Education
Teaching, a hostel for girls, a boarding school, vocational training and farming projects.
HomeOur missionCôte d’Ivoire
Côte d’IvoireMeeting the needs of the country
Thirty-seven sisters, seven communities, and the largest part of the Company today.
From Sion, now at home here
In August 1969, six sisters boarded a ship in Marseille bound for Abidjan. They settled at once in Siably, near Man; Bouaké followed the next year. Eleven years later, Ivorian women asked in their turn to become Ursulines — then Guinean women and, in recent years, young women from Liberia, Burkina Faso and Togo.
From 2002 to 2011, the country went through war, insecurity, looting, and economic and cultural decline. Faithful to their educational mission, the sisters adapted their commitment to what people needed rather than suspending it.
1969
Six sisters sail from Marseille to Abidjan. The first house opens in Siably, near Man.
1970
Bouaké follows — the city will become the heart of the Ivorian presence.
1980
Ivorian women ask to become Ursulines. The Company is no longer Swiss.
2002–2011
War, insecurity, looting. The commitment adapts; it does not stop.
Where the sisters are expected
Three fields, one calling
Health
Dispensaries, antenatal and postnatal care, nutrition education, care for people with disabilities and for vulnerable children.
Pastoral work
Catechesis, training of lay leaders, visits to the sick, movements for children, young people and adults.
Educating, whatever the task
Whatever work is entrusted to her, each Ursuline tries to carry it out as an educator. Through teaching, farming or catechesis, the aim is to help people stand on their own feet — in their lives as in their faith.
In their commitments, the sisters work alongside all those building a people of brothers and sisters: Muslims, Protestants, followers of traditional religions.
“I came that they may have life.” (Jn 10:10)
The boarding school in Bouaké
A place to prepare for the future
The Sainte-Ursule boarding school welcomes girls intent on preparing for their future, and gives them a setting suited to their studies.
The Cocody-Attoban school, Abidjan
The little lamp of knowledge
That is the motto of the Sainte-Ursule Catholic private school. It welcomes children from crèche and day care, then from nursery school to the end of primary school.
Parents are involved throughout the year: start-of-year workshops, open days, and extra lessons for children whose parents wish it.
The school’s calendar on the events pageThe communities
Where the sisters live, in Côte d’Ivoire
- Bouaké
- Yamoussoukro
- Siably
- Facobly
- Daloa
- Divo
- Attoban
Côte d’Ivoire
Projects
The grain mill
In the village of Zépréguhé, in Côte d’Ivoire, a grain mill was blessed.
The farming and livestock sector
In Siably, near Man, where the sisters first settled in Côte d’Ivoire in 1969, the farming and livestock sector came back to life.
Vocational training in sewing for young people
In Bouaké, the sisters’ second post in Côte d’Ivoire since 1970, young people were trained in sewing.
The Nicole Roland library
At the Sainte-Ursule school in Cocody-Attoban, Abidjan, the Nicole Roland library and resource centre, named after the founder of the École Jules Verne, was inaugurated on 27 May 2025. It was donated by the École Jules Verne, in partnership with the Fondation d’Augustin and the Kynome art gallery.
Compassion and growth
Walking towards hope
Adults, young people and children often find themselves in distress. The sisters welcome, encourage and support them.
Support the missionThe two other chapters
The mission continues elsewhere
Eighteen sisters in Switzerland, five in Guinea. The same commitment to education, other needs, other means.
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