Rome: Burundi, a country that is tottering between war and peace, sadly falls into that category of countries that can never breathe one hundred percent easy.

For the past 50 years (they recently celebrated the Jubilee) the Working Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth, have been carrying out their mission in a nation brought to its knees by a serious political and social crisis following the third contested re-election of Nkurunziza, who has been silently repressing his opponents.

“Poverty,” says Sister Raffaella Falco, “has reached record highs since the international aid tap was turned off. Inflation has caused the price of essential goods to soar. People live in a state of uncertainty and fear, with police and armed soldiers deployed across the country. Around 260,000 refugees have been sent to Tanzania and Rwanda. Security is a non-topic given the country’s instability, however there is a great eagerness to genuinely share the difficulties and fears of many who cannot escape”. The impression is that Burundi receives very little attention in the press.

“It is a tiny and not-much-talked-about country: many have an interest in maintaining this silence. Unfortunately this is true of the current government too!” But in this place of death, there is room for the proclamation of Christ’s joy and mercy. “Many here, especially the poor village people, here raise prayers to God for peace. Through its bishops, the Church continues to defend justice and peace”. The nuns, who were born from the charism of St. Arcangelo Tadini, are not afraid to get their hands dirty: they share people’s lives, work the land and rear animals, they work in the tea factory, they teach and are engaged in professional formation, they look after the sick in two dispensaries and serve the poor.

Over time, they have launched quite a number projects, but the most important one of all is “communion between different nationalities and cultures. In a social and political context where division prevails as a means of affirming one’s power, our communities,” Sister Raffaella explains, “try to be living proof of the fact that living together and caring about one another is possible.” The Congregation has given a great deal to the African cause (recently opening two missions in Mali and Rwanda), fostering encounter with others: “We have learnt to be sisters because we are daughters of one Father who gave us a simple and beautiful way of being a family in service of the workers. There are many differences (language, culture, way of living the faith, prayer, relations, time…) but there is much more that unites us: the Gospel of work, the working Jesus in Nazareth.”

Nyamurenza in Burundi is home to the “first mission”, while the Congregation’s national “headquarters” are in Rwegura, in an area densely inhabited by labourers who grow and process tea, where the bishop wanted the nuns to be present “so that they could announce the Good News of the Gospel, sharing in the very strain of work”.

The third mission is in Gitega, a small city in the centre of Burundi, which, towards the end of 1998 went through “a very difficult time, marked by atrocities, ethnic cleansing, murder, destruction, and even the decapitation of the local Church in the figure of its bishop, Mgr. Ruhuna.” A house was opened in Bujumbura in 2001 to keep track of administrative and bureaucratic practices. This house became a reference point for missionaries and lay people. Here too, there are people to help, visit and evangelise. “The social pastoral care programme is starting to make headway: we meet with some groups of workers to share the Word, reflect on the situation and identify the ways in which we, as Christians can deal with the various problems linked to the city and work.” The Working Sisters are also stationed in Muyinga, with a small community in Mutega, a professional hospitality training school and a centre that teaches sewing in Ngozi and they will soon also be present in Mugamba.

Vocations are flourishing, with as many as 70 nuns from Burundi, 14 of whom are missionaries in Italy, 3 in Brazil, 3 in Mali and 3 in Rwanda. “Many young women,” she concludes, “approach our religious family because they are fascinated by the challenge of communion and the chance to live a simple life, sharing in people’s day-to-day lives and their work.”

(Source: Herald Malaysia)