ASEC-trained sisters in Africa transform communities through education, healthcare, and environmental initiatives, creating a ripple effect of hope, service, and lasting impact.
She sits in a classroom, her book open and her mind ready. The lesson she learns today will not stay within those walls. Her knowledge and skill will touch her community, her country, and even the world. For more than 25 years, ASEC has educated over 11,000 Catholic Sisters in Africa, whose service to others has created a ripple effect that ignites hope and encourages people to dream while experiencing a better reality. Graduating from ASEC’s programs is more than a personal milestone, it is the start of an ever expanding impact.
Take Sr. Lydiah Shirotsi, SMK, who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education through ASEC’s HESA program. Today, she shapes young minds as a Primary School teacher in her community. In Malawi, Sr. Maureen J. Chalamanda, SOL, applies the skills she gained through ASEC to provide emergency care for expectant mothers, helping lower maternal mortality in her rural community. Each of these sisters turns education into action, extending their reach far beyond the classroom or clinic.
Sr. Agness Kachali, SHR, inspires environmental change in her Secondary School classroom. Her students plant trees across Malawi to combat deforestation, demonstrating that lessons in the classroom can grow into real-world transformation. Just as the seeds her students sow will one day flourish, the impact of ASEC graduates continues to multiply, touching countless lives across Africa.
ASEC’s influence goes beyond sisters alone. Through ASEC’s Service Learning Program, students and mentors from Marywood University and Chestnut Hill College travel to Africa to engage in hands-on service and cultural exchange. In 2025, participants served at the Dorothea Rescue Center in Kenya, directed by Sr. Caroline Ngati, ASE. The center has become a thriving sanctuary and home for young girls from the street, complete with a school and health center. Sr. Caroline’s leadership and collaboration with ASEC service learning participants reflect the program’s mission to build relationships that inspire hope and service across cultures.
The stories of Sr. Lydiah, Sr. Maureen, Sr. Agness, and Isabella show how education becomes a ripple effect of hope and service. Every student taught, every patient cared for, every tree planted, and every life touched is part of a chain reaction that grows stronger with each act of service. It begins with one sister, and her service becomes limitless.
Be Part of the Ripple Effect of Change
Your support helps equip Catholic sisters with the education and leadership skills they need to serve their communities and inspire positive change. By sponsoring a sister’s education, you enable her to teach, heal, and lead—spreading hope far beyond her classroom or clinic and touching countless lives across Africa.
This article is addressing the following UN Sustainable Development Goal(s):
Ann R. Henry, Ph.D.
Author - USA