NAIROBI, MAY 5, 2020 (CISA) –Sr Helen A. Bandiho, the Secretary-General of the Association of Consecrated Women in Eastern and Central Africa (ACWECA), has urged members to watch the trends and effects of Covid-19 and plan accordingly.
“This pandemic is real and an invitation to read the signs of times and respond accordingly…the whole of Africa has a rising number of cases and some experts say that the continent is moving from Covid-19 readiness to response as many confirmed cases in some countries are increasing,” she observed in a recent letter to ACWECA members.
Sr Helen noted with concern that Covid-19 was a challenge to everything that ACWECA had planned to accomplish in 2020 including a six-week formation programme that was scheduled to commence early this week at the Nairobi Secretariat, Kenya, five formation programmes that were to take place during the first half of this year, and the 18th triennial ACWECA Plenary Assembly scheduled for August this year.
Sr Helen encouraged religious sisters in the region to show generosity, love and care for the poor beyond their convents challenging them to come up with innovative ways of addressing difficulties associated with the coronavirus.
“What are we doing as ACWECA Sisters to address this pandemic, in our own small ways?” she posed advising that members needed to share ideas on ways in which their congregations were responding to COVID-19.
ACWECA is a regional body of religious women congregations made up of 10 English speaking countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Zimbabwe is an associate member.
