Mozambique

50 years of the presence of the sisters in Mozambique

It was on Cristo-Rei Sunday, November 22, 1970, that the first Sisters of St. John the Baptist officially entered the mission of Iapala, Diocese of Nampula (today Archdiocese), in Mozambique, responding to the invitation of Bishop Manuel Vieira Pinto, who warmly welcomed them. It was the beginning of a lasting friendship, of reflecting and working together, among the people where we were sent. Pastoral work, promotion of women, assistance to the sick at the mission hospital, social work on behalf of the most needy… strong moments of prayer and reflection made the action fruitful.

The work grew slowly. The long and painful time of civil war has come: years of suffering, of commitment, of “rolling up our sleeves” to help the wounded, the displaced, the most vulnerable. Years when traveling to Nampula (about 170 km) involved life-threatening. Years when it was only possible to send Letter to Europe when the plane landed in Iapala.

The first young women interested in religious life began to appear. Everything was evolving very slowly, we were at war… In 1989 we gathered a first group of girls in Nampula, on a small floor, in order to be able to follow these girls more closely, who attended the Secondary School in the city.

The house in Nampula was built, a few more sisters arrived from Portugal. In 1995 the first Indian woman arrived to collaborate with us in the mission; others followed. The first Mozambican sister, Sr. Maria de Fátima, professed 25 years ago. We celebrated the Silver Jubilee… in confinement, without leaving the house. We opened branches in Ribáuè and Gilé, adding Iapala and Nampula.

In all the communities, the sisters work diligently in parish ministry: catechesis, ministry of the Eucharist, Missionary Childhood, Workshops of Prayer and Life, Encounters of Experience of God, Legion of Mary, youth groups, choir, ornamentation… as needed in every parish.

We are dedicated to the education of children and teenagers and young girls, guiding two kindergartens (Ribáuè and Nampula) and three women's homes (Ribáuè, Gilé and Iapala). We also supervise a library (Ribáuè) and a private primary school that started this year, so far only up to 3rd grade (Nampula). In all communities, we support the most vulnerable families, helping children to have access to kindergarten and school, through sponsors who support us and other benefactors, helping to feed vulnerable children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled. We try to be attentive to the main needs of the people where we live and recently we started to support the Archdiocesan Caritas in its work of welcoming and distributing essential goods to refugees from the war in Cabo Delgado (which borders the province of Nampula).

To make ends meet (only two sisters work in the state apparatus), we cultivate the land that belongs to us, we raise chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, pigs… We have three operating aviaries and we sell chickens.

Dreams? Future projects? We dreamed of building a primary and secondary school, the future Maria Rainha School, on the outskirts of the city of Nampula. It will be an alternative to official schools, which have more than a hundred students per class and whose facilities are very deficient, with some classes functioning under the trees. With our savings, we managed to acquire land and we are building the wall all around. We don't have the economic capacity to build the school, so we asked for help from several organizations, but soon after came this Covid-19 pandemic that paralyzed the offers of the majority… We don't lose hope that better days will come! While we were unable to build, we built a large aviary on the site, we also have rabbits and goats and we are cultivating the land. With the profits from the aviary, we are going to build the fence wall.

In the center of each of our houses is the chapel. That's where we start our day, uniting in prayer to the Lord, to whom we offer our lives. That's where we find strength and energy for all our work, it is to Him that we turn in times of uncertainty and in times of joy, and also to Him we present all the needs and concerns of our world, in a special way for those around us. Throughout the day we have our moments of prayer in community and each one also makes an effort to find time for her personal prayer.

I conclude with a thought from our Founder, Fr. John Maria Haw: “I have to take each day seriously. Every day I must get closer to God”.