Catholic Sisters from Africa Equipped with Skills to Foster Cohesion in Communities

Sr. Sia acknowledged the vastness of cultural diversity even in religious communities.

Noting that religious communities were not immune to culture-based rancor, the Tanzanian Sister said, “One of the ways of transforming conflicts is to be aware, share and listen to one another and to choose which is the best way to address them”.

She clarified that the workshop was not meant to harmonize different cultures or to promote a culture of sameness, but to appreciate that “there exist similarities and differences among us.”

Sr. Sia added that all the sessions that took place during the workshop were part of the process of “creating safe spaces for listening to one another in our communities.”

She said the UISG envisions that the sisters will continue expanding their understanding of interculturality by sharing their wisdom and putting into practice what they have learned.

Sr. Ylena Ramos, a Mexican-American member of the Comboni Missionary Sisters who participated at the workshop, shared with ACI Africa about the multicultural background of her religious community, which is made up of women from different countries with different cultures. 

Sr. Ramos said that their coexistence amid cultural diversity was in itself “a testimony to the world that in a world full of division, it is possible to live together and promote a peaceful coexistence.”

Credit: ACI Africa

“In living together, I do not need to denounce my own culture or ethnic identity. Neither do I need to force someone else to embrace my culture, but I can see you as another person with values and understand that no culture is perfect,” Sr. Ramos said, and added, “We show to the world that it is possible to learn and support each other, to share and to forgive each other.”

On her part, Sr. Nkhensani Shibambu from South Africa said that “the process of discussing interculturality has to begin with a deeper understanding of oneself,” adding that genuine change begins from within.

Sr. Shibambu said that the workshop was about “deepening our understanding of who we are, and who I am as an African religious sister”.

“The workshop created awareness about the impact and role of primary socialization in our lives.  It also helped us to interrogate the positive and negative things in our cultures that influence how we live out our religious life and how we can balance them,” said the member of the Sisters of Companions of St. Angela.

The South African Nun said that the sessions at the workshop enabled participants to know the factors that could brew conflicts in their communities. 

She said that the workshop also enabled participants to come to terms with culture-based prejudices that had experienced. “This will help them transform the pain instead of transferring it to others in the community, thus making them healed healers instead of wounded healers.”

Sr. Therese Clementina Nyoni from Zambia who also participated in the workshop told ACI Africa during the interview that the event enabled them to learn to appreciate other cultures more.

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The member of the Little Sisters of St. Francis pledged to apply knowledge from the workshop in her community, saying, “Our duty after leaving this place is to go and share the skills that we have learned here on interculturality with our colleagues in the communities.”

Sr. Priscilla Tembo from Malawi said that the workshop had initiated a process that “involves sharing our cultures; trusting and listening to each other, which in essence defines interculturality”.

Credit: ACI Africa

“The workshop has reminded us that every culture is important. What is important is for us to come together in the community, openly sharing and understanding each culture and finding a way in which we can live as a community,” said Sr. Tembo. 

The member of the Carmelite Sisters of our Lady of Mt. Carmel asserted that implementing the knowledge that the Sisters had acquired at the workshop would help build African religious communities to effectively witness the gospel.

“We have learned that we need to create a dialogue in Congregations whereby everyone will share their culture and be listened to,” Sr. Elizabeth Mutegi from Kenya chipped in.

The member of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi added, “This is very important in handling cultural perceptions that some cultures are very superior and others inferior.”