ASEC is at a threshold of 25 years of collaboration per excellence! With over 9,000 alumni spread across the globe, ASEC has incredibly impacted global human development through the ministries of Catholic sisters and service to the people of Africa. It is time to stand and look back in time with gratitude to what has made ASEC a gem over the years: ASEC’s Founding Mothers, Corporate and Associate Members, Board of Directors, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, donors, benefactors, and friends of ASEC.
ASEC’s story is a story of collaborative dreaming, daring, hoping, responding, and acting. The “wind beneath the wings'' of ASEC’s phenomenal global success is its Founding Mothers. These women religious intertwined their wisdom and courage with personal and collaborative dreams, experiences, vision, history, and mission to bring forth ASEC.The foundation and history of ASEC brings to life the prophecy:
I will pour out my Spirit on all people; your children will prophesy, your youth will see visions, your old men and women will dream dreams.
Joel 3:1
While every individual has an unlimited potential to dream, pinning down a dream into a reality calls for a unique wisdom and courage to dive into the unknown for a bigger catch and impactful realization. Like a single huge tree that has grown, anchored firmly on several strong roots, ASEC Founding Mothers, with branches stretching to several countries in Africa, and far reaching global impact, ASEC is indeed a collaborative gem. We are eternally grateful to each and every contributor that has brought ASEC to where we are today!
This festive season we are reminded of important movements. One significant movement is that of the Three Kings, who did not hesitate to set on a journey, with individually packaged gifts, under the guidance of a single star, that revealed Christ to the world and changed the course of history. Similarly, the courageous movement of ASEC’s Founding Mothers, did not only blend the charisms of women religious in the U.S. and Africa, but strengthened the most desired global sisterhood for the last 25 years. The foresight of their vision anticipated and pre-checked all the boxes of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, 21 years before the SDG goals took effect in 2016.
The vision and mission of ASEC has spiraled tremendous support, network, and partnerships, with far reaching impact in Africa and globally!
This issue of Rays of Hope is a retelling of ASEC’s foundation and creates an opportunity to share the achievements ASEC has made and its global impact over the last 25 years. Uncovering and documenting the history of ASEC from the perspective of its Founding Mothers and the institutions they represent in a more intentional way
