was started that could provide some income. In 1927 a new project was opened in Makupa, another area of Mombasa where women were taught sewing, cookery, hygiene, childcare, religious instruction and ethics.
The "Stars"
The Sisters were involved in many activities but the main focus was "The White Sisters Convent
School", which in 1954 became Star of the Sea School consisting of nursery, primary and secondary sections. Being open to all faiths, it promoted dialogue between faiths, especially with Islam. It was gradually handed over to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Mombasa. It also created precious contacts with women and families, which have deepened over the years. Our Srs Tecla de Souza, Cecilia Commissariat, Vivian-Mary (Alice D'Souza) Edith Quadros, Filo Pereira and Daphne Alphonso are past pupils. Sr. Zita Cardozo was originally from Zanzibar and her family settled in Mombasa. It was from here that she entered the MSOLA.
One hundred years of expansion and transformation
To express 100 years in a few words is impossible. That is why other developments on the overall of the hundred years of this history will be given in a near-future Sharing Trentaprile. We can only say "Thank You" to those who planted the seeds and those who continue to plant, water and reap. We are proud to have been part of this vibrant Kenyan Church. After the progressive handing over of schools to Kenyans, new activities saw the light of day under the heading of "Options for the poor". Today, present only in Nairobi, MSOLA pursue their mission with a dynamism as creative as in their early presence in Kenya.
(1) The Sisters: Restitute, German, 52 years old, St. Martial, French, 30 years old, St. Yves, French, 31 years old, Maximilenne, German, 38 years old, Thomas de Villeneuve, Canadian, 28 years old, St. Guillaume, French, 29 years old.
(2) See Marie-Magdeleine Guillaumin, Mother Marie-Salome at the Service of the Congregation, SMNDA, Frascati, 1988, p. 14 and 15.
Margaret Kennedy,
United Kingdom
DID YOU KNOW...
CHRISTIAN WOMEN'S GLOBAL
CONFERENCE ON AIDS
NAIROBI JULY 2007
The worldwide Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) was hosting over 1,800 participants in Nairobi for the first international Women's summit on HIV/AIDS.
The International Women's Summit on HIV and AIDS, organised in partnership with the International Community of Women living with HIV (ICW), was held from July 4-7. The theme for the summit was 'Women's leadership on HIV and AIDS' and it is the first-ever international conference to focus on women and AIDS. The summit begun on July 4 with the Positive Women's Forum - a one day meeting organised and attended exclusively by HIV-positive women. The president of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, officially opened the summit on July 5.
Three days of workshops, plenary sessions and side events, such as the well attended Town Hall meeting, informed, inspired and mobilised women to take leadership in the response to HIV. Experts, activists, world leaders and women working at the community level addressed delegates on a wide range of HIV-related topics such as economic security, trade, sexual and reproductive health rights, and female-initiated prevention methods. Seventy workshops including sessions on 'How to tell your story' for positive women and 'Creating mutually supportive inclusive communities for HIV prevention, care and treatment' for associations and organisation equipped participants with practical information.
A film contest for young participants was held in partnership with MTV* from July 3-5. The contest, dubbed 48Fest, saw 30 young people script, film and produce a 3-minute film on various HIV-related topics.
The International Women's Summit concluded on July 7 with the launch of the Nairobi 2007 Call to Action. Citing 10 action points, the Call to Action aims to mobilise individuals to be proactive in bringing effective solutions to the increasing prevalence of HIV and AIDS around the world.
THE 10 KEY AREAS OF THE CALL TO ACTION ARE FOCUSED ON:
1. Solidarity with HIV positive women and girls
2. Meaningful involvement of HIV positive women and girls
3. Promoting gender equality and the human rights of women and girls
4. Ensuring the physical, sexual and psychological safety of women and girls
5. Promoting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls
6. Ensuring education, economic security and access to resources for women and girls
7. Expanding access to voluntary safe testing, treatment, care and support for women and
girls and reduction of the burden of testing on women
8. Promoting the human rights of young women and children
9. Capacity building of women to lead change on HIV and AIDS
10. Leadership of women in all spheres of life
Source : Internet
*MTV (Music Television) is an American television station which specialises in broadcasting video-clips f music. The target group is young adults averaging twenty years of age.
