Sr. Digna Chuwa and Elena Lawrick

Sr. Digna shares a moment with Elena Lawrick


by Lini S. Kadaba

 

When Sister Digna Chuwa, C.P.S, M.Ed.鈥03 was studying multicultural education and administration at 麻豆视频, she never anticipated how crucial those skills would prove in helping the girls of Kahama in her native Tanzania.

 

In this small gold mining town in the country鈥檚 northwest, girls seldom receive education beyond the primary grades. 鈥淪chool is for boys,鈥 Sister Digna, 56, a Missionary Sister of the Precious Blood, said of local attitudes. 鈥淕irls are supposed to be at home to prepare themselves for marriage to any husband.鈥

 

Those as young as 14 are forced to marry and are viewed as a source of much-needed income through dowry paid in cows, Sister Digna explained. In Tanzania, which has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the world, girls pregnant out of wedlock are expelled from school and ostracized by the community. At the same time, the country is striving to change that outcome by making girls鈥 education a priority.

 

So in 2003, fresh off her master鈥檚 degree, Sister Digna was asked by the local bishop to explore the development of a diocesan boarding school. By 2005, Queen of Family Girls鈥 Secondary School opened in Kahama with 70 students鈥攖he first girls-only school in the district.

 

For 12 years, Sister Digna served as headmistress. Of nearly 1,000 graduates, none have gotten pregnant and all have matriculated, many becoming teachers and a few doctors and engineers, she said with pride.

 

鈥淢y most fine thing,鈥 Sister Digna said, is that 鈥渢he parents have come to see girls can do this too.鈥 In 2017, she returned to Alvernia to pursue a doctorate in educational leadership.

 

Of course, establishing the school was no easy mission. Sister Digna had to persuade the community鈥檚 men鈥 including the bishop鈥攖hat young girls already promised in marriage should instead get educated.

 

鈥淭he culture is where women do not talk in public where men are,鈥 she said. 鈥淲omen, they are supposed to listen. Here you have a woman sitting at the head of the table, giving orders to men. Most men say, `Are you for real?鈥欌

 

Sister Digna鈥檚 reply? 鈥淵eah, I am.鈥

 

Dressed in a white habit with a white veil, a cross around her neck, this petite woman has conducted herself as an 鈥渆thical leader with moral courage,鈥 said Elena Lawrick, director of Alvernia鈥檚 Office for Multilingual Student Success and Sister Digna鈥檚 mentor.


 

Sr. Digna Chuwa

鈥淭hese are words that relate to Alvernia鈥檚 mission and education,鈥 Lawrick said. 鈥淪ister Digna is a perfect living example of that mission. She鈥檚 doing a lot of hard work, sacrificing herself so others blossom and flourish.鈥

 

Sister Digna held workshops to win over the mothers, convincing them that their daughters would benefit from education, and most importantly, not get pregnant.

 

鈥淭hat was the first mission,鈥 she said, 鈥渢o get it into their being, You are not meant to get married at the age of 14, 15. We are going to study to the end, and we鈥檙e going to prove to the world they are wrong about us.鈥

 

That message starts with the school鈥檚 name: 鈥淪he is the queen in the family,鈥 Sister Digna said, just as the Virgin Mary is the 鈥淨ueen of the Holy Family.鈥

 

Growing up in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro鈥攁n area where education is valued鈥攖here was no doubt that this daughter of a teacher father would attend school and college. After joining religious life, Sister Digna came to the United States to work at Dayspring Homes, a Reading nonprofit for special needs children, and earned a scholarship to pursue her master鈥檚 at Alvernia.

 

Now the doctoral student is researching female leadership in educational contexts in Tanzania and exploring disparities between boys鈥 and girls鈥 test scores in STEM subjects.

 

鈥淪he is connecting various pieces of data that no one has connected before,鈥 Lawrick said. 鈥淚t will help narrow that gender gap.鈥

 

For Sister Digna, it is the next step to better the lives of girls and women. 鈥淭hey also play a vital role in the leadership of the country,鈥 she said. 鈥淪omebody has to say to them, You are able to do this. You can play an active role here.鈥

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