A pioneer graduate of ASEC’s SLDI program, Sr. Theresa Nambaziira, DM, uses her leadership training to mentor others, empower communities across Uganda, and even inspire a Member of Parliament.
“When we support each other and combine our unique gifts, we can reach great heights.” These are the words of Sr. Theresa Nambaziira Nakamya, DM, who was among the first group of sisters to graduate from ASEC’s Sisters Leadership Development Initiative (SLDI) Program, finishing the leadership track in 2008. Since then she has put the skills she learned to good work, first as local superior for three communities and then in the position of Regional Superior-Central Region of the Daughters of Mary Congregation. Her work helps to support lay people and religious in thirty communities, and she has utilized the leadership skills she gained to mentor others in her congregation. This, in turn, has had a positive impact on the Central Region of Uganda, an outcome noted by the Executive Members of her congregation.
One of Sr. Theresa’s initiatives has been to organize leadership training workshops for her communities. These provide skills much like those focused on by the SLDI program, and those in attendance come away with greater knowledge in areas such as integrity, delegation, and the ability to empower others. In spite of difficulties arising from transportation challenges, Sr. Theresa continues to do her best to share her experience with others, and is continuously adapting and developing her workshops to best serve the needs of her community.
Among those who have benefited from Sr. Theresa’s service is the Honorable Juliet Kakande Nakabuye, a Woman Member of Parliament (MP) for Masaka City in Uganda. Although members of the same church, Nakabuye did not know Sr. Theresa personally until she attended one of her leadership workshops. This began a positive working relationship in which the parliamentarian not only benefited from the training in her own right, but also actively worked to encourage others—especially women—to partake. As she told ASEC, Nakabuye feels that, “Sr. Theresa’s service has generated self-confidence among people in our community, especially those who have physically attended her trainings.”
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Nakabuye also reflected on the personal gains she received from her experience working with Sr. Thereasa—“Sr. Theresa is very empathetic, she takes care of others, and that made me adopt her ways as my mentor so as to avoid being self-centered in leadership.” The parliamentarian has been an active supporter in encouraging the continuation of Sr. Theresa’s leadership workshops as a way to empower the community to take more active roles in decision-making and self-awareness. When asked what she wished more people knew about Catholic sisters in Africa, Nakabuye stated, “I wish people could utilize all the opportunities rendered from the services, thus [the] development of local communities.”
Sr. Theresa has remained close to ASEC and its mission, now serving as Chairperson of ASEC Alumnae in Uganda. At the recent SLDI graduation for participants in Phase VI, she offered her congratulations and advice in the magazine commemorating the occasion. We can see her personal values reflected in the words she shared with the new graduates—“I encourage my fellow ASEC alumnae to continue utilizing the knowledge and skills gained from ASEC programs to contribute positively to our ministries and to mentor others, making a lasting impact on society.”
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Sr. Theresa’s leadership journey began with an ASEC education—and her impact now reaches lay leaders, Catholic sisters, and even Uganda’s Parliament. When you sponsor a sister’s education through ASEC, you’re investing in long-term change: empowering women religious to become mentors, leaders, and catalysts for transformation in their communities.
This article is addressing the following UN Sustainable Development Goal(s):
