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 first chronicle of their trip, between November 2 and 9.
First stop: Equatorial Guinea
Our trip begins in Equatorial Guinea, visiting the cities of Bata and Añisok.
The beginning was hectic, as on November 3 we had to stay overnight at the Villa Brenda hotel in Malabo, the island capital of the country, due to mechanical problems in the plane that would take us from Malabo to Bata. The airline transferred us to this hotel, which was very nice and comfortable, and had beautiful views of the Equatorial Guinea Gulf Sea.
Gown
The next morning we were able to take the plane to Bata, and through the window we saw the very green fields and the volcano on the island of Malabo. Finally, we arrived at our home in Bata, where we visited the chapel and met the community: our sisters Marie Atumesa Luyinda, Rosette Kazunga Ngemba, Gilberte Kilokila Lumbemba and Adolphine Zunzu Mukala were waiting for us.
On November 5, we visited the Church of St. Francis Xavier Parish, where the sisters develop pastoral activities, especially with young people and catechesis; and we got to know the community house better, visiting spaces such as the quintal. We held another meeting with the community, and ended the day with a night walk by the sea.
Wednesday the 6th was our last day in Bata, and we were at the Kisito Vedruna School, which is very close to the sisters’ house, has over 300 students and is subsidized by the state.
We noticed the murals dedicated to St. Joaquina that are painted on the walls, and we were welcomed by the students singing and dancing, with great joy! One of the school’s teachers gave us a few words of welcome:
In the constant search for academic and human excellence, we tend to offer an integral education… special attitudes and moral values that are born from the true inspiration of our mother Saint Joaquina de Vedruna.
We visited all its spaces: the management room, the secretary’s office, the classrooms, the garden and the spaces under construction.
There we were joined by the Provincial Team of Africa: Sisters Marguerite Mbima, Pascaline Kikula and Marguerite Bwandala.
We closed our visit to Bata with a stroll along the seafront, admiring the sea and the buildings, such as the Bata Tower.
Añisok
The next day we headed to Añisok with the Africa Provincial Team, driving 145 km inland, away from the coast. Out the window, the rainforest landscape caught our attention.
We were welcomed to Añisok by the community and visited all the areas of the house. In the afternoon we held a community meeting, a time to share the life of the community in mission. We also enjoyed the visit of our friend Adum, Imam of the Islamic Community of Añisok, with whom our community makes a joint journey of mutual help and friendship.
On November 8, we left early to visit St. Peter the Apostle Parish Church, where the sisters carry out pastoral activities: catechesis, youth, liturgy and others.
Finally, we arrive at the Vedruna School in Añisok . It has 512 students and is also subsidized by the State. We toured the entire school: the entrance, the courtyard, the well, the management room… and even the events hall, which is still under construction. Our attention was drawn to the computer room, where they do not have internet access, but the students learn how to use the computers and their various programs.
Throughout the school, we found many murals with inspirational phrases. And we look at the commitment made by the group of teachers of the school, in a participatory process:
Comply with and enforce the internal regulations, working as a team, supporting each other and avoiding anything that prevents us from being good teachers.
We went through classrooms of different grades, which have many students per classroom, and Mariate had fun teaching songs to the children, who participated enthusiastically. We were also lucky enough to attend a girls’ soccer game, and watch the students celebrate with joy at the end!
We concluded our visit to the school by visiting the courtyard and the Grotto of Our Lady, where during the month of May the students spend time praying to Our Lady.
Then we went to the Sanctuary of the Virgin, next to St. Peter the Apostle Church, where it is celebrated one Saturday a month, in dedication to Our Lady. There we participated in the Eucharist and were fortunate to be able to listen to the Carmelite Choir of the parish of St. Peter the Apostle. There are several choirs in the parish, and each day a different choir sings the Mass.
At the end of the day we were visited by Sr. Patricia, a missionary from the Mexican Congregation of Dominican Sisters of Christian Doctrine, who have a school in Ayene, near Añisok, and are very friendly with our community. She told how good it is to participate together in the group of Religious Life of the region. They make a good journey together!
On Sunday, November 10, we attended mass at St. Peter’s Parish Church in Añisok, in the Fang language, which is predominant in the city.
During all these days, we have fulfilled the objective we had set ourselves, which was to approach the reality of our Vedruna presence in Equatorial Guinea, with an attitude of listening, openness, dialogue and sharing of life, opening new horizons for the life-in-mission of these two presences in this country.
We are really enjoying the cultural exchange and all that we are learning from our African sisters. Some of the things that have caught our attention have been:
- The large and monumental unfinished buildings that were abandoned. They are part of the scenery of both cities where we have walked.
- When receiving a visitor from abroad, some church groups usually offer a typical food as an expression of welcome and friendship, for example, the “Envuelto de calabaza” or “anita blanca de calabaza”, a typical dish of the Fang tribe, predominant in the region. And “fufu”, the staple food of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which consists of corn mixed with cassava flour – we even got to see how it was prepared by Gilberte!
- The hairstyles of African women, for their complexity and beauty.
