Located 1250 kilometers from Luanda, the capital of Angola, lies the City of Peace, Luena in Moxico Province. A vibrant city composed of many peripheral neighborhoods that set the rhythm of small businesses selling local products that contribute to the livelihood of their families; children and teenagers fill the streets, brightening and enlivening the succession of days, amidst many motorcycles, in a frenzied and noisy coming and going!
The presence of our Sacred Heart of Mary community is almost two years old. It is beginning to walk, to take its first steps… it is making itself known, mainly, in two locations: in the parish of St. Peter and St. Paul located in the city, where the sisters reside, and on the land where, in the future, the “You Can” project for teenage mothers is planned, located in the Christian Community of St. Charles Lwanga, in the Kalungingi neighborhood, seven kilometers from the city. A rapidly growing neighborhood, marked by extreme poverty where most of its inhabitants lack the basic conditions for living.
On the land already acquired, and considering this reality, and given that we have a water borehole, “Fonte de Vida Jean Gailhac,” we are making it available so that the population can have some quality of life. We have also started a project to cultivate vegetable gardens with about 25 women, so that they can grow them and harvest their own vegetables to cook and thus combat malnutrition in their children. Simultaneously, we also plan to contribute to the promotion of women, with cooking activities, training in hygiene and personal care, and biblical education.
Soon, a Community School will open in this neighborhood, with seven classrooms, pedagogically and administratively attached to the Dom Bosco School (Salesians), where the sisters will have a close presence and collaborate in the civic and Christian education of the youngest children. The sisters collaborate with the local Church and other religious congregations in the formation of seminarians, guidance of retreats, participation in Diocesan Commissions, English classes for groups of children and young people, and on Saturdays, they have a group of women who practice dance and sports for entertainment and fitness.
The needs are many, the sisters are few, the mission of making God known and loved is beginning to bear fruit! The name of our founder, Fr. Jean Gailhac, is already being heard! More workers are needed for the harvest.
It was with great joy that I was able to live and witness, in person, all this life, through Sisters Madalena Manhiça and Deborah Jamali who are in Luena.
I am grateful for the welcome from the local Church – the Bishop, priests and different religious congregations – whom I had the opportunity to visit and greet and for the fraternal atmosphere and hospitality from our community during these ten days that I spent in Luena. Thank you!
Conceição Pereira, rshm
