Buseesa, Uganda The Sisters of Notre Dame from the Kentucky and California provinces started a mission in Uganda, EastAfrica, in 1995. They began St. Julie Model Primary Boarding School for students in grades 3-7. The students come primarily from the Kibaale ("the forgotten") district. Sister Mary Annete Adams from the Chardon Province was missioned to Uganda, Africa in January, 1998, to join our missionaries there from Covington and California. Sisters from Mülhausen, Germany, have also come as missionaries, while other sisters, including Sister Mary Karleen Seech and Sister Regina Marie Alfonso and lay volunteers from the United States and Germany come to help for varying lengths of time. On September 8, 2002 the first candidates were accepted in Buseesa, Uganda for the Formation Program which is training in religious life for becoming Sisters of Notre Dame. Please remember in your prayers Amony Mary, Musiimenta Ruth, and Namugga Immaculate. Sister Mary Annete Adams, who has been journeying with these women through their discernment of their vocation these past few years, will continue to be their directress during candidacy. The candidacy will last approximately one year. The women will complete the first-half of their postulancy in Buseesa before going to the formation house in Arusha, Tanzania for entrance into the novitiate there already started for other SND vocations in that area. This is a momentous occasion for our congregation. In 2003, Notre Dame Senior Secondary School will open for the first 25 students continuing their education from St. Julie Model Primary Boarding School along with young women from the eleven parishes of the Kibaale Ministries include: Education (including teacher training) Formation Guimaras, The Philippines Three sisters from the Indonesian province and Sister Mary Niño Ranes, a native Filipina sister from the Chardon, Ohio, province began the mission in 2000. This mission in The Philippines was named Notre Dame Sesquicentennial Mission with missionaries from our international community. The Sisters responded to the request of the archbishop of Iloilo to have Sisters of Notre Dame work among poor people of the area.. The first convent of the sisters is under construction in Sabang, Sibunag. One of the Indonesian Sisters is teaching 31 Kindergarten children. The sisters hope to have two classrooms finished by June 2004 so Sister Mary Nino can begin to teach first grade. Meanwhile, Msgr. Ramirez and his Chinese-Filipino friends are trying to find benefactors to help pay for the construction. Let's continue to keep our mission in The Philippines in prayer. Ministries include: Catechesis and pastoral work Informal and formal education