Project 3367 - Renovation of the formation house
Benedictines of Twasana (South Africa)
At the request of Bishop Thomas Spreiter (osb), Vicar Apostolic of Eshowe, the Benedictine Missionary Sisters of Tutzing began recruiting local candidates with a view to establishing a local community of sisters under the rule of St Benedict. The first candidates were accepted on 29 December 1929. Sister Victorine Mandl, a Benedictine missionary from Tutzing, was responsible for the formation of these candidates. The Congregation Propaganda Fide gave official recognition to the newly founded Benedictine community of African sisters in its text of December 5, 1933, which included the permission to open a novitiate. On 3 January 1985, the sisters elected the first superior, Sr Johanna Ntuli, from among their own members.
The Mother House, Twasana, is located 80 km from Vryheid (Kwa-Zulu Natal). Next door is a secondary school and a girls' boarding school run by the sisters. The sisters have six other mission houses.
Many of the sisters have apostolates in parishes and schools. They have a farm which allows them to support themselves, but also to help the local population by offering them work or food at low cost.
Request
The formation house built in 1999 is in danger of collapsing: the walls are cracked and the foundations are moving away from the house. The sisters have left the house for fear that it will collapse during a storm, which is common in summer. The young people in formation are housed in another building already occupied by other sisters; there is not enough room for the two groups they form. The engineers and architects think that the house can be made more solid by shoring it up and doing some other work.
Requested amount: € 20,000
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