Loreto sisters celebrate 100 years of service in Kenya
Archbishop Martin Kivuva (left) and Father Stephen Mukami (right) during the celebration of Loreto sisters' 100 years of service at Loreto Convent Msongari on January 29, 2022.
Loreto Eastern Africa celebrated the centennial anniversary of the arrival of the first six Loreto sisters in Kenya in 1921.
The ceremony was attended by Head of Public Service Dr Joseph Kinyua, Archbishop of Mombasa Archbishop Martin Kivuva, Loreto staff, parents and students from all over the country to celebrate a century of the institution’s achievements.
On behalf of President Uhuru Kenyatta, Dr Kinyua announced the opening of a secondary school in Kilifi through a partnership between the government and Loreto Eastern Africa.
“We have raised Sh20 million to pay school fees for needy students,” he said.
Students from Loreto sisters schools dance during celebration of Loreto sisters' celebration of 100 years of service at Loreto Convent Msongari on January 29, 2022.
President Kenyatta, an alumnus of Loreto Convent Valley Road, had announced the government’s approval and support for the construction of a school in a special mass held last year. He also made a donation of Sh10 million for the scholarship programme.
The school will admit its first students from needy homes in May this year. Loreto Eastern Africa Province Leader, Sister Lucy Nderi, said that through the school, they are hoping to curb early marriages, teenage pregnancies and drug abuse.
The Irish Catholic sisters, who laid the foundation for the existing community of sisters, were Dolores Stafford, Raphael Gordon, Borgia O’ Shaughnessy, Catherine Beauvais, Francis Teresa Murphy and Sixtus Naughton.
The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Loreto sisters, was founded by Mary Ward.
Students from Loreto schools dance during celebration of Loreto sisters' celebration of 100 years of service at Loreto Convent Msongari on January 29, 2022.
She believed that women would do great things. In that spirit, Teresa Ball started the first Loreto School in Ireland in 1841.
Over the 100 years, there have been 24 foundations made in Eastern Africa, 21 of which are in Kenya. Some of the institutions in Kenya include Loreto Convent Msongari, Loreto Convent Mombasa, Loreto Limuru, Loreto Convent Valley Road, Loreto Kiambu and St. Teresa’s Eastleigh among others.
Archbishop Kivuva, who led the congregation in the celebratory service, said: “We are nobody as a country without education, if we do not partner, our institutions will collapse.”
Some of the prominent Loreto alumni are the late Prof. Wangari Maathai, First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, actress Lupita Nyong’o and journalist Julie Gichuru.
