What's a Nun Got to do With it? by Tashiya G.

Tashiya Gunesekera
ED2 -- Rubavu District, Western Province

My first friend in my village was a nun. Her name was Eleonora, a primary school teacher. She came to visit me in my temporary housing and commented that I needed to clean my floors more often. I felt, knowing what I knew of Rwandan culture, that she was going to be a genuine friend.

I live in small town in the Northwest of Rwanda. I am very connected to the Catholic church, which predominates my town. I eat all my meals with the priests, and take myself up the hill to Sunday mass every Sunday I'm at site. The nuns live in a quaint house connected to the health clinic in town, which they run. There are two nuns from Spain named Aurelia and Maria Jesus who are there as mentors and teachers for the Rwandan Nuns who were Eleonora, Matilde, Marcelline, and Vestine. We quickly became friends due to the shortbread-like cookies they gave me every time I came to visit at 530pm any weekday. As they said recently, “Tashiya, sabemos que te gusta las dolces.” (Tashiya we know that you like the sweets.)

Throughout my time at site, I have spent time getting to know the nuns. They helped me that time I had a bad day and could not find any Margarine to make Mac and Cheese. They listened to me complaining about all the papers I had to mark. They invited me to watch Spain trounce Italy in the Euro Cup this year. They gave me a thermometer when I thought I was sick. And most importantly they helped me with my book project to get more English reading books for my school library. These books were sent to their mailbox in Gisenyi and they carted them up the steep mountain in their car. During this time, I've had multiple opportunities to analyze their lives.

Not being Catholic, apart from the “Sister Act”, I personally did not know much about nuns before I moved to this small town in Rwanda. I thought nuns were super religious women that gave up a life of family and love to worship God and help poor people. And, yes in some ways this is true. They do give up having a traditional family and romantic love, and they are religious and they do help poor people. But, there is a lot more to these nuns than that.

The nuns at my site all have serious jobs and careers in the making. Eleonora was a primary school teacher, Vestine was a nurse at the health clinic, Marcelline trains girls that are not in school in trades like sewing, and cooking, and Matilde was responsible for teaching young mothers about nutrition. The two Spanish nuns oversaw much of the running of the clinic and also were responsible for the running of their home.

Within my community, these nuns are considered to be influential people. They are often at sector, cell and village events. They sit with the important people who thank goodness, I have finally been cleared of sitting with. (I'm finally one with the people!) They also live in a nice house and have access to a car to go to the nearest big town, Gisenyi and occasionally Kigali. These nuns, probably due to their congregation, have serious opportunities to travel. Eleonora broke my heart when she said in the beginning of the second year that she was leaving to go live in Equatorial Guinea for her next mission. Mathilde moved on to the Ivory Coast. Vestine went to University in Kigali. This brought in two new Nuns, Immaculee and Larisse. Immaculee is also a nurse with a degree from a University in Kigali. She speaks fluent French, English and Spanish. Larisse is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Larisse is awaiting her time before she also wants to move on to the Ivory Coast. I know that Eleonora spent two months in Spain visiting more Nuns from her order.

Many of these women come from very poor families. Their choice to become a Nun obviously changed their lives. But, they are very strong women who are greatly respected and honored within Rwanda. They gain high levels within their professional fields and are supposed and encouraged within their communities. Even though they are not the head of the community church like a Priest, they are still leaders and contributing greatly to the societies in where they live. Do I think that all girls should aim to become Nuns? Not unless you get that calling because it is after all a life where you give up a lot of comforts. But, it's worth noticing how in a quiet way, Nuns are contributing to bridging the gender divide in rural communities and encouraging women to succeed.