Building Bridges - Strengthening Communities: A Night of Storytelling with ASEC

The African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC) successfully hosted its 4th annual Night of Storytelling: Building Bridges – Strengthening Communities on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in the Fireplace Lounge of Nazareth […]

The African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC) successfully hosted its 4th annual Night of Storytelling: Building Bridges – Strengthening Communities on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in the Fireplace Lounge of Nazareth Hall at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. The free public event brought together community members for an inspiring evening of connection and reflection, highlighted by powerful personal narratives from guest speakers who shared their unique experiences with ASEC’s mission. Attendees engaged in meaningful conversations, asked thoughtful questions, and enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere with complimentary coffee and dessert. The evening also featured raffles that helped support ASEC’s ongoing work in helping to provide educational opportunities to Catholic sisters across 11 countries in Africa, making it both a memorable and impactful gathering.

The event was opened by the emcee, WNEP’s Jack Culkin, and ASEC’s Senior Program Manager Rosemary Shaver, Ed.D. The featured storytellers, Kelsi Curren, LSCW; Rev. Stephen Kow Bosomafi, V.F; and Sr. Kathleen Burns, IHM gave testimonies of how ASEC supported sisters are strengthening the communities they serve. ASEC Development Director Sr. Nancy Kamau, LSOSF and ASEC board member Mary Gautier requested the audience to “be ambassadors for ASEC,” share the stories of the storytellers and also informed the audience about a $50,000.00 match grant that ASEC has been given the opportunity to work towards. ASEC’s partners from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Senior Program Officer Angelique Mutombo and Program Associate Jodie Hanson Nortery traveled from California and attended the event. ASEC’s Executive Director Sister Draru Mary Cecilia, LSMIG gave closing remarks with Rosemary Shaver.

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Sr. Kathleen said, “Thank God for ASEC, I deeply treasure my association with ASEC. I know these courses have helped to change the lives of the sisters I have taught, and I know that helping to empower them touches the lives of all they minister to and with. I have seen sisters from different communities who did not know each other form connections that last beyond the classroom and this is changing the face of religious life in Africa today. My trips to Africa have given me new eyes with which to read the world and best of all I found sisters all over the world.”

ASEC Storyteller Sr. Kathleen Burns, IHM, has been with ASEC since 2004. Sr. Kathleen has taught computer skills and web design and has supported SLDI and HESA programs. She is currently a co-teacher for the Marywood Orientation of the HESA program. She has led 14 cohorts and touched the lives of more than 300 sisters in Kenya, Uganda and beyond.

The second storyteller, Marywood University School of Social Work Alumna and 2017 Service Learning participant Kelsi Curren, LCSW traveled to Kenya and worked alongside Sr. Agnes Muni, LSOSF. Kelsi spoke of watching Sr. Agnes’s support for her community and how she saw people with dignity and strength. Sr.Agnes treated everyone with respect and compassion. Kelsi said she uses these lessons every day as a social worker.

“The most impactful work often happens outside of traditional roles; it happens when we meet people where they are at. ASEC and programs like Marywood’s service learning trips make that kind of understanding possible. They don’t just educate but transform. They prepare students to become professionals that are more aware, more passionate and more effective in the work they get to do moving forward. And for those of you here tonight, as supporters, potential funders, your role is just as essential, you are not just supporting an experience you are shaping the kind of professionals who will go on and serve communities in a meaningful and lasting way, You are helping to build bridges between people and the resources they need, you are strengthening communities both globally and right here at home.” Kelsi Curren.

The third storyteller was Rev. Stephen Low Bosomafi, V.F., a Priest of the Diocese of Sunyan in Ghana. He currently serves as Pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in Lake Ariel, PA. As a financial administrator for a new congregation in Ghana, he worked closely with sisters just after their formation. He observed that the ASEC supported sisters were more equipped to take on jobs that offered a salary and helped their communities. Rev. Stephen mentioned just a few accounts of sisters he personally knows out of about 1000 sisters in Ghana alone who have benefited from ASEC programs and are making a difference by sharing their knowledge and skills with others.

“My personal experience with the sisters is that they are really grateful for the work that ASEC has done for them to acquire their knowledge. What you give goes a long way to make a difference. We pray that you continue to support them, knowing that what you give goes a long way to make a difference in the life of the sister and their community,” said Rev Stephen.

The stories shared at the 4th annual Night of Storytelling are a reminder that ASEC’s work is not abstract — it lives in the classes taught by Sr. Kathleen, in the compassion Kelsi Curren brings to her clients every day, and in the opportunities given to sisters in Ghana who are now better equipped to serve their communities because someone chose to invest in ASEC. Now, ASEC has been given a powerful opportunity to multiply that impact: a $50,000 match grant means that every dollar donated will be doubled. If these stories moved you, this is your moment to make them go further. Tell your friends about ASEC. Give what you can. And know that what you give — as Rev. Stephen so simply put it — goes a long way.

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This article is addressing the following UN Sustainable Development Goal(s):