Romana

From April 6 to 27, 150 students and young professional women gathered at the Tangwa University Center in Kinshasa on four consecutive Saturdays to learn more about Blessed Josemaria Escriva as the source of inspiration for projects aimed at the social betterment of women.

The introductory talk was given by Doctor Amisi, who cited Blessed Josemaria’s words: «A man or a society that does not react to suffering and injustice and makes no effort to alleviate them is still distant from the love of Christ’s heart» (Christ Is Passing By, no. 167). A recurring theme was the need to find solutions that really contribute to the country’s development, and also the need to work well, with a spirit of service.

Dr. Maria Dolores Mazuecos, who lived in Rome in the 70’s and knew Blessed Josemaria personally, recounted some of her personal recollections. She described the immense panorama that Blessed Josemaria would describe to them, convinced that a whole array of initiatives for the betterment of women would some day become a reality all over the world.

The conference by Annick Rascar, Director of the Institut Supérieur en Sciences Infimières (Advanced School of Nursing), created in 1997, showed how this dream is becoming a reality little by little in Kinshasa. The school aims at giving its students a serious professional formation permeated by human and Christian values. Three graduating classes of nurses have obtained their diplomas and are now working in different hospitals in the capital and the interior of the country.

Nelly Tshela, Technical Director of the Kimbondo Professional School, described the birth and growth of the school from its first classes, given in the open under a tree, up to the present, with a broad ranging educational and social work in the outskirts of Kinshasa.

A documentary on development projects in various countries, among them the Monkole Medical Center in Kinshasa, followed by a discussion, completed the program. One participant summed up the feeling of everyone: getting involved in this kind of activity is not a matter of complicating one’s life, but of giving it meaning.