Sister Maria – Calabar (Nigeria)
PROJECT 13 of 72
MISSION
Location
Diocese
Calabar
Country
Nigeria
Continent
Africa
GPS coordinates
4.97675 8.33835
Time zone
UTC+1
CONGREGATION
Congregation
Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus
Motherhouse
Ikot Ekpene, Nigeria
Diocese
Uyo
Country
Nigeria
Continent
Africa
Congregation Feast Day
On the Feast of the Annunciation
GPS coordinates
5.17553 7.72157
Time zone
UTC+1
Contact person
Sister Maria
Mother General
Sister Germaine Ocansey
Website
TRAINING ORGANIZATION
Name
Misericordia di Firenzuola
Location
Firenzuola (FI)
Country
Italy
Continent
Europe
GPS coordinates
44.12033 11.38087
Time zone
UTC+1
Start date
02/08/2021
End date
December 2021
Tutor
Claudio Corbatti
REAL SPACE
Project manager
Sister Maria
Start date
January 2022
Type
Pane di Misericordia
Sister Maria, together with another sister from the Calabar community, devoted her energy to starting a small bakery funded by spazio + spadoni. During her time in Firenzuola, she attended a bread-making course where she learned about the equipment and the various stages of bread production, enabling her to understand what she would need upon returning to her community. To date, bread production has not generated the expected income, mainly because of the political, social, and economic tensions affecting Nigeria and making it difficult to market this product. Using the proceeds from bread sales and support from spazio + spadoni, Sister Maria decided to start a small poultry farm to replace the bakery, which is also developing with the help of local volunteers.
Sister Maria completed her training at Misericordia di Firenzuola. In January 2022, she returned to Calabar, a city in Nigeria and the capital of Cross River State, in the southeastern part of the country near Cameroon. Her Congregation, the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, has a community there where 23 sisters run a school, a sewing center, a library, and produce altar bread.
As in much of Nigeria, electricity is supplied by a privately owned generator, while water comes from a well.
Learn more Ernestina, Maria, and Margaret: Three Sisters Who Answered HIC SUM Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus The Life Story of Mother Mary Charles Magdalen Walker
Timeline
2020
19.08 | Relationship begins
The partnership between spazio + spadoni and the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus begins
2021
04-05-06-07 | Training
spazio + spadoni supports the Italian-language course
02.08 | Training
Sister Maria begins her training at Misericordia di Firenzuola
06-11.09 | Convention Fare Spazio alla Reciprocità
Sister Maria participates in the Convention created and promoted by spazio + spadoni at the Convento di San Cerbone (LU)
09-10-11 | Training
Sister Maria attends a technical bread-making course at Misericordia di Firenzuola (FI)
11 | Training
Sister Maria completes specific training on the HIC SUM project at the Convento di San Cerbone (LU)
06.12 | Training
Technical visit by spazio + spadoni
16.12 | Sister’s departure/arrival
Sister Maria returns to Calabar, Nigeria
2022
21.01 | Testimony
01.03 | First funding disbursed
Funding for purchasing the oven and equipment needed to produce bread
07 | Production begins
Sister Maria and the volunteers begin producing bread
09 | Sales begin
The bread produced is sold
2023
31.01 | Second funding disbursed
The funding will later be invested in the new livestock farming activity
2024
02.08 | Third funding disbursed
Funding for purchasing chicks and veterinary advice
September | Production begins
December | Sales begin
Chicken sales begin
Project Evaluations
November 2021 The project that Sister Maria
wants to develop upon returning to her community in Nigeria is bread production
June 2023 Analysis of the local market to
start a poultry farm
January 2024 Monitoring of the new
livestock farming activity
May 2024 Financial
report
June 2024 Evaluation for the purchase of
additional chicks
