Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Gitega (Agenzia Fides) – Founded by a group of Fides Donum priests, the “Notre Dame de la Sagesse” High School of the Archdiocese of Gitega has offered an education to over 8,000 youth in its over 50 years in existence. It all began on September 11, 1958, when the then Notre Dame College opened its doors to its first students in Mushasa. The building, designed to accommodate 300 young people, has been built in collaboration with the Belgian Diocese of Tournai, which had sent six Fides Donum priests to run the school. Among them were Fr. Michel Voiturier, Abbot Joseph Van de Putte, Abbot Charles Liénard, and Fr. Jules Bauvez, who were in Gitega for 11 years as professors until the reform in 1972. That year, the state school system took over the management, along with the clergy of the Diocese and in 1986 it was finally included within the public school system, with the new name: Nyabiharage High School. In 1999, the local Church once again took up school management, renaming it “Notre Dame de la Sagesse” High School, promoting constant growth in offering education and amplifying the structures (registration has gone from 670 to 779 from 2007-2008).
The school is now supported by funds collected by an association of professors and alumni from Burundi and Rwanda, thanks to a renews collaboration with volunteers and priests from Tournai. With the celebration of the solemn jubilee celebrated not long ago, Archbishop Simon Ntamwana of Gitega expressed his desire to “support a project with great vigor, of which the Church in Burundi is so in need: a Catholic University in Gitega, a new mission for all the teachers, volunteers, and civil society.” (AM) (Agenzia Fides 24/4/2009)
