African Sisters Education Collaborative

About ASEC

In the face of the desperate needs of Africa, Catholic women religious are emerging as a strong source of hope for the future. These women, who are deeply trusted by their societies, work to improve the course of life by serving where the needs are the greatest -- in schools, healthcare facilities and human service centers across the continent. While their numbers, presence and impact on society are significant, many lack higher education or any other professional preparation. With additional education, the potential of these women to change the course of the contintent could be tremendous.

As a result of a study conducted by the Neylan Commission several years ago with the Catholic colleges and universities founded by women religious and with the religious congregations who founded them, a new initiative began called the African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC). This group meets regularly to consider ways to help educate the women religious of Africa so that they in turn can educate others. This would be similar to the movement that took place in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when women religious, through their ingenuity and determination, contributed to the transformation of society by educating themselves and then educating the daughters and sons of a largely immigrant population.

The members of ASEC believe that education is the key to assisting African nations in their quest for economic development and self-sufficiency. The goal of ASEC is to contribute significantly to increased access to education in Africa by helping to educate women religious and enabling them to acquire necessary credentials for teaching, healthcare, spiritual or social service ministries in their countries.

For decades, Neylan colleges and universities and their founding congregations have received numerous requests for assistance with the education of African women religious. Many African sisters have obtained degrees with the support of both the college or university and the sponsoring congregation. The presence of these sisters on campus has been mutually enriching for participating colleges and congregations and the sisters who benefited from the opportunity. However, only a small proportion of sisters in need of higher education have been able to come to the United States to study. Limited resources have prohibited greater response to the many appeals for aid received each year. Catholic colleges and universities in the United States are unable to keep pace with the educational needs of growing numbers of African sisters.

ASEC realizes that new and creative ways must be developed to provide African sisters the needed education in their own countries and cultures. ASEC believes that technological advances provide various opportunities for working together toward this goal and are currently exploring options.

The charter members of ASEC are the presidents and congregational leaders from Chestnut Hill College and the Sisters of St. Joseph; Marywood University and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Scranton; Neumann College and the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia; and Rosemont College and the Society of the Holy Child Jesus. College presidents from the College of New Rochelle (NY) and Marygrove College (MI) as well as technology specialists from the colleges also participate. Additional colleges and universities as well as religious congregations have expressed interest in this project when ASEC can engage their assistance.

ASEC has been meeting periodically for more than four years and has made significant progress even though the project is moving slowly by design. Several members of ASEC met with religious leaders from specified African countries in May 2001 to explain the project and to seek information and advice so that the program would be the result of joint planning and collaboration. Information from the surveys that were distributed at that time were subsequently analyzed and presented to ASEC.