KENYA: AOSK Commences Preparation to Host 18th ACWECA Plenary Assembly
Sr. Adelina with Sr. Cecilia Njeri, LSOSF, President of ACWECA at ACWECA Secretariat
The Association of Consecrated Women in Eastern and Central Africa is warming up towards its 18th Plenary Assembly scheduled to be held in Nairobi Kenya and, according to the chairperson of the Association of Sisterhood of Kenya AOSK, the host is up to the task.
Formed in 1974 as a regional forum for Religious women to discuss their common concerns and aspirations and to deepen their religious commitments, ACWECA founding members included the Association of Sisterhood of Kenya (AOSK), the Tanzania Catholic Association of Sisters (TCAS), the Zambian Association of Sisters (ZAS) and the Association of Religious Institutes in Malawi (ARIMA) now Association of Women in Religious Institutes of Malawi (AWRIM).
At the beginning, four consecutive Plenary Assemblies held in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978 were held in Kenya. From the fifth plenary Assembly, the association began rotating the occasion among the member countries. It also opted to hold plenary assemblies after every three years. Zambia therefore hosted ACWECA’s 5th Plenary Assembly in 1980; Kenya became next hosting the 6th Plenary Assembly in 1983; Zambia again in 1986; Malawi 1989; Tanzania 1992; and Uganda 1995; Zambia again in 1997; and Kenya 2002.
The 13th Plenary Assembly of ACWECA was held in Tanzania in 2005 followed by Malawi in 2008, then Uganda in 2011 and Zambia in 2014. The 17th ACWECA Plenary Assembly was held in Tanzania and Kenya will be hosting the next Assembly come 2020.
“We feel privileged that after 18 years we are hosting the next plenary Assembly,” says Sr. Adelina Muthoni Muguna, NSA, Chairperson of the Association of Sisterhood in Kenya (AOSK).
Association of Sisterhood of Kenya
“We are in that process of planning for the hosting of this big event that will attract Religious Sisters not only from the ACWECA member countries but from all over the world. Kenya is where the association started 45 years ago and it is going to be the seventh time our country will be hosting ACWECA,” said Sr. Muguna who belongs to the Congregation of Nazareth Sisters of the Annunciation, NSA, a diocesan Congregation in the Diocese of Meru-Kenya.
“The Next board meeting of AOSK will be in October, and before that we shall be doing some ground work; first of all is to identify a venue for the event. We are targeting a population of around 250 people. Therefore, our first priority is to get a place that will be able to accommodate all the participants and a big conference hall for the plenary sessions.”
She explained from the AOSK’s board meeting, that they will form various committees that would be responsible for different activities before, during and even after the plenary assembly. This includes the liturgy committee, transport and logistics, communication and publicity and accommodation.
“We have the support of ACWECA Secretariat which is based here in Nairobi. I’m sure the Secretariat will not just watch us do things on our own as we are in this together and we plan to make the event the best it can be.”
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
