KENYA: First Nun To Be Promoted Deputy Principal For Hekima Jesuit College, Commit to University’s Academic Excellence
Sr. Jacinta Opondo
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
After serving at the Jesuits’ School of Theology of Hekima University College (HUC) in Kenya for over five years, the first nun appointed to serve as the Deputy Principal of Academic Affairs, (DPAA) for the same university expresses desire to maintain standards of academic excellence in the Catholic institution of higher learning.
On Wednesday, February 14, as the Catholic Church marked the beginning of the 2024 Lenten season, the HUC council appointed Sr. Jacinta Auma Opondo, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Anna (FSSA) as the first female DPAA.
Sharing with AMECEA online days after her appointment, the Kenyan nun who has been HUC’s coordinator for scholarship programs narrates that the affiliate College of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) that has been in existence for 40 years, depicts “a clear testimony of the strong foundation already laid… hence my focus will be to ensure Hekima remains committed to scholarly excellence.”
Sr. Opondo explained that even though she is yet to set foot in the new mission, she will stand on the shoulders of her predecessors to enable her realize the mission and vision of the university which strives to form and train men and women in research and professional competence through promoting an African theology rooted in theological traditions of the Catholic Church.
As a mere instrument in God’s hands, says the canonist nun and an alumna of Pontifical University Gregorian in Rome, “I take this appointment as a call to mission and I will therefore allow myself to be guided by Him through proper discernment, both personal and collective in accomplishing this mission.”
The member of FSSA congregation who cherishes her alma mater university of Hekima where she studied theology, admits that as a Franciscan lecturer serving in a Jesuit environment, there is beauty in the different spiritualties which calls for “detachment and total dependence on God’s divine providence.”
“For the years I have served in Hekima as a lecturer, I have witnessed my Franciscan way of life among the Jesuits. I am sure my way of life has spoken something to them about St. Francis of Assisi and their way of life has equally spoken vividly to me about St. Ignatius of Loyola,” Sr. Opondo disclosed and expounded further in an interview Wednesday, February 19, “While Jesuit spirituality values discernment and prayerful consideration of possibilities and choices in decision-making; Franciscan spirituality embraces an ethos of sharing and total reliance on the mercy of God, affirming the power of humility and simplicity.”
Therefore, from a personal experience, says the nun who also serves as an Assistant Pontifical Commissary to the Missionary Institute of the Apostles of Jesus (AJ) and the tribunal Judge for the Inter-diocesan tribunal of Kisumu Archdiocese in Kenya, “Our Charisms though distinct, blend very well for the good.”
Asked about any challenges she foresees even though she is not yet hands-on in the new mission, the Kenyan-born nun raised concern about the new education system that was introduced recently in the country saying, “The challenge I foresee is the planning and implementation of the CBC (Competency Based Curriculum) system which comes with a lot of demands in terms of infrastructure and human resources.”
The CBC under the 2-6-3-3 system of education was launched in 2017 to replace the 8-4-4 system of education which served Kenya for nearly 32 years.
While congratulating the new Deputy Principal for Academic Affairs of the University College on his social media handle, the principal for HUC Fr. Marcel Uwineza noted, “She is the first woman to be appointed to this position. This is a wonderful move (and) congratulations to Dr. Opondo.”
The Jesuit cleric continued, “Leadership is an awesome responsibility to make a difference for others. May these new servants join our team, our spirit, and the whole of HUC to move it from better to best.”
