I am Sister Bénédicte, a Sister of Charity, responsible for the girls at the Foyer at Bouar in the Central African Republic.
Daily life
We have 13 girls from different parts of Bouar. We accept them at the Foyer from 6th grade and above. We welcome them to the Foyer to give them the opportunity to study because most of them do not have the means to continue their education. We train them not only intellectually but also humanly, spiritually and morally. As our mother Saint Jeanne-Antide did with these first girls, this is also how we guide our girls at the Foyer.
Life of faith
Every evening we say vespers together. Compline is at 20:45. We have mass every Wednesday at 18:00. Every Thursday we take part in adoration in the parish and on Saturdays at the home followed by vespers. From time to time we share the Gospel in the place of adoration to help them reflect and express themselves. We also have times of recollection. We had a recollection before the start of the year. We also had a recollection to mark the start of Advent and Lent.
Parish life
The girls take part in various parish movements and groups, namely: the reading group, Friends of Jeanne-Antide, Young Christian Students, and the Vocation Group.
We also have handicrafts sessions, namely: gardening, embroidery, beaded bags and rosaries…
The educational challenge
We also have enough difficulties that we would like to share with you. Stray animals, especially goats, come in and graze all over the garden. The difficulty of respecting the prohibition on using the telephone at the home in order to concentrate on studies and the lack of basic education makes it a little difficult to train the girls at the Home.
The educational relationship with the girls is therefore demanding, because we sisters follow the girls at every moment of their day, acting as a point of reference for their life together, their school career and their personal needs. Let us give thanks to God for this opportunity to participate in the educational passion of God himself.
