Threshold - Winter 2005

KARIBU!
by Mary Agnes Patterson, OSB

“Karibu …
You are welcome;
be at home”

. . . was the universal greeting we received from the Benedictine Sisters of St. Agnes in Chipole, Tanzania, during our visit in July, 2005.

Sister Susan Barber and I were sent from the Mount in Atchison to visit the community of Sisters Presentasia Chipeta and Susana Kindole, who have been with us studying for their baccalaureate degrees. We were warmly welcomed and enjoyed meeting the sisters, living and praying with them, and establishing closer relationship between our communities.

The Sisters of St. Agnes are truly amazing in their service to the local people and their formative work with the young women they serve. The 325 sisters are engaged in ministry both at their monastery properties and in various geographical locations in Tanzania. On their monastery grounds they have four schools: a pre-school, elementary boarding school, secondary boarding school, and trade school. They also operate an orphanage and currently have 35 orphans.

Their ministries include health care and they operate of a clinic and a birthing center. Because women live in isolated rural areas, they come to the sisters and stay until they give birth, sometimes up to a month or longer.

As in all Benedictine communities, hospitality is alive and well. The sisters welcome local people and international visitors who come to volunteer to help in their ministries. While we were there, a small group of college students were volunteering in the health care and education ministries.

One truly life-changing event was celebrated during our time with the sisters. They had just completed a five-year project, the construction of a hydroelectric dam. This project was made possible through the generosity of a benefactor from Switzerland and the assistance of many of the sisters. With the completion of this dam the sisters and all their ministries will be able to have electricity 24 hours a day.

Before this dam, electricity was available for a very limited time in the morning and in the evening by means of a generator. Electricity is used almost exclusively for light as all the work is done by hand, with many hands participating.

The sisters in Chipole were joyful and peaceful and very grateful for the help they were receiving to improve their lives and prepare for their ministries. They have many new members to educate and many, many young women to teach in their schools. They realize they are participating in the development of their homeland and of the Church in Tanzania. They are most appreciative of the assistance of the Benedictine sisters in the United States.

Sister Susan Barber and the orphans of Chipole.


Sister Mary Agnes and Sister Anna pose with some of the youngest residents.



Sisters Susana, Imane, and Presentasia are thrilled with the new dam that brings electricity to their monastery.

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