Opening day, Holy Rosary School, Malamulele, South Africa

From our beginning, the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary were drawn to the power of education to lead people to self-determination, especially women. That goal still thrives among the various communities that have felt — and continue to feel— the MSHR presence.

Schools Multiply throughout Nigeria …
then throughout Africa
This legacy began in 1928, when the Holy Rosary Sisters established the first school to educate women in Southern Nigeria. In the following years in Nigeria, the sisters have managed and staffed 224 primary schools, 11 secondary/high schools, 13 teacher-training colleges, and one commercial school.

Sr. Anne Courtney at Parent Teacher Association Meeting, St. George’s Vocational Institute, Kuntenase, Ghana.

We have handed these schools over to the government or indigenous religious congregations. Many of our former students now manage and staff the schools. Today, Holy Rosary Sisters still staff one nursery/primary school and one secondary/high school in Southern Nigeria.

Initially, primary schools taught the basics and— because Nigeria was colonized by the British— followed the British system. After primary school many young students attended Teacher Training Colleges, a four-year course that prepared them to be primary school teachers. Today all teachers have university training.

Many of those young girls went on to hold prominent positions in Nigeria and other countries, including our own Sr. Joseph Therese (now deceased) who received her doctorate in anthropology from Oxford University, England; Mrs. Dora Akunyili, the Minister of Health in the Nigerian Government; Doctor C.N. Okoro, an alumna of Holy Rosary Secondary School in Owerri and currently the Medical Officer at the College of Education in Owerri; and Dorothy Ipere, an alumna of our school in Aba and a prominent musician, performing artist, and composer.

	Josie Burke Immigrants in Ireland On my return to Ireland in 1999 – after spending 20 years as a missionary in the teaching profession in West Africa – I was drawn to work with non-nationals here. At that time, growing numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers, and others seeking a better life were arriving in Ireland. READ MORE...

These institutions, like those in Nigeria, are now staffed by local congregations and lay people. In addition to the schools that we founded and transferred, Holy Rosary Sisters continue to improve education programs across Africa by staffing two primary schools, two secondary/high-schools, and two vocational schools. These schools will also be transferred to local governments or indigenous religious congregations as resources become available.

Called to Service. Responding to Change
The Holy Rosary Sisters have responded to the changing global culture, including the education and social justice needs of the people they serve. For example, in the year 2004:

• Sisters Nora McNamara, Catherine Oguonu, and Felicitas Ogbodo educate about justice and peace; they run a women’s outreach program to improve nutrition, farm production, and water sanitation in the Diocesan Development Program in Idah, Nigeria. The sisters empower women though training for income-generating projects, teaching fashion design, and other skills.
  
  

  Holy Rosary College, Kenya

• Sister Bernadette Barber, the Vicar for Education in the Diocese of Bethlehem, South Africa, expands her work to include supervision of farm schools in very remote areas.
  
• Sister Emer McGovern in Thika, Kenya provides HIV/AIDS education in primary and secondary schools.

The diversity and adaptability of the Holy Rosary Sisters are evident in their successful education ministries. We invite teachers from other continents to join us as educators in Africa.

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