Doreen Ajiambo

Catholic leaders and sisters have rescued thousands of children and young girls in Sierra Leone from sexual abuse, offering guidance and counseling, justice and education.

After Sr. Angela Mbalu Bangura became the provincial superior of her congregation, her objective as a leader was to unify all three West African provinces in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Gambia, which are under her authority.

"We have been targeting extremely poor households and asking well-wishers in the church to help us reach out to more people," said Sr. Matilda Mubanga.

With Malawi and other southern African countries still reeling nearly 10 months after Cyclone Freddy, Catholic sisters gathered to learn advocacy skills to lobby on the neglected survivors' behalf.

Nearly 10 years after West Africa's Ebola outbreak, survivors in Sierra Leone continue to live with stigma, isolated from their communities and jobs. Catholic sisters offer education, hope and help. 

Religious leaders, including sisters attending COP28, have vowed to advocate for funds to be adopted and immediately disbursed to vulnerable communities impacted by the effects of climate change and who are unable to adapt to significant loss of lives and livelihoods.

A weeklong in-person training session was held in Nairobi, Kenya, to impart essential leadership skills to promote collaboration for preventing and creating awareness against human trafficking around the globe.

Sisters step up to provide assistance for the thousands who have been displaced after torrential rain, which experts say is related to climate change, flood northern Kenya.  

Catholic sisters foster healing and reconciliation for survivors of Sierra Leone's civil war, many of whom now find themselves neighbors with former rebel soldiers who killed their families during the conflict.

Women religious in Nigeria rejoice after gunmen released three sisters, as well as a priest and their driver, who had been abducted for nine days.

Maasai tribespeople and their supporters, including sisters, face intimidation as the Tanzanian government, in the name of conservation and tourism, has tried to force the Maasai from their northern ancestral land.

A Kenya hospital founded in 1964 and owned by the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar now has 200 beds for inpatient services and specialized doctors to treat life-threatening conditions of Kakuma Refugee Settlement residents. 

The agenda at Rwanda conference included sexual and gender-based violence prevention, sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate change, technological innovation, and youth advancement programs. 

Global leaders and women religious attending the Women Deliver 2023 Conference in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali have called on all countries to emulate Rwanda regarding gender equality and women's empowerment.

The Women Deliver 2023 Conference has begun in Kigali. The conference, held July 17-20, is one of the world's largest conferences focused on gender equality, health, and the rights and well-being of girls and women.

Despite a prolonged drought in Kenya, Catholic sisters help ward off mass hunger by providing food relief and "transformative solutions" that keep traditionalist villagers in isolated areas from becoming dependent on aid.

Sisters on a pilgrimage to honor Ugandan martyrs describe the journey as a way to renew their faith and zeal in the service to the church. They use the event to pray to God to intervene in the challenges the country is facing and to recommit their faith to God.

At a May 16-18 gathering in Nairobi, Kenya, sisters and other religious and civil leaders in African countries, the U.S. and Italy gathered to exchange ideas for new models of caring for vulnerable children.

Sisters in Kakuma Refugee Camp organize regular gatherings to help facilitate peace and reconciliation between the Dinka and Nuer ethnic tribes, who have had violent conflicts long before they moved to the camp.

Violent clashes throughout Sudan have forced women religious to shut down their ministries and join hundreds of thousands also fleeing their homes. "Our country is now dead," one sister said.