This week, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur from around the world are gathering in Kenya for a meaningful International Congregation Leadership meeting. From January 19 to 28, 2025, the Sisters will explore "Watering our deep roots and new growth: Strengthening our communion and widening our vision." Among those present are our Ohio Provincial Leadership team members, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Kathleen Harmon, Pat Loome, and Donna Jurick.
This gathering in Kenya holds special significance, as it connects to our congregation's rich history of service in this vibrant nation. When Kenya gained independence in 1963, the country urgently needed educational development, particularly teacher training. Our journey in Kenya began through a providential connection at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., where two Kenyan students studied under the US airlift program.
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Through the initiative of Consolata priest John DiMarchi and Bishop Bessone of Meru diocese, our congregation received an invitation to serve the people of Kenya through education. Responding to this call, Sisters Rosemary Wack and Julie Adams arrived in January 1965 to prepare the way for five pioneering sisters: Frances Hannan, Camille Baker, Ann Maxwell, William Susannah Harahan, and Marie Therese O'Brien, who began their ministry in August 1965.
Since those early days, approximately eighty Sisters of Notre Dame from the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Congo, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe have served in Kenya, sharing their gifts in various ministries. Our commitment wasn't simply to be missionaries in the traditional sense but to work alongside the Kenyan people as educators and partners in development.
Today, our congregation continues to welcome young women in Kenya with hearts as wide as the world, inviting them to join our mission of making God's goodness known through education. As our international leadership meets in this significant location, we celebrate our deep roots in Kenya and the new growth that continues to flourish.
St. Julie Billiart, our foundress who saw God's goodness in everything, would surely rejoice in seeing how the seeds planted in 1965 have blossomed into a vibrant ministry that continues to serve and grow. As she would say, "How Good is the Good God!"