The congregation in Cameroun  

The first missionaries of the former German colony were Pallotines. When France took over the largest parts of Cameroun, Spiritains (‘Congregation of the Holy Spirit’) from Alsatia, who spoke German and French, started their work as missionaries in Yaoundé.

In 1936 Bishop Franz Xavier Vogt asked four sisters to assist the missionaries in Cameroun. So they opened a school and boarding school for girls and a dispensary in Nlong, deep in the equatorial jungle. Soon a lot of sick people came there to get help. An important pastoral task was among other things the preparation of bridal couples for marriage.

In 1948 several sisters worked as nurses in the main hospital of Yaoundé and helped to train African staff there.

In 1954 a home for lepers was founded, which soon became a whole village. Solidarity events enabled the sisters to build a dispensary, a school, a centre for the teaching of home economics, a chapel and a shoemaking shop, where shoes can be made to measure for the lepers.

Since 1965 further communities have been founded. Together with lay people the sisters run a dispensary, a nursery and a dressmaker’s shop. They also teach sewing to women and girls, give lessons in religious instruction for children, engage in Catholic Action activities and work in the surrounding villages, which are mainly scattered and isolated in the forests.

Upon approval by the bishops a novitiate for young sisters was opened in 1987.
At the moment there are 19 sisters in Cameroun, among whom 3 come from Europe. The 5 communities live in two dioceses.

The main office of the Delegation is in Yaoundé. In this town the house where the novices are instructed has also been made available to other congregations for courses. At the moment several postulants and novices prepare themselves for a religious life in our congregation.

Through their services
in pedagogy and education
* in the nursery

* as teachers in schools of the diocese and other religious communities

in health care
* in nursing
* in the dispensary
* in the pharmacy of the diocesan health centre

in parish pastoral work and in groups for children, young people and women

as well as through their contribution towards the development of peoples and the promoting of women’s social and economic empowerment the members of our congregation take part in the mission of the Church to spread the Good News all over the world.