Some readers of this page will know that since 2008 Glenstal Abbey School has been fortunate enough to be in direct contact with some schools in Africa.  It began with the assistance of the International Commission on Benedictine Education.

Typically six or eight students and two staff would visit a school, Benedictine or not, in either Tanzania or Kenya, for three weeks in the summer.  The purpose has been to open the minds and hearts of Glenstal students and to supply funds for educational purposes as well as some training for their peers in IT.

Great hospitality has been shown, and these have been ‘win-win’ encounters for all of the young people involved.

A new chapter is opening with the upcoming visit to Togo.  This will be our first visit to a francophone country in Africa.  Eight students are permitted to go, along with Fr John and Mr Thomas Franklin, in June 2023.  A generous welcome is assured by the Benedictine ‘Monastère de l’Incarnation d’Agbang’.  The Irish students will be with their peers in the ‘Complexe Scolaire Athénée St Albert le Grand’.

We thank all those who support this educational project and have contributed, a little or a lot, to the funds collected for the African school – every cent of which goes to them!

Fr John OSB