| Maison St Benoit | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Coordinates | 1°44′57″S29°16′37″E / 1.74917°S 29.27694°E Coordinates: 1°44′57″S29°16′37″E / 1.74917°S 29.27694°E |
Maison St Benoit is a small Benedictine nunnery in Kigufi, Rwanda.
| Maison St Benoit | |
|---|---|
| | |
| General information | |
| Coordinates | 1°44′57″S29°16′37″E / 1.74917°S 29.27694°E Coordinates: 1°44′57″S29°16′37″E / 1.74917°S 29.27694°E |
Maison St Benoit is a small Benedictine nunnery in Kigufi, Rwanda.
Kigufi is a village in Rwanda, in central Africa, adjacent to Lake Kivu, one of the great Rift Valley lakes. Kigufi is situated in the Western Province of Rwanda, in the Rubavu District, in the Nyamyumba Section, in the Kiraga Cell. It is located at the North end of Lake Kivu on one of a number of small promontories just south of Rubavu, the nearest significant town. This places the village close to Goma, at the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
During colonial times a British man named Jack Mat Wilson Poelaert established the premises and constructed the building that comprises the main facility for the Nunnery. [1] He laid out gardens that include a range of good trees and have led to current descriptions of the Nunnery as "paradisaical green lakeshore grounds that support plenty of colourful birds and also offer good swimming". [2] Poelaert gave the property to the Benedictine order in December 1970.
Nowadays the Nuns of Saint Benedict live there praying and working as advised by Saint Benedict, who said: Ora et Labora. They operate a guest house with 30 rooms that make it "one of the best-value and most attractive places to stay in the Rubavu area". [2] Sister Beata, one of the five nuns presently running the guest house, explains: "Nuns like to have visitors, to receive them is not a business it is a part of the mission. They want you to feel at home". [1]
Visitors indicate that the sunset is a joy to behold and one feels a sense of peace once you reach Kagufi. [3]
Scholastica is a saint of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Communion. She was born in Italy. According to a ninth century tradition, she was the twin sister of Benedict of Nursia. Her feast day is 10 February, Saint Scholastica's Day. Scholastica is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Benedictine nuns.
Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu province and as of 2012 it had an estimated population of 806,940.
Curzon Park Abbey is one of three monasteries of nuns in the English Benedictine Congregation.
Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift system. Goma lies only 13–18 km (8.1–11.2 mi) south of the active Nyiragongo Volcano. The recent history of Goma has been dominated by the volcano and the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which in turn fuelled the First and Second Congo Wars. The aftermath of these events was still having effects on the city and its surroundings in 2010. The city was captured by rebels of the March 23 Movement during the M23 rebellion in late 2012, but it has since been retaken by government forces.
The Olivetans, formally known as the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet, are a monastic order. They were founded in 1313 and recognised in 1344. They use the Rule of Saint Benedict and are a member of the Benedictine Confederation, where they are also known as the Olivetan Congregation, but are distinguished from the Benedictines in their white habit and centralized organisation. They use the post-nominals 'OSB Oliv'.
Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is a city in Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Anglican religious orders are communities of men or women in the Anglican Communion who live under a common rule of life. The members of religious orders take vows which often include the traditional monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, or the ancient vow of stability, or sometimes a modern interpretation of some or all of these vows. Members may be laity or clergy, but most commonly include a mixture of both. They lead a common life of work and prayer, sometimes on a single site, sometimes spread over multiple locations.
The Vallombrosians are a monastic religious order in the Catholic Church. They are named after the location of their motherhouse founded in Vallombrosa, situated 30 km from Florence on the northwest slope of Monte Secchieta in the Pratomagno chain. They use the abbreviation O.S.B. Vall. to distinguish themselves from the Benedictines, who use the abbreviation O.S.B.
Tourism in Rwanda is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings in Rwanda and was projected to grow at a rate of 25% every year from 2013-18. The sector is the biggest contributor to the national export strategy. Total revenues generated from the sector in 2014 alone was USD 305 millions. The sector has also attracted direct foreign investments with major international hotel brands setting up shop in the country including Marriot Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Protea Hotels by Marriott, Golden Tulip Hotels, and Zinc. With its new world-class convention center Rwanda is set to become a regional and international conference hub owing to ever improving conference facilities, an excellent and expanding transportation network, and straightforward immigration procedures such as the ability for online visa applications, visa-at-gate policy for all Africans, and a one tourist visa policy for the EAC.
The Iona Nunnery was an Augustinian convent of nuns located on the island of Iona in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It was established sometime after the foundation of the nearby Benedictine monastery in 1203. Bethóc, daughter of Somerled, was first prioress. The ruins of the nunnery stand in a peaceful precinct adjacent to Iona's main village, Baile Mor. They form the most complete remains of a medieval nunnery extant in Scotland. After the Reformation, the priory was dissolved and reduced to a ruin.
Rubavu District is one of the seven districts of the country district (akarere) in Western Province, Rwanda. Its capital is Gisenyi, It has a large beach resort and border city. It has a total surface area of 388.3 Km2.
Rutsiro is a district (akarere) in Western Province, Rwanda. Its headquarter is located in Gihango sector.
Laurent Nkunda is a former General in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is the former warlord operating in the province of Nord-Kivu, sympathetic to Congolese Tutsis and the Tutsi-dominated government of neighbouring Rwanda. Nkunda, who is himself a Congolese Tutsi, commanded the former DRC troops of the 81st and 83rd Brigades of the DRC Army. He speaks English, French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Lingala and Kinande. On January 22, 2009, he was put under house arrest in Gisenyi when he was called for a meeting to plan a joint operation between the Congolese and Rwandan militaries.
Gishwati Forest is a forest in the north-western part of Rwanda, not far from Lake Kivu. It is part of Gishwati–Mukura National Park. The area's forests were largely intact in 1978, and substantial forest cover still remained in 1986. During the Rwandan genocide, wave after wave of refugees arrived in Gishwati Forest and began clearing it, often for subsistence farming. By 2001, only a small circular patch of native forest remained, 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) of the forest’s original 250,000. In addition to tremendous loss of biodiversity, the region experiences soil erosion and degradation and landslides. Reforestation efforts in the past few years have increased the remnant native forest to about 2,500 acres (10 km2). Large tea estates occupy the central and northern parts of the reserve.
Abbaye Saint-Benoît de Koubri, Koubri, Kadiogo Province, Burkina Faso, is a Benedictine monastery of the Subiaco Congregation. Founded in 1961, the monastery is located around 30 km from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. As of 2000, the monastery was home to 27 monks, under the leadership of Abbot Fr André Ouédraogo.
The Congregation of the Annunciation, formerly known as the Belgian Congregation, is a congregation of monasteries within the Benedictine Confederation. Founded in 1920, the Congregation includes fifteen independent male monasteries spread throughout ten countries. Additionally, two female monasteries are members of the Congregation, while a further ten are affiliated with the Congregation. Former Abbot Ansgar Schmidt of St. Matthias' Abbey, Trier, is the current Abbot-President of the Congregation.
Minova is a town in the Kalehe Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is an important business center for farm-fishery products. It is very close to Idjwi Island, Masisi Territory, Lake Kivu on its North Western shore and is only 45 km from the Goma city. The town's development is linked with important refugee-related history, including those from Rwanda in 1994, those from Masisi in 1992–1997, and other surrounding areas in northern South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is known for being the site of the systematic rape of refugees by DRC troops. WE actually find many local organisations involved in the management of Gender Based Violence (GBV) working tirelessly to restore dignity to women and girls who were raped( Panzi Foundation DRC is one of them, and it is very active in Buzi -Bulenga area).
The Benedictines Sisters of Elk County were a religious congregation established in Marienstadt, Pennsylvania in 1852 by three sisters from St. Walburge Abbey in Bavaria. There they established St. Joseph Monastery, the first convent of Benedictine Sisters in North America. They opened a school for girls, St. Benedict Academy, and in 1933 expanded their apostolate into healthcare, becoming the owner and operator of Andrew Kaul Memorial Hospital in St. Marys.
Rubona, also Rubona Peninsula, is a neighborhood to the south of the city of Gisenyi in Rwanda.
