Teconnaught nun makes plans for Golden Jubilee thousands of miles from home

29 March 2017

A RELIGIOUS sister from Teconnaught who has dedicated her life to the education of African children is preparing to celebrate her vocational Golden Jubilee — 5,000 miles from home.

Sister Rita Brennan is one of just five surviving expatriate nuns of the Holy Cross Order in Zambia where she runs a school for over 1,000 children.

Working as a teacher in the central African country since the early 1970s, it was only recently that she helped realise her Order’s long-time dream of establishing a school, in Chalala, Lusaka.

Now principal of the bustling Holy Cross Convent School, she said her passion for teaching and the formation of young people is undiminished, despite the approach of her “twilight years”.

Struck by the togetherness of Zambian families, known locally as “ubuntu”, when she first arrived in the country, Sr Rita said she admired their strong family ties and the supportive role of extended family in times of crisis and celebration.

She said family members took responsibility for each other, helping others who needed school fees paid or uniforms bought, or helping finance family weddings and funerals to ensure they were successful.

Ironically, despite the lapse of time since her emigration, Sr Rita herself benefits from similar “ubuntu”, with her own extended family and friends undertaking regular fundraisers so her school can continue to provide warm food, shelter and learning to thousands of impoverished children.

Some of these benefactors will host a sponsored walk between Crossgar and Downpatrick this Sunday at 11am, including Sr Rita’s older sister Anne Brennan, while a group of Sr Rita’s closest supporters will travel to Zambia in May to mark her 50th anniversary as a missionary sister and to visit the school they help maintain.

Speaking from Zambia this week, Sr Rita said said such support was a source of “encouragement and strength” for the Order, while every donation “large or small” was used to support poor families and help them achieve education for their young.

She said the approaching visit of friends, including her Dundrum-born nephew Fr Darren Brennan, nephew Colm Smyth, a survivor of the Loughinisland massacre, and fundraisers Anne Marie McGreevy and Deirdre Carville, would be a cause for celebration.

From a deeply religious family, it was another cousin, based in Dublin during her youth, who inspired Sr Rita’s own calling.

Brought up by her mother Agnes who was widowed when Rita was just two, she joined her 11 siblings in the kitchen at 6pm every day to say the Rosary and went to the local chapel for all devotions.

It was during childhood that she realised she wanted to be a teaching nun, joining the Holy Cross Sisters in Belfast just before her 16th birthday.

Within a few years, she was missioned to Central Africa, following the path laid by sisters from Switzerland, Germany and Ireland since 1936.

Determined to emulate the “generous, hardworking and committed teachers” she taught under as a newly qualified teacher in Belfast, Sr Rita said she worked in various forms of education before establishing the school in 2008.

“We opened our doors on a wet January morning to 160 pupils and now we have 1,050 enrolled,” she said.

“I was asked by our provincial leader to head this school and I still serve today so I have witnessed its growth.

“Most of our expatriate sisters have now died and are buried in Zambia and now there are only five of us remaining.

“Our Zambian parents are deeply appreciative of our efforts to provide holistic education to their children. Our pupils are all Zambian and worship in a variety of churches, but everyone’s religion is acknowledged and respected.

“I thank all my family, friends and benefactors who continue to assist our missionary effort.

“Their generosity has touched the lives of many people and have helped to provide a good quality education for many young people, thus helping to break the cycle of poverty in the country.”

Tweets by @TheDownRecorder