Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bata (Fides Service) – Ana Isabel Sanchez, aged 22, a Spanish volunteer teacher on her first mission abroad, was shot dead by accident at a police road block in Equatorial Guinea on July 1. Ana was a member of the Neo Catechumen Way at the parish in her home town Ocana and a member of the Calasanziano Missionary Volunteer group. She and two other girl volunteers left Madrid on June 29 for mission in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. One of the girls was to stay in Bata and the other two, including Ana, were to spend a month at a mission run by the Scolopi Sisters in Akonibe teaching children and women to read and write.
According to a report sent from Guinea, in the afternoon of 1 July, the girls took the bus from Bata to Akonibe but at a road block near the town of Mongomo a dispute arose between the bus driver and the police. One of the policemen opened fire injuring a number of people, including Ana who died after an operation in hospital.
Ana’s parents are separated and she has two brothers. For several years she was involved in fighting poverty and social unbalance. She worked in various social centres in Spain helping drug addicts, poor people, people with physically disabilities. According to people who knew Ana well, this mission abroad was to be the first of many because one of her dreams was to help the Church grow in mission countries. SL (Fides Service 4/7/2003 EM lines 16 Words: 232)
