By mudir 
Scholastic Kasereka Mwami Charles
My name is Scholastic Kasereka Mwami Charles. I was born on April 25, 1996, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Beni City, North Kivu Province. I am the seventh of nine children in my family. Both of my parents are still alive, and I am blessed with five brothers and three sisters, although we lost our eldest sister in the year 2000.
I was baptized in 1999, three years after my birth. I received my First Holy Communion in 2009 and the sacrament of Confirmation in 2011. I did both my primary and secondary education in Catholic schools in Beni-Paida. In secondary school, I studied literature and philosophy. Growing up in a Catholic family, I was taught from an early age to pray and to honor the Lord. Although Sunday Mass was not strictly compulsory in my family, it became a central part of my personal life. I served in the Church as a lector; the Eucharistic Youth Movement and I was an active member of the parish vocational group. Through these ministries, I developed a deep love for the service of God and began seriously discerning a vocation to religious life then to the priesthood.
Initially, with the guidance of my spiritual director, I thought I was called to be a diocesan priest. That perspective changed when I encountered the Comboni Missionaries who visited our parish (Saint Gabriel/ Beni-Malepe) for missionary animation. I vividly remember the passion and joy of Fathers Gaspar Trasparano, Eliseo Tachella, and Nickel Mabuluki—who at the time was a scholastic doing his missionary service in Butembo. Their presence stirred something new in me and inspired me to consider missionary religious life; and then later the Comboni missionary lifestyle attracted me- as Comboni wished to have a thousand lives for the mission, I thought I would be one of those thousand lives.
In 2015, I joined the Comboni pre-postulancy program. After almost a year, I was sent to Kisangani to begin my postulancy and philosophical studies at the Edith Stein Philosophicum. I graduated in 2019 and was then sent to Gulu, Uganda (Layibi Brothers Postulancy), for an English language program in preparation for the novitiate. I spent two formative years in the novitiate at Namugongo, Uganda. This time was not only foundational for my religious vocation but also transformative for my Christian life. The novitiate instilled in me many essential values that continue to guide me today.
After my first religious profession on April 30, 2022, I was assigned to Egypt to study Arabic at Dar Comboni in Zamalek, Cairo. My time in Egypt was immensely enriching. It gave me a profound appreciation for Arabic culture and an essential understanding of the Muslim world, as most Egyptians are Muslims. This experience also prepared me for my current life in Lebanon, despite the differences between classical Arabic and the Lebanese dialect. Presently, I am in my fourth year of religious consecration and completing the final semester of my second year of theology at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik – USEK), according to their five-year philosophical and theological program. Here in Lebanon, I do my pastoral work with the French speaking migrants in collaboration with Franciscan Missionaries of Mary sisters.
I am deeply grateful to God for His continuous goodness in my life. I am also thankful to the Comboni family for their support and for giving me the space and opportunity to grow in my vocational journey. I entrust my path to the intercession of Saint Daniel Comboni and Blessed Giuseppe Ambrosoli. May they continue to guide me and the entire Comboni family as we seek to serve the mission of Christ among the poorest and most abandoned.