MIL OSI Translation. Region: Italy –
Source: The Holy See in Italian
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Beandrarezona (Agenzia Fides) – Contributing to the formation of young people by offering them quality education that gives them equal opportunities compared to other young people in the cities, this is the goal of the Consolata Missionaries’ school (IMC) recently opened in Beandrarezona. “School is a great tool for evangelization in many ways. Although many young people are not particularly interested in religion, through school they can discover the message of the Gospel and their families can also be reached” says Fr. Jean Tuluba, IMC, from the mission of Beandrarezona. “After contact with the local reality we noticed that in Beandrarezona, which is the center of the mission, and in the other villages, there are private and public schools: nursery, elementary and first cycle of middle school, but there were no schools for the second cycle of middle school and high school – he continues. Hence the need, after having spoken with local leaders and parents, to build a secondary school because the young people of Beandrarezona and other nearby villages are forced to leave their families after primary school to continue their studies in the city with a significant economic impact on families and consequently many young people drop out of school to go and work in the fields.” “Among the first 30 students, a good percentage come from other religious confessions. The school also becomes a way to dialogue with other religions through the education we give to their children, since from the beginning these other confessions have placed their trust in us by sending their children to study – the priest points out. In this way, the school is not only an education center, but also a meeting place between religious confessions. Furthermore, we have chosen to manage the school gradually, opening one class per year until the completion of the three-year cycle. This is because the level of education of the students is very low. Opening a class each year will help us to support the formation of students and also the ongoing formation of teachers.” The Consolata missionaries arrived in Madagascar on March 13, 2019 to work in the diocese of Ambanja, in the northwest of the Big Island. After a period of study of the Malagasy language, on October 20, 2019 they began their pastoral service in the new mission of Beandrarezona, created with the arrival of the first three missionaries, Fathers Jean Tuluba (DR Congo), Jared Makori (Kenya) and Kizito Mukalazi (Uganda). “Our mission is the latest parish created in the diocese of Ambanja, in the northwest of the Big Island and is located almost 1,000 kilometers from Antananarivo, the capital of the country,” explains Father Tuluba. “It extends over three rural municipalities and has more than 80 villages, of which only 12 have Christian communities. The villages are very far from each other and the only possible means of transport to visit them is by motorbike, but in most of them you can almost always get there only on foot. To reach some communities we have to walk up to 14 hours. It takes strength and determination to face the difficulties of the roads. Of the 2,587,014 inhabitants (2022 census) of the diocese, only 7% of the population is Catholic and in our mission Catholics are about 3% of the total of 21,170 inhabitants (2018 census). As you can see, it is truly a mission ad gentes that needs our presence and attention”, the missionary remarks. The main activities of the mission are visits to the communities, sacramental catechesis, the formation of catechists, missionary and vocational animation, the formation of young people and children. The majority of the population of the mission is made up of young people and children. In fact, it is estimated that 75% of Madagascar’s population is made up of young people and children. The school, whose construction began in 2021 after the Covid-19 epidemic, was officially inaugurated and opened on September 2, 2024 with the Eucharistic celebration presided over by the diocesan bishop of Ambanja, Francis Donatien Randriamalala, who blessed the building. Other priests, nuns, local administrative and political authorities, representatives of local religious confessions, Christians of the mission, friends and acquaintances participated in the celebration. The following day, lessons began immediately with 30 students. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 5/10/2024) Share:
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.