Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Andemaka (Agenzia Fides) – Andemaka is a town with nearly 3,000 inhabitants in the south of Madagascar with a small community of volunteers of St. Vincent De Paul and Daughters of Charity, among whom is Sr. Giuseppina Altana, an Italian Sister from Porto Torres who has spent 42 years in the town. “Our community carries out a health and pastoral service,” Sr. Giuseppina said in an Interview in “Informazione Vincenziana.” We visit and assist the sick in their homes, we care for children, youth, and adults in catechesis and the activities of parish life.”
There is also a Catholic school linked to the parish, located in the town. There, the Sisters and volunteers serve in preparing lunch for the poor children. Over the years, the Vincentian Family (Daughters of Charity, St. Vincent De Paul Volunteers, and the Marian Association) has developed a special service project for disabled children. These children are often discovered by the missionaries in the savannah, abandoned. In the houses run by the community, these children receive medical attention and educational instruction, so that they can then incorporate themselves into the town’s social life. They also work with women. Sr. Giuseppina works mainly with the women, teaching them basic domestic skills like cleaning the house and taking care of the children.
The town has various active religious sects, but the Christians are a strong community, led by their priest, a Jesuit Madagascar-native. Every summer, the lay volunteers organize a “Mission Camp,” a sort of popular mission in the town where there is no priest in residence. The volunteers visit all the families, tend to the sick, organize daily prayer, and catechesis. They also offer professional training courses, such as cooking, for women. There is also one day when a missionary comes and hears Confessions and celebrates the Eucharist. (AM) (Agenzia Fides 31/7/2008)
