Let me introduce myself: Rosette Guirguis, 76 years old, Egyptian, former student of the Sainte Jeanne-Antide Institute in Alexandria, Egypt.

I worked there for 47 years as a teacher and then head of the French department.

The education I received from the Sisters helped me to live a peaceful, upright, simple life based on love and responsibility as a wife, mother, and now grandmother.

It was in October 1953 that I took my first steps in kindergarten. I still remember the catechism lessons: we drew scenes from the Gospel on the blackboard, which were then recounted like a television series.

At that time, there were about twenty Sisters in the school. They took care of everything: they made the uniforms, sold textbooks, and taught embroidery, drawing, and theater. The school day began with 15 minutes of prayer led by the mother superior in the school chapel. Once a week, Mass was celebrated for the students.

The sisters taught us charity, love for our neighbors, and the meaning of generosity. At Christmas, they organized a lunch for the poor, where the students provided the food for the meal and provisions for the following days. In the summer, the school was open a few mornings a week, where the students came to embroider clothes for poor children. A group of orphans from disadvantaged backgrounds were welcomed into the school. They had their own classroom, and a Sister taught them French and math. They boarded at the school, and on Friday mornings, the pupils could go and help them with their homework. I was often chosen to teach the most gifted girls to read and write French.

That is how we learned humility, simplicity, and brotherhood.

Every year before Easter, a three-day retreat was organized to pray and discuss the problems we encountered.

Education aimed at shaping personality, instilling a love for work well done, reflection, and the study of situations in order to know how to make the right and realistic decisions in a turbulent world.

The fundamental values of Saint Jeanne-Antide were instilled in each of us: love of God, love of neighbor, education in humility, respect, and service to the weakest.

Rosette Guirguis

Alexandria, Egypt