Soeurs de Saint Joseph d'Annecy

BLESSED ANUARITE HOSTEL

The Blessed Anuarite Hostel, which is celebrating its 27th anniversary, is a project of the Diocese of Tambacounda and entrusted to the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Annecy. It was blessed on the 9th of September, 1994, having opened its doors to the young girls on the 5th of April of the same year under the direction of Sister Albertine, from Vishakapatnam province.


The aim of the hostel was, and still is, to give young girls an accomodation to enable them to study properly and to learn to live in a group. The girls come from different cultures, religions and backgrounds, but they learn to live together with respect and cohesiveness; it is a « school of life » in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world. Since its beginnings until now, some people have dedicated themselves to its development, e.g. the sisters, the cooks, the watchmen, the chaplains etc. " We are a happy family where each one is seen as a member of the family, where everyone feels loved, fulfilled and can express oneself freely. We learn to deal with the small conflicts of everyday life, to forgive and to start anew. The hostel, as underlined above, is an ideal setting for human and intellectual formation which promotes the development and success of young people.

The girls live within the hostel like in a family. They get up early to do the daily chores (cleaning, cooking breakfast, pounding millet, washing their clothes, etc.) before going to school.

When they return from school and after having eaten, they take a rest before going back to school. Those who don’t go to school in the afternoon go to the study room.



We had the joy of celebratimg the 27 years of our hostel with a thanksgiving mass animated by the girls. It was a beautiful and colourful celebration.
In order to mark the event and to put into practice the guidelines of Pope Francis Encyclical Laudato Si to take care of our common home, the girls of the 2021-2022 group, along with the sister in charge, planted a mango tree which was followed by various activities e.g dancing and a play on the theme "violence against women and forced marriages". At the end a meal was offered and the traditionnal cutting of the birthday cake.


The celebration ended with the presentation of the gifts to the previous year's graduates who had an average grade of 12/20 and above.

 

Sr Marie Pitité