Presentation

Loans Program

Volonteer Program

Presentation

Kindergarten

In Egypt, the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion are in Alexandria, Cairo and Berba.

Notre Dame de Sion in Berba :Berba a village in Upper Egypt
* Berba is a village 250 km south of Cairo in the Governorate of Minia.
* Berba has 10,000 inhabitants, 30 % are Coptic Catholic Christians and 70 % are Muslim. There is one church and five Mosques.
* Half of the population is under the age of 15 years of age.
* There are two schools, a health-unit, and 3 private doctors.
* Berba's main source of income is farm products like cotton, wheat, garlic, sugarcane and sugar beets.

The Village El Berba El Kobra
Women are always working
History of the Congregation in Berba
* Sisters Juliana (Austrian) and Darlene (Canadian) have been living in the village of Berba since September, 1994. Their work in the village includes pastoral and social/developmental activities and is especially an active presence to the villagers.
Ministries in Berba
* In the church:reflections with the youth, bible study with parish groups and with priests of neighbouring parishes
* visiting the sick, the needy
* rejoicing with the people at their wedding celebrations, when babies are born, crying with the ones who have lost a loved one

Pastoral work
* the library is not only for reading but also children paint and draw using their imagination in creating beauty
Choir: "praise the Lord with your singing and dancing"
Collaborating in the Catechetical sessions for children and youth, visiting families in the village

Social Ministries

* Collaboration with the local Diocesan Development team: kindergarten; literacy
* Health care and health education through the Dispensary: Sr. Juliana and assistants * The garden begins to develop: a playground is created… flowers bloom…
* Developing a computer-literacy training program for children, youth and adults

Loans program managed by the loans committee of the local Diocesan Development team.
The main need in the village is not for donations, but for capital. Few people have the cash available to make a major purchase ( raising animals for household use, household appliances, such as a gas cooker or oven, refrigerator, wash machine), to improve their homes (install electricity, water, toilet, improve existing walls or roof, build additional space) or to start a small business (raising animals, opening a shop, etc.). However, most people have a regular limited income and are committed to pay the required interest if they can get a loan which then can be paid off on a monthly basis.
The local loans committee of Berba has now had 8 years of experience. The careful choice of those to whom a loan will be given, their guarantors, collecting monthly payments: all this is done with concern for the real needs of the villagers, their honesty and ability to repay. Our community works closely with the local development group and can witness to the commitment of these people, especially the person in charge.
Loans program:
* washing machine, gas stove, machine for the cutting wood
* raising chickens, a flock of sheep, sanitary installation
Through the Loans Program we are enabling many families in the village of Berba both Moslem and Christian to benefit from the possibility of borrowing money to improve their lives, with the respect and dignity that they deserve.

Volunteer Program: We are happy to have volunteers to share our ministry and our life here in the village. Knowledge of English is important, though French and German speaking persons are also welcome. Arabic is extremely helpful but many activities can be done with little or no previous knowledge of the Arabic language. For example: drawing/painting/handicrafts/music with children; work with handicapped children; computer training; language classes, English or French.

Contact: ndsberba@link.net for more information.

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CAIRO:
In Cairo, one of the two sisters in the community works as directress of a small kindergarten. It is part of the Caritas center, which has been in Matariya since 1967; this is a working-class area swarming with life… and with children, where the picturesque lives side by side with destitution. In this area, there are two million inhabitants of whom almost 40% are Christians, and their needs are growing. In 1971, a small community of Sisters of Sion moved to the area and opened a kindergarten; this latter was taken over by Caritas-Egypt in 1981, and they entrusted its direction to the sisters.

At present, this kindergarten takes in 230 children between the ages of 3 months and 6 years. They learn to live together, to be "socialized" by pedagogical and educational means adapted to their age. The parents, and above all the mothers, are asked to help. They learn to respect the timetable, their children's hygiene, and they are asked to continue their child's education at home. About a dozen teachers contribute their competence and their devotedness to the good functioning of the whole. The pupils come each morning and leave again around 2 p.m., whereas the babies stay until 4 p.m., when the mothers usually finish their work. The children have two free days a week, Fridays and Sundays, but the babies have only Fridays. The hope is that this center be an oasis of peace, of welcome and of friendship, and that its activities develop a sense of respect and of dignity. Those working there also seek to awaken in each person a sense of responsibility and of solidarity, and to give each one the ability to determine their own future. We believe that this work is only one small drop, but that it does allow us to bring relief and to help in an ocean of misery; we also believe that the small center can be a source of comfort and of hope for those who come there.

The other sister who lives in Cairo works with the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, where she teaches French. This is a language school for 1,200 girls, and all the teaching is done in French, except for Arabic and religion; 70% of the pupils are Muslim. The remainder of the sister's time is at the service of the Church: the animation of prayer groups, visits to people who are alone or ill.

ALBUM DE PHOTOS

ALEXANDRIA: Alexandria, the "pearl of the Mediterranean", is also known because of its lighthouse.
It was founded by Alexander the Great in 322 BCE and is now the second largest city of Egypt. Throughout the centuries, it influenced the Mediterranean world and the three continents in the cultural, intellectual, religious, political and economic areas. Today, Alexandria seeks to be "the pearl" and "the lighthouse" for the present-day generation and that of tomorrow by means of its universities and its research centers. The three sisters who are in Alexandria try to live their vocation through work in the areas of education and human development, especially among the poor.They fulfill their apostolic task in collaboration with other religious institutions or lay organizations: animation in a school run by the Lazarist Fathers, full-time work in the alphabetization of adults at Caritas, accompanying a group of young couples, helping children of the area, especially poor children, with their school work, taking in ten university students, most of whom come from Upper Egypt, in their small hostel, etc…

By means of these various forms of educational and social activities, they try to pass on biblical values such as a sense for the dignity of the human person, the call to justice, to reconciliation and pardon. This is ecumenism in every-day life, which they try to live with joy and simplicty in the large city of Alexandria, a city so open and welcoming with its important library and through its population which is so diverse in its colors, cultures and religions.