Maryknoll affiliates and a Maryknoll sister tend the flame of mission in Tanzania.
By Paul Jeffrey
Agnes Medard gathers with her friends in Mwanza, Tanzania, once a month to pray, study Scripture, and discern how to respond to the many difficulties their neighbors face. They bring to those challenges what they call the “Maryknoll spirit,” which they first learned decades ago.
“The Maryknoll Sisters ran two schools I attended as a girl,” Medard says. “We felt protected. If anyone bothered us, Sister William would shout at them,” she continues, referring to Maryknoll Sister Josephine Lucker by her religious name at the time. “She was strong, and from her and the other sisters we learned how to be strong ourselves. We were strong girls who grew into strong women. That’s the Maryknoll spirit we carry on today.”
Medard is a member of the Maryknoll Affiliates, a global network of lay people who identify with the Maryknoll family and its vision, spirit and charism, while remaining active in their work at home and in their own communities.
Most members of the Mwanza chapter are, like Medard, former students of schools that were run by the Maryknoll Sisters. Those institutions were later nationalized by the Tanzanian government, and most of the scores of Maryknoll sisters who once served in the East African country have retired or died.
The Affiliates carry on the legacy of Maryknoll’s missions. They operate a small thrift shop, using the proceeds to help orphans and other vulnerable children in the community. They tutor students and help poor families with uniforms and school supplies. They sponsor a small loan program for women entrepreneurs. Additionally, members of the chapter carry out a variety of outreach projects individually.
“The charism the affiliates learned as children has carried them through to adulthood and provided the model for how they engage the society around them,” says Maryknoll Sister Janet Srebalus, who has served in Tanzania for much of the last six decades. She is an advisor to the Affiliates chapter in Mwanza.
“The Affiliates program is for lay people who are attracted to the Maryknoll charism of mission but can’t take a year or more to become a lay missioner. They’re people who are very interested in social justice both locally and globally,” Sister Srebalus says.
The Mwanza chapter’s members have served in a variety of leadership roles in East Africa and around the world.
Alvera Kashushura, a prominent educator, has traveled internationally as part of her advocacy on environmental issues. She says her confidence to engage the world is a product of her Maryknoll education.
“Had the sisters not stood by my side and made me strong, had they not given me that energy and that strength, I couldn’t have made it,” Kashushura says. “They gave us a chance to think straight and be confident.”
Sister Srebalus, who serves as a spiritual director at the Lake House of Prayer, a retreat center in Mwanza founded by Maryknoll Father James Eble, says the affiliates see their individual lives as a calling.
“Everyone who is baptized is called to be a missioner. Everyone, not just priests and religious, is called to mission,” Sister Srebalus says. “Vatican II helps lay people know that they can do mission, and the Affiliates program provides support and encouragement for them.”
The Mwanza Affiliates chapter currently includes only one man as a member. The rest are women, most of whom were schooled as girls by Maryknoll sisters who insisted that their students were just as capable as their male counterparts.
“When I was young, in Tanzania and much of Africa, girls were not always encouraged to go to school. You were supposed to get married and take care of the family,” Kashushura says. “But the sisters said we could do anything if we studied hard. Throughout my life, with all the hardships and difficulties I’ve faced, that spirit — that I can do it — has kept me going.”
While many of the affiliates have built impressive lists of professional accomplishments, they measure the success of their missions in the lives of others.
“I’ve had more than 100 students who went on to become doctors, and they’re today serving around the world,” Kashushura says. “Their actions speak louder than any of my words.”
One member of the Mwanza Affiliate chapter isn’t old enough to have studied in schools run by the Maryknoll Sisters. But Getrude Lubasha’s mother was, and she passed to her daughter a passion for mission from her exposure to Maryknoll.
When Lubasha learned about the Affiliates, she asked to join. Now she says the experience keeps her grounded.
“Being an affiliate has helped me to find calm. When we come together, we pray. We share a lot of things about our lives, about the problems we face,” she says. “I’ve learned I’m not alone, that we all wrestle with problems. But with a calm heart and prayer, we can face them.”
Featured image: Maryknoll Affiliates Marietha Mazula, Agnes Medard, Alvera Kashushura, Patricia Rutahigwa and Gertrude Lubasha (left to right) are shown with Sister Srebalus in Mwanza, Tanzania. The local Affiliates chapter includes alumnae of Maryknoll Sisters’ schools. (Paul Jeffrey/Tanzania)
