Nairobi, 13 June, 2025 / 4:52 PM
Sisters’ Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL) in Africa are sending their members who are over 40 years old for further studies, a new study by the Centre for Research in Religious Life and Apostolate (CERRA-Africa) has established.
According to the first set of results of the longitudinal study being conducted in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia, some Sisters’ Congregations in these countries are denying their new members opportunities to grow intellectually and serve their communities longer.
Sr. Dr. Mary Taabu Simiyu, the Research Coordinator of CERRA-Africa, presented the Year 1 findings of the 10-year study at a research symposium that was organized in Nairobi, Kenya, from June 10-12.
The member of Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus (HHCJ) said that Sisters’ Congregations in Zambia performed the poorest in terms of giving their younger members study opportunities, with some sending their members aged above 40 back to school.
“We are enrolling Sisters who are mostly over 35 years old,” Sr. Mary said in her presentation on Wednesday, June 11.
She added, “Zambia had the eldest average age of around 44 years, followed by Uganda, which had around the age of 42, and Kenya had the average age of 40.”
“We are really enrolling sisters to school when they are seniors,” Sr. Mary said, and added, “It is good that the Sisters go to school when they are seniors and are able to concentrate on their studies. But that could also be overwhelming on them.”
“We ask you dear Superiors of various Congregations that you consider balancing between the formation processes of Sisters and sending them to school, so that they have more time to serve the Congregation before they meet the Creator,” she said.
Titled “Longitudinal Study on the Formation of Religious Sisters from Novitiate to Perpetual Profession-and Beyond”, CERRA-Africa’s research seeks to assess the impact of college education on personal development of Sisters and the Congregations they represent.
In areas of personal development, the study is particularly examining the leadership of Sisters, the partnerships they have forged through access to college education, the projects they initiated, as well as the impact of college education on the incomes of the Sisters’ Congregations.
Results presented at the CERRA-Africa symposium were from 2023-2024 research which targeted 150 participants, 50 in each of the three countries. Beneficiaries of the African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC) funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation formed part of the study which examined the 2019, 2020, 2013 and 2022 cohorts of the Sisters’ education initiative.
On career paths, the research showed that traditional courses were favored by the students, particularly education, administration, and finance.
“Medical courses came in at a low level, even though it is a traditional field in the Church,” Sr. Mary said.
She noted that Sisters pursuing college education put into consideration the charisms of their Congregations as they choose their courses.
The Sisters also matched the apostolates they are working in, particularly in education and administration.
The study indicated that 90 percent of the participants in Kenya experienced significant personal and professional growth, particularly in their computer literacy, financial management, leadership, and education administration. In Uganda, about 85 percent reported increased self-confidence and leadership capacity.
Up to 98 percent of the participants studied locally, and they continued to serve in their home countries.
In terms of applying the skills they acquired through college education, performance was best in Uganda at 82 percent, followed by Zambia at 78 percent, and lowest in Kenya at a paltry 58 percent.
Sr. Dr. Lucy Mwesa, a member of the Order of Preachers (OP/Dominicans) who presented the second part of the findings at the symposium urged Sisters Congregations to allow their members to practice what they learn for the good of their communities.
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“We encourage our Major Superiors to help Sisters who go through college to apply the training in the roles,” the Dominican Sister from Zambia said.
Sr. Lucy also underlined the need for pre-assignment dialogue between Religious Sisters and their superiors, noting that there is little engagement between the two, especially in Kenya which recorded a paltry 49 percent.
At 67 percent, Zambia performed better in terms of pre-assignment dialogue between Religious Sisters and their superiors, followed by Uganda at 57 percent.
The CERRA-Africa study, however couldn’t not quantify the growth in incomes of Congregations as a result of their members accessing college education.
“Although the Sisters recognized that they had increased income when they went to college, they said that owing to the nature of Religious life, a Sister may be a professor today, and tomorrow she's made a Superior General, and she is not enumerated. This becomes difficult for us as researchers to enumerate that, because the salary jumps from a good amount to zero,” Sr. Mary said in her presentation.
The researchers found that exposure to education positively correlated with the number of projects Sister’s Congregations initiated, and the number of people served.
According to the study, Sisters who pursued college education found valuable networks, particularly with church groups, Parishes, and Dioceses.
The study however found that there was a gap in collaboration between Sisters’ Congregations, Sr. Mary noted, and said, “We were not seeing Sisters collaborating at the grassroots, even as they collaborate on the national level.”
The CERRA-Africa study on education among Religious Sisters in Africa recommended that there be strengthened role alignment between training and apostolate assignments.
“We simply mean that Sisters should be assigned apostolates in which they have skills acquired from their education,” Sr. Lucy said, and further emphasized the need for pre-assignment dialogue between sisters and superiors.
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