The SND mission in Uganda, East Africa is co-sponsored by the California and Kentucky provinces of the Sisters of Notre Dame and many friends of the Sisters of Notre Dame help to support this mission.
Our first ministry location was in the Kibaale District in 1995. The local people now speak of this place as “the city in the jungle.” Sturdy brick buildings serve as sites for a continuum of education from pre-school through secondary level. The hundreds of children attending the schools are boarders because of the remote location. Results of national exams affirm the quality of education provided at St. Julie Primary School and Notre Dame Academy. The fruit of the mission endeavor, to train for Catholic leadership, is being realized as graduates achieve university degrees and begin professional careers of service to fellow Ugandans.
Our second ministry location near the city of Kampala is a House of Studies and Formation near the University of Uganda Martyrs. More than 100 children are attending the recently opened Notre Dame Education Center pre-school.
Sister Mary Immaculate was our first Ugandan sister to profess her final vows on May 4, 2013. She graduated from the University of Uganda Martyrs with a degree in social work and is currently completing a program for formation directors in Nairobi, Kenya. She was the first-born in her family and the first-born SND in Uganda.
Seven Ugandan women have professed temporary vows in the community and more than twenty others are in various stages of initial formation. Their response to the call of God to join the Sisters of Notre Dame is a blessing for us, for the people of Uganda, for the Church, and the world.
We are blessed to have an international SND community serving in Uganda. In addition to sisters from California, Kentucky, and Uganda, two sisters from Germany serve in Uganda and a sister from the Toledo, Ohio province will join them in the winter of 2014.
The mission has welcomed young volunteers for a year of service from both Germany and the United States. Parishes, organizations, and individuals have also shared their talents and resources with our mission helping to start a micro-finance program in the area, sending health care professionals, giving financial advice, and designing Master Site Plans for both ministry locations. God’s goodness and provident care have truly blessed this mission.
Sister Marla Monahan, SND
Sister Mary Janet Stamm, SND
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