COMMUNITY OF MUHEZA
Our community built its house in an orange grove purchased when we felt it necessary to move to the town of Muheza, precisely in the village Michungwani (= orange grove).
In Muheza there are three communities with their own independent life.
In the Mother House live the Sisters with perpetual vows and the Junior Sisters. Most of them teach in the school, dedicate themselves to catechism in the parish, carry out the services for the functioning of the house.
Then there is the house for the postulants and another for the aspirants. The young women come to us with a vague idea of religious consecration and then, gradually, become aware of the value of religious life.
Some of them leave us almost immediately, but of all that they have received and for everything they know how to say thank you wonderfully, they play songs accompanied by the sound of the drum for every little thing. The sense of gratitude is very strong in them.
In community they need to find a family atmosphere; the figure of the mother is indispensable. In the formative nun they look for their mother. In the time that remains among us, they learn first of all the fundamental elements of Christian life: catechism, the sacraments, the commandments. They also have a first experience of community life and have a very first approach with religious vows.
The life of the community of sisters and juniors is punctuated by prayer, daily Mass, the liturgy of the hours and work on the farm and in the school. Every day the Rosminian, Father Nazareno Natale, holds instructions for aspirants, postulants and Juniors: history of the Church and of the Institute, ecclesial documents and the Italian language.
The junior sisters are initiated into pastoral care with two years of school for catechists. During the holidays they have experience with the parish priest who takes them with him to the various villages for the celebrations and there they preach. At the end of the course they obtain the diploma.
The internal activities of the community do not prevent relations with the village, on the contrary, the communication is reciprocal and continuous through the school and the sale of the farm’s products. We raise chickens, cows and pigs so we sell meat, eggs, milk. These small incomes give us the chance to help support ourselves. In these works the postulants also help; responsible are Sr. Idda, Sr. Zenobia, Sr. Elizabeth. They do a lot of work for the whole farm. The postulants have their first job on the farm: they milk the cows and feed the pigs and look for food for them.
For all this activity we are autonomous of water thanks to the wells built from the beginning by sr. Alberta. For electricity we depend on the state supply that comes and goes. Lately with the offerings of the Biella benefactors we have installed solar panels in the church and probandato; the house of the nuns already had them.
The main relationships with the village and the territory are given by the school directed by the Superior Sr. M. Gwynneth. The nursery and elementary school is attended by many children, about 600 in all; they come from the village and the small towns nearby. We have three minibuses to facilitate frequency. The demand for the school is very strong especially because it is an English school. After 13 years from the start of this school, the demand for secondary school is pressing.
Tutte le comunità di Tanzania riunite in preghiera
Il complesso scolastico
La comunità riunita per la feste della Prima Professione
La chiesetta
Vita di comunità
La casa delle suore
La scuola elementare
La scuola materna