Between November 2024 and January 2025, Sisters María Teresa Cuervo and María José Meira (Dedé) will visit the Province of Africa on behalf of the General Team.
Below we share the second chronicle of their trip, between November 11 and 25.
Second stop: Gabon
Libreville
We travel by night from Bata in the direction of Libreville, capital of Gabon. During all these trips we are accompanied by the Provincial Team of Africa: Sisters Marguerite Mbima, Pascaline Kikula and Marguerite Bwandala.
Upon arrival in Libreville, we visited the community house, which is located in the outskirts of the city. There we were struck by the beauty of its flowers, the lushness of the garden, and the water storage system, since, although there is water supply service in the city, there are serious difficulties in having it in the taps, hence the population has to seek means to obtain it, such as buying a tank car and collecting rainwater.
On November 13, we visited the Arc-en-Ciel association: a center dedicated to the protection of children in vulnerable situations, with multidisciplinary activities for them. It currently welcomes 25 children and adolescents and employs a team of 28 people. Among them, several of our sisters: Julienne as director, Rita in the project for minors in conflict with the law, and sisters Odette and Amelie as social educators.
We visited all the rooms and facilities of the center, the children of the center gave us an artistic presentation, and we spent time with them. Mariate spoke to everyone about St. Joaquina, sharing with them how she was also in a children’s home like Arc-en-Ciel, and that is why we are here today.
We ended the day by participating in a time of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the parish church, next to the community house. We also enjoyed sharing our faith with the community: the sisters are involved in the pastoral work of the parish, accompanying some pastoral activities, especially with the youth.
Thus we fulfill the purpose of our visit: to approach the reality of the Province of Africa, knowing and sharing life, in an attitude of reverence and listening, exchanging views and visions in the key of synodality, shared leadership and change of structures that favor life in mission. To approach realities to make contact with the process of recreation of the Vedruna Charism.
During the days we spent in Libreville, some things that stood out to us were:
- As in Equatorial Guinea, also in Libreville there are several choir groups with women, who sing beautifully the songs of the mass.
- Listening with astonishment, since it is new to us, the processes of engagement of a couple. They consist of, first, the delivery of the dowry to the bride’s family, and with part of this money to buy the dress for all the guests; second, the civil marriage; and third, the church marriage.
- There are many foreigners from neighboring countries who, we were told, have come mainly at the time when oil was discovered in Gabon. As well as many French, who are the ones exploiting the natural resources, and also Chinese.
- In recent years, in Arc-en-Ciel, situations of vulnerability have been more prevalent with girls than with boys.
Moanda
On November 16, we flew from Libreville to Moanda, where we were warmly welcomed by two sisters of the community and two priest friends at the airport. We were taken to the community house, located next to the church, and in front of a beautiful landscape.
The following morning, Sunday, November 17, we attended the Eucharist in the Church of Blessed Daniel Brottier Parish. There, before the singing of the choir, many families of the community gathered to celebrate the Eucharist, in which the new catechists were also present, welcomed, blessed and sent by the community, as well as the children, mothers and fathers of the catechesis. We looked at the offerings: in addition to the bread and wine, one family brought their recently born child to present, and gifts from the earth or others to offer.
The next day, Monday, November 18, we went to the property where a center for orphans has been built and whose organizers are asking the Congregation to take on this work.
On Tuesday we attended the Eucharist at Blessed Daniel Brottier Parish, where we learned about the custom of greeting each other after Mass outside the church.
From there we went to the Santo Domingo de Moanda Parish, where the Santo Domingo Dispensary is located, which belongs to the church and is maintained thanks to Caritas and other aid. Our sister Joceline, who is a nurse, works here and helps to take care of people who cannot access the city hospital. Then we went to the Social Service office, the place where Sister Florence Momo works with the State.
We met friends of the community, such as Flor, a laywoman closely linked to the Vedruna community; and Bishop Ephrem Ndjoni, from the Diocese of Franceville to which Moanda belongs, who was a student of Sr.
From Moanda, we were struck by the fact that:
- French is the most widely spoken language in the street. Local languages tend to be spoken more in the domestic sphere.
- Women were born to be mothers and no other life option is understood. As a particular fact, there are many male religious vocations and hardly any female vocations.
- We were quite heartbroken to learn of a woman who was killed by the people because she had no man and no children, and was therefore considered a witch. One hope that encourages this sad reality, a Togolese priest told us, is that for the first time the issue of witchcraft is being addressed in the country’s Constitution.
On Thursday 21, we traveled from Moanda to Franceville by road, appreciating the landscapes of vast expanses of sugar cane cultivation, to travel by plane back to Libreville, where we celebrated the Provincial Assembly with the communities of three countries.
Provincial Assembly
On November 23, 24 and 25, the Provincial Assembly was held in Libreville with three countries: Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Togo. It was held in a hall with large windows and a large garden, where there were large trees and beautiful flowers, and which was specially decorated for the occasion.
Sister Maggie Mbima dedicated some opening words, before the opening prayer, which was motivated with the symbols of the light, the Word, the sandals and the staff to continue the march.
During these days there were group dynamics, dynamics of the word and exercises to deepen our understanding of the Chapter Document, To Be Born Again. We worked on the themes of synodality and shared leadership.
The following chronicles are now available:
