presentation sisters zambia

"The Almighty is all sufficient" - Nano Nagle

"It is a good sign of our future success that we should meet with crosses in the beginning" - Nano Nagle

"There is no greater happiness in the world than to be in Union" - Nano Nagle

"I am confident that the great God will direct you to what is most to His glory" - Nano Nagle

"We must leave it to the Almighty; He will do everything for the best in it" - Nano Nagle

"The Almighty makes use of the weakest means to bring about His works" - Nano Nagle

"I hope the increase of the charities you get, will enable you to daily add to the good you do" - Nano Nagle

"Love one another as you have hitherto done" - Nano Nagle

"The best works meet with the greatest crosses" - Nano Nagle

"God is all we need His divine hand will support us always" - Nano Nagle

"If I could be of any service in saving souls in any part of the globe I would willingly do all in my power" - Nano Nagle

"By degrees with the assistance of God we may do a great deal" - Nano Nagle

"You see it has pleased the Almighty to make me succeed" - Nano Nagle

"We do not know what is best for us, so we ought to accept what God sends us" - Nano Nagle

"Whoever we live with we must expect to have something to suffer as this world is not to be our paradise" - Nano Nagle

"Spend yourselves for the poor" - Nano Nagle

• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Latin America
• New Zealand
• Philippines
• United States of America

The Africa Unit was formed in 2013 when Sisters ministering in Zambia and Zimbabwe came together to form one group.

Sisters first began their mission in Africa in 1949 with the arrival of four Sisters from India to Zimbabwe – known as Southern Rhodesia at that time.

Sisters arrived in Zambia from England in 1970.  These were followed by missions being established by Sisters from Ireland (1973) and from India (1983). In 1989, the groups came together to form the Vice Province of Zambia.

Please see photographs and stories below to learn more about the variety of ministries our Sisters are involved in.

Expanding Kaoma School

Kaoma Presentation Secondary School

Presentation Primary School

Sr Mary Vianney, Income generating projects for orphans and vulnerable children

Sr Mary Vianney, Income generating projects

Catherine, house keeping, Francine, Kitchen staff

Hospitality ministry, Sr Sheila Sheehy, Catherine Solo, Francine Chileshi, Sr Brigit Mathew

Luzi Road (hospitality house)

Sr Clementina Simataa decontaminating instruments before taking them for autoclaving

Sr Clementina Simataa preparing a drip

Garden of Oneness

Welcome to the ‘Liturgy of the Stars’

These meditations are inspired by the mysticism of our beautiful Creation and the wisdom of mystics and teachers of various faith traditions down the ages as well as the spirit of Zambia in the heart of Africa.   Today we stand on their shoulders as we try to grow in our own spirituality. The ‘Liturgy of the Stars’ is an insight and wisdom of Thomas Merton and his experience of Creation Spirituality.

We are stardust of the great grandmother Tiamat.  We belong to the Milky Way with billions of stars. We are stars in the Web of life, the Earth community, shining the face of the One in whom we live move and have our being.  So let us celebrate the Liturgy of the stars.  

Hope you will find these meditations a small step to grow in communion with the ONE at the heart of Life, with one another and all of nature.

Celebrating Earth Day and Woman of Light 2022

Drumming For Healing of People and Planet.

“Earth has no sorrow which Earth cannot heal.” (John Muir)

Welcome to the Garden of Oneness … A Sanctuary of Peace and Harmony

This beautiful Garden is inspired by the Spirituality of Being in Communion and was created by the Presentation Sisters and the local community since 2014.

We believe in the Oneness and Sacredness of all life and so our mission proclaims:

All Life is Sacred, All Life is one.

This Sanctuary is a place of welcome for all, people of every tribe, culture, nationality, religion everyone has a place at the table.

We believe that the root cause of problems facing our world today is not political, economic, social … but spiritual.  It is our mindset of separateness.  We think we are separate in fact we are already One … separateness is our illusion.  The Garden of Oneness offers space and opportunity to experience the PRESENCE within all life,  ONENESS of our Mother Earth and calls us to walk in the way of the mystics and teachers of our story.

The Heart of the Garden is the Sacred Web: the unfolding Love story of God … ‘To tell the story of  anything we have to tell the story of  everything.’  Thomas Berry.  Today we need a story that has the power to connect all peoples, all nations … all religions, and all cultures … It’s a story that tells us who we are, who God is … where did we come from and where we are going. This amazing story is simple yet complex with stunning creativity and beauty.  It is a story of life, death and new life and of love lavished. It is our sacred story …  a story that proclaims that we are One Sacred Community.  In this One Story is all our stories …

This story is woven by God with three golden threads …

Communion: We are one, we are all connected, we all come from the same source, to be created is to be related, everything is related to everything else.

Diversity: We are all different, we are unique, everything is different from everything else.

Essence: The heart of all beings is the Divine spark, the holy Light. We believe in the Light within all life, the flame of the spirit shining in every heart that makes every life sacred.

In short the spirit of Africa proclaims this ‘I am because we are’  Ubuntu

The Peace Hill is an anthill that is sacred to the people in this land.

We honor the mystics of our great story, our great ancestors from all faith traditions and cultures.

These people of light show us the way into the future.  Around the Mubanga tree we honor our Ancestors who guide and protect us, ‘Trees are the first temple of God’ John Muir

Walking the Journey of the Heart we know is a journey to the Heart of the One in whom we live, move and have our being.

Walking mindfully this path invites us to remember that the journey forward is a journey inward. This is an ancient wisdom way of the Spirit reminding us there is no straight road or short  cuts in life. The journey of life is full of twists and turns, it enables the seeker to walk mindfully and make the inward and outward journey.

Our  Common Home: Earth is our  Mother, Our only Home, home to all beings.

Listen to the heartbeat of  God within oneself, within one another and the body of the Earth.

Mother Earth, our beautiful daughter of the Universe, is endangered today. She is the poorest of the poorest of the poor.  She is raped and plundered, she is wounded and broken because of the irresponsibility of humanity. This is a moment of great peril and possibility when humanity must choose.

Think of your great grandchildren asking in years to come: what did my grandfather/grandmother do when s/he knew? did s/he save the Earth for us? Did s/he do anything to protect our future?

The way of  Jesus symbolised by the fallen, but teaming with life tree beckons us to a new consciousness to a radical vision of an open table of prophetic voice and subversive presence in our world today.

We serve the local community by being part of the local church, supporting children to get to school, teaching  ‘health in my hands’ programmes,  providing earth education, promoting tree  planting especially through local schools, celebrating liturgical, national and international days, facilitating a variety of rituals at the  Garden of Oneness to help to experience the Divine at the heart of life.

Stay close to the creation, the wilderness of God and you will stay close to the Creator, the wild God.

Listen, Heart of the ONE is beating all around you!!

Pay attention, be astonished and tell about it.

Accommodation is available for those who wish to stay in the Garden of Oneness for peace and quiet.

We are grateful to the Presentation family and friends who support this Garden of Oneness.

Garden of Oneness, Nkyema District, Western Province, Zambia

Nano Cottage

Friends of Nano

Prayer HIll

Presentation Hill

Praying under the Ancestor Tree

Drumming for Mindfulness

St Felix church where the communities pray

Wadzanai Training Centre

Diploma in Religious Studies

Diploma in Religious Studies - Philosophy Class

Diploma in Religious Studies - Old Testament Class

Computer Class

Diploma in Religious Studies Class 2019

Liseli Lodge

Nagle House celebrating Presentation Day

Nagle House School celebrating the Tercentenary

Sr Bridget Gochera, Nagle House School, Deputy Head addressing the school

Sr Blessing Gotekote (vocation promoter) with aspirants

Sr Sandra Ndingwa and Sr Bridget Gochera with the friends of Nano after Tercentenary celebrations

The Union of Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a registered Charity. Charity Registered Number: 20002190

Global Sisters Report a project of National Catholic Reporter

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Presentation Sister from India builds a garden of peace in rural Zambia

by Melanie Lidman

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John Mwanamuke leans on his machete and wipes the sweat from his brow. Although it’s not quite 9 a.m., it’s already hot, since Western Zambia is the driest and lowest part of the country, where the shady forests of central Zambia begin to flirt with the Kalahari Desert in Namibia.

Mwanamuke’s energetic slashing of the scraggly weeds belies his 75 years of age, as he works to clear the area for an interdenominational prayer circle. Mwanamuke, the secretary of the local Catholic church, is just one of dozens of local volunteers building a new spiritual center called the Garden of Oneness in the middle of rural Zambia, founded by Presentation Sr. Teresita “Terry” Abraham.

“This is a place of prayer,” says Mwanamuke, as he looked across the peaceful garden slowly taking shape. “If I have a complaint that I want to put before the Lord, it’s a place where I can pray silently or with my family.”

With this garden, he added, villagers are reconnecting with their roots. “[Our ancestors] used to pray underneath trees, even before we were Christian,” he said. With this spiritual center, Abraham is “reminding us of what past we had, so we do not forget,” Mwanamuke explained. “Our past is of much importance. We use these traditions through God so we can come together in love.”

In their spirituality as Presentation sisters, Abraham said, includes belief in the sacredness of the earth and universe, “which is the spirituality of communion, with God, with one another, and with all of creation. We feel at the heart of every piece of creation is the spirit of God breathing,” she said.

Abraham is originally from Kerala, India, and had worked in Zambia for 14 years as a missionary. Then she left to serve on the leadership team in the Presentation Sisters administrative center in Ireland for 13 years and returned to Zambia in 2014. She came back wanting to harness that charism (or ideology) of the ecology of spirituality and to work on a project of the spirituality of oneness. She started floating the idea about making a spiritual center deeply connected to ecology and the environment among her fellow sisters and the community of Kaoma, an agricultural town in the sparsely settled western part of Zambia.

“People took to it like fish to water,” said Abraham. “It’s so much a part of their own lives. People are so close to nature, so they’re very close to God.”

Abraham and the Presentation Sisters purchased land in September about 22 miles (35 km) outside the town and are now in the process of building and landscaping the property as an eco-spiritual retreat and education center.

Across Africa and Zambia especially, trees are under dire threat as they are pillaged to make charcoal for cooking. Impoverished, isolated farmers struggling with lack of rain are chopping down the trees to sell for charcoal, without replanting new ones.

But in the peaceful quiet of these 20 acres in rural Zambia, trees are hallowed and respected sovereigns of the land. Because the land was privately owned, the villagers did not harvest the trees for charcoal there. Soon after Abraham purchased the land, she invited the elders of the community to walk through the entire parcel.

“They identified one big strong tree they call the ‘mubanga tree,’ which means ‘strong tree,’ as a place to honor the ancestors,” explained Abraham. “They created a sacred space around this tree. The whole heart of spirituality is that God and our ancestors are journeying with us, always supporting us and sustaining us. They are with us all the time. We are never alone.”

When the community of Namilangi retraces the Stations of the Cross, they have found trees to illustrate each stop of Jesus on his way to the crucifixion. In one corner of the property, one tree supports another tree, representing the station where Simon supports Jesus.

When prayer moved out from under the trees into ornate churches and cathedrals, something was lost, Abraham believes.

“Church as an institution became like a rubric full of rules and doctrines, but here we can just come and have the Eucharist simply under a tree,” she said. “[Trees] hold something of that fabulous spirit that was always there, that harmony in all of our cultures that got damaged in industrialization. We can reclaim peace and harmony on us and in our relationship with creation and the creator.”

The Easter season is an especially poignant time to celebrate ecology, Abraham continued. The Paschal mystery – the story of birth, death and rebirth – is replayed thousands of time across the garden as the growth cycle renews each year.

African spirituality is closely related to nature and the idea of oneness. “ Ubuntu ,” an ancient Bantu word that means “I am because we are” or “oneness,” is a central tenet. Former South African president Nelson Mandela used the idea of Ubuntu to inspire climate change activists to unite together for the common good.

In Zambia, Abraham wants to transform her small bit of land into a haven of Ubuntu and a protected environmental area where generations to come can connect to their roots. Locals have come out in droves to volunteer, taking ownership of the idea of an eco-spirituality center.

“It’s a memory place, really,” explained George C. Marite, 75, the treasurer of the local church and a retired bricklayer who frequently volunteers to help landscape the garden. “For me, the story of oneness here, this is the place of remembering what our grandfathers and grandmothers did. There’s the mubanga tree – there’s so many trees! Even though we weren’t there during our ancestors’ time, the sisters are reminding us what happened long ago.”

“We’re not just volunteering to assist the sisters, we want to develop in spirit also so that our children can also learn about what is here,” added Mwanamuke, as he and Marite cleared underbrush for a section of the garden. Part of connecting to ancestral identity is created in a conservation area that will show what natural bush looked like in this region, before all of the trees were decimated. “When we die, our children can come up with stories about us and this place,” Mwanamuke said.

The eco-spirituality center is still under construction but will eventually have four African-style round houses with thatched roofs, one in each of the four directions. To the east will be the House of Light, with educational and resource materials. To the south will be the House of Story, utilizing the African tradition of storytelling and Jesus’s stories and parables to learn about environmentally friendly techniques for farming, composting and building. To the west will be the House of Compassion, which will focus on natural healing techniques like massage, acupuncture, aromatherapy, reflexology and herbal treatments. To the north, the House of Grace will be the house of silence, solitude, prayer and meditation. About 15 acres will be left wild, with walking paths crisscrossing the property.

All of the houses are built with a special interlocking brick that is not much more expensive than a regular brick but uses just a fraction of the cement. Orphans involved in another project run by Presentation Sisters in Kaoma are making them.

Although the construction is not yet finished, a feeling of peace already envelops the property. Abraham’s words carry visitors on a spiritual journey as she paints her vision for the center with lavender and succulent plants.

“Take anything in creation, and you’ll find that no two leaves, no two human beings are the same, not even two twins are the same,” Abraham explained in her steady, musical voice as she walked the spiral path ringed with lavender and aloe vera that will represent the story of creation.

“No two grains of sand are the same. So you see diversity everywhere – we’re all different, even every piece of hair is different. And yet, there’s an essence to everything. When I work with the farmers in the village, I ask the farmers who plant the maize, ‘Do you ever teach the little maizies how to grow?’ No, there’s an inner wisdom that it knows how to grow and grow to its fullness. We diminish that growth because we damage the earth and we damage all other life species. We do it because we want to dominate, and we do it mindlessly. We must wake up to that wisdom, because this wisdom is everything.”

The Garden of Oneness, however, has many logistical hurdles to overcome before it is complete. Materials and cost of living are approximately the same in Zambia as Europe, and Abraham estimates the entire project will cost $100,000. The community builds piecemeal as they raise money from donors abroad and small donations from the villagers, but they are still tens of thousands of dollars short.

The project’s location also makes it difficult to be self-sustainable. Abraham envisions that there may be accommodations on the property, which could be rented for spiritual retreats or seminars. But Kaoma is a five-hour drive from the capital of Lusaka. Though there is a tar road in good condition from Lusaka, the location is much too far to be convenient for international visitors or NGOs working in other parts of the country.

Abraham bristles at the suggestion that the Garden of Oneness would be more geared towards visitors from outside rather than the local villagers who built it and took ownership of the idea. However, since most residents are subsistence farmers barely making ends meet, they will not be able to pay for the services planned for the eco-spirituality center, including natural healing. “In the center itself, we don’t have anything that provides,” she said. “It will create a culture of communion, of supporting one another.”

She has applied for grants from international organizations, but has not received any. “I can understand that if you’re looking after orphans, or if it’s an economic project, it’s easier to get funds,” she acknowledged. In an area that is so impoverished, where so many children go hungry and there are so few schools, it seems strange to dedicate so much money to a spirituality center rather than a school or a clinic.

But Abraham believes that when sisters step in to provide the services the government should be offering, it allows the government to shirk their responsibility. And she asks a simple question. “Just because they are poor, don’t they deserve to explore their spirituality?”

“At first people wondered, ‘Why give the sisters this place?’” Marite, the church treasurer, said. “But it is good. Now people come to draw water for their families,” from a well the sisters drilled, he explained. Others are learning about sustainable farming and the importance of planting new trees when they cut one down for firewood. “Visitors who are coming, even those who aren’t Catholic, they come and see. . . . What a development in our area!”

As the brick walls grow higher on the houses on the four directions of the compass, Abraham and the volunteers survey the site with satisfaction: a place of peace, which they built through sheer will.

“It’s been an adventure of faith,” admits Abraham. Even though her project doesn’t help in the traditional service capacities that sisters usually undertake in Africa, she believes that the Garden of Oneness will be a place of inspiration.

“There’s an awakening happening, the whole world is waking up to that spirit of oneness,” she said. “On one side, there is so much about Al Qaeda and the wars and violence, and that’s the news that we get on every channel. Who tells the story of the good things that happen? Humanity is waking up to this oneness, waking up to something more profound, something deep that gives meaning and purpose to our lives.”

[Melanie Lidman is Middle East and Africa correspondent for  Global Sisters Report  based in Israel.]

• Our Mission
• Where we are
• Spirituality

Presentation Sisters in Africa Unit. Assembly 2013

Our Journey in Zambia  started off by sisters from 3 different Provinces namely England,Ireland and India at different times and in different Regions. Later on some sisters from Newzeland, USA joined the Mission. Gradually some of the young Zambian  women joined the Mission in answer to God’s call to live Religious life and to work to further  the Kingdom of God..

The timeline of our Foundations in Africa

• 1970 –  Mongu, Western Province of Zambia, Livingstone Diocese
• 1973 –  Kasiya, Southern Province of Zambia, Monze Diocese. Mission was handed over to CIC sisters from India
• 1976 –  Kaoma, Western Province of Zambia, Livingstone Diocese
• 1983 –  Sichili, Western Province of Zambia, Livingstone Diocese. Mission was handed over to  Franciscan sisters of the Presentation in 2000.
• 1986 –  Linda in Livingstone, Southern Province of Zambia, Livingstone Mission was handed over to Holy Spirit sisters from Botswana in 1999
• 1987 –  Pemba, Southern Province of Zimbabwe, Monze Diocese
• 1989 –  Zambian Vice Province was born.
• 1993 –  Kalomo, Southern Province of Zimbabwe, Monze Diocese
•  1996 –  Chipo in Livingstone, Southern Province, Livingstone Diocese

OUR CHARISM

The purpose of the Congregation is shaped by fidelity to the Gospel as expressed in the spirituality and charism of Nano Nagle, her search for union with God in contemplation, her choice of education as a vehicle of liberation for the vulnerable and the powerless, and her compassionate love for those in any kind of need.

In fidelity to this founding spirit, the Congregation strives to be evermore aware of evolving movements and events which affect the total environment in which we live so that our responses are informed by the perspective of the most exploited and the most endangered.

Proclaiming the reign of God, we strive in union with our associates, friends and co-workers, and with all who acclaim the sacredness of nature and the dignity of human life,to bring about a world of truth and goodness, of justice, love and peace as proclaimed by Jesus. * C. page v

*C- Our way of Life (Constitution)

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• August 2016

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Aberdeen: Update from Kaoma, Zambia, Ministry

April 17, 2019

by Sister Virginia McCall

It seems I am way behind in communicating with you. My excuse is two hip replacement surgeries in the past 10 months. I did manage a trip to Zambia in November/December. Sister Janice Klein, congregational president, and I scheduled a meeting with the newly elected leaders of the Presentation Sisters’ African Unit. This Unit represents Presentation Sisters in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Sister Janice and I are pictured above with this new group.

Sister Inez is in charge of the fish farm and takes on most of my tasks in my absence though I can still do much from Aberdeen via the internet and phone using WhatsApp.  Sister Inez plans to return to India permanently in May, which will leave a huge gap in our Kaoma ministry.  For this reason, Sister Janice and I wanted to meet with these new leaders who will be responsible for carrying on the projects that we developed over the last 11 years.

During this meeting Sister Janice and I turned over the projects to the African leaders and made a commitment to partner with them for at least three years. This means that they will assign a sister to continue working with the projects, assisting the people in becoming self-sustaining.  I will continue to provide oversight of the projects and the finances. At the end of the three-year period, we will evaluate the work being done and the sisters’ plans for the future regarding these projects. We will then decide if we will continue fundraising for them as one of our international commitments.

At this meeting, we talked about several changes that will be made.  The greatest change will be in the Redmond Loan Fund. Presently, we are loaning the equivalent of $100 to women to open or to expand a small business. We have given loans to over 2,000 women. It is now time to make a change in how we are carrying out this project.

The African Unit sisters have established the Friends of Nano , which are lay men and women who make a commitment to carry on the charism and mission of Nano Nagle, foundress of the Presentation Sisters. These people are dedicated to praying together and ministering to the poor and vulnerable.  The Friends of Nano  have formed groups in five locations, one being in Zimbabwe.  We decided to make the loan fund money available to these groups so they can develop loan funds in their areas.

I’m hoping to be able to return to Zambia in May for a month or two in order to work with Sister Lucy, who will replace Sister Inez. I will also do some marketing for them. Presently, two restaurants are purchasing our fish and I’d like to add a few more. I will also meet with NGO’s and others who might be interested in using our conference center. The groups that have used the center find it an excellent place to conduct their workshops and meetings.

Just before Christmas, Mboma, our farm manager, went throughout the neighborhood inviting all the children to a Christmas party.  Within a half hour, 90 children arrived to spend the morning playing games, listening to Caroline instructing them on the meaning of Christmas and of course they had a meal.

We will be sending another container of Kids Against Hunger food to Kaoma. It will arrive at the time the people are in most need of food. Zambia had little rain this year so there will be little or no crops to harvest.  This will add to their need for food.

The Presentation Sisters in Africa have now officially taken over one of the schools in Kaoma. The Helmsley Charitable Trust has generously awarded us a grant for the construction of two science classrooms and equipment to support the enrollment of over 1,700 students, pre-K through grade 12.  This is a most welcomed gift.

Thank you once again for your support, your prayers and your financial assistance, which enable us to do all we do with those most in need in Kaoma.

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Education Projects and Ministries ZAMBIA

Presentation Primary School, Kaoma Presentation Secondary School, Kaoma Cheshire Home, Mongu (In the trusteeship of the Cheshire Home Society of Zambia but run by the Presentation Sisters)

Other Educational and Learning Ministry

Nano Nagle farm in Kaoma A centre which provides training in organic farming.

Teaching sustainable farming methods to women in Kalomo as part of Development projects for women in the region.

Tutoring of Children in Pemba, a small town in the Choma district of the southern province of Zambia.

Presentation Sisters teach in Government schools in Kalomo and Livingstone in Zambia.

Assistance with school fees for needy families.

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Presentation Sister from India builds a garden of peace in rural Zambia

In this story:

• Presentation Sisters believe that the sacredness of the earth and universe is central to the communion with God and all creation.

• Trees in Zambia are under severe threat, as people harvest them to make charcoal for cooking and do not replant new saplings.

• Villagers in rural Zambia are reconnecting with their roots through remembering how their ancestors prayed under trees pre-Christianity and celebrating the essence of God in ecology. 

Kaoma, Zambia — John Mwanamuke leans on his machete and wipes the sweat from his brow. Although it’s not quite 9 a.m., it’s already hot, since Western Zambia is the driest and lowest part of the country, where the shady forests of central Zambia begin to flirt with the Kalahari Desert in Namibia.

Mwanamuke’s energetic slashing of the scraggly weeds belies his 75 years of age, as he works to clear the area for an interdenominational prayer circle. Mwanamuke, the secretary of the local Catholic church, is just one of dozens of local volunteers building a new spiritual center called the Garden of Oneness in the middle of rural Zambia, founded by Presentation Sr. Teresita “Terry” Abraham.

“This is a place of prayer,” says Mwanamuke, as he looked across the peaceful garden slowly taking shape. “If I have a complaint that I want to put before the Lord, it’s a place where I can pray silently or with my family.”

With this garden, he added, villagers are reconnecting with their roots. “[Our ancestors] used to pray underneath trees, even before we were Christian,” he said. With this spiritual center, Abraham is “reminding us of what past we had, so we do not forget,” Mwanamuke explained. “Our past is of much importance. We use these traditions through God so we can come together in love.”

In their spirituality as Presentation sisters, Abraham said, includes belief in the sacredness of the earth and universe, “which is the spirituality of communion, with God, with one another, and with all of creation. We feel at the heart of every piece of creation is the spirit of God breathing,” she said.

Abraham is originally from Kerala, India, and had worked in Zambia for 14 years as a missionary. Then she left to serve on the leadership team in the Presentation Sisters administrative center in Ireland for 13 years and returned to Zambia in 2014. She came back wanting to harness that charism (or ideology) of the ecology of spirituality and to work on a project of the spirituality of oneness. She started floating the idea about making a spiritual center deeply connected to ecology and the environment among her fellow sisters and the community of Kaoma, an agricultural town in the sparsely settled western part of Zambia.

“People took to it like fish to water,” said Abraham. “It’s so much a part of their own lives. People are so close to nature, so they’re very close to God.”

Abraham and the Presentation Sisters purchased land in September about 22 miles (35 km) outside the town and are now in the process of building and landscaping the property as an eco-spiritual retreat and education center.

Across Africa and Zambia especially, trees are under dire threat as they are pillaged to make charcoal for cooking. Impoverished, isolated farmers struggling with lack of rain are chopping down the trees to sell for charcoal, without replanting new ones.

But in the peaceful quiet of these 20 acres in rural Zambia, trees are hallowed and respected sovereigns of the land. Because the land was privately owned, the villagers did not harvest the trees for charcoal there. Soon after Abraham purchased the land, she invited the elders of the community to walk through the entire parcel.

“They identified one big strong tree they call the ‘mubanga tree,’ which means ‘strong tree,’ as a place to honor the ancestors,” explained Abraham. “They created a sacred space around this tree. The whole heart of spirituality is that God and our ancestors are journeying with us, always supporting us and sustaining us. They are with us all the time. We are never alone.”

When the community of Namilangi retraces the Stations of the Cross, they have found trees to illustrate each stop of Jesus on his way to the crucifixion. In one corner of the property, one tree supports another tree, representing the station where Simon supports Jesus.

When prayer moved out from under the trees into ornate churches and cathedrals, something was lost, Abraham believes.

“Church as an institution became like a rubric full of rules and doctrines, but here we can just come and have the Eucharist simply under a tree,” she said. “[Trees] hold something of that fabulous spirit that was always there, that harmony in all of our cultures that got damaged in industrialization. We can reclaim peace and harmony on us and in our relationship with creation and the creator.”

The Easter season is an especially poignant time to celebrate ecology, Abraham continued. The Paschal mystery – the story of birth, death and rebirth – is replayed thousands of time across the garden as the growth cycle renews each year.

African spirituality is closely related to nature and the idea of oneness. “ Ubuntu ,” an ancient Bantu word that means “I am because we are” or “oneness,” is a central tenet. Former South African president Nelson Mandela used the idea of Ubuntu to inspire climate change activists to unite together for the common good.

In Zambia, Abraham wants to transform her small bit of land into a haven of Ubuntu and a protected environmental area where generations to come can connect to their roots. Locals have come out in droves to volunteer, taking ownership of the idea of an eco-spirituality center.

“It’s a memory place, really,” explained George C. Marite, 75, the treasurer of the local church and a retired bricklayer who frequently volunteers to help landscape the garden. “For me, the story of oneness here, this is the place of remembering what our grandfathers and grandmothers did. There’s the mubanga tree – there’s so many trees! Even though we weren’t there during our ancestors’ time, the sisters are reminding us what happened long ago.”

“We’re not just volunteering to assist the sisters, we want to develop in spirit also so that our children can also learn about what is here,” added Mwanamuke, as he and Marite cleared underbrush for a section of the garden. Part of connecting to ancestral identity is created in a conservation area that will show what natural bush looked like in this region, before all of the trees were decimated. “When we die, our children can come up with stories about us and this place,” Mwanamuke said.

The eco-spirituality center is still under construction but will eventually have four African-style round houses with thatched roofs, one in each of the four directions. To the east will be the House of Light, with educational and resource materials. To the south will be the House of Story, utilizing the African tradition of storytelling and Jesus’s stories and parables to learn about environmentally friendly techniques for farming, composting and building. To the west will be the House of Compassion, which will focus on natural healing techniques like massage, acupuncture, aromatherapy, reflexology and herbal treatments. To the north, the House of Grace will be the house of silence, solitude, prayer and meditation. About 15 acres will be left wild, with walking paths crisscrossing the property.

All of the houses are built with a special interlocking brick that is not much more expensive than a regular brick but uses just a fraction of the cement. Orphans involved in another project run by Presentation Sisters in Kaoma are making them.

Although the construction is not yet finished, a feeling of peace already envelops the property. Abraham’s words carry visitors on a spiritual journey as she paints her vision for the center with lavender and succulent plants.

“Take anything in creation, and you’ll find that no two leaves, no two human beings are the same, not even two twins are the same,” Abraham explained in her steady, musical voice as she walked the spiral path ringed with lavender and aloe vera that will represent the story of creation.

“No two grains of sand are the same. So you see diversity everywhere – we’re all different, even every piece of hair is different. And yet, there’s an essence to everything. When I work with the farmers in the village, I ask the farmers who plant the maize, ‘Do you ever teach the little maizies how to grow?’ No, there’s an inner wisdom that it knows how to grow and grow to its fullness. We diminish that growth because we damage the earth and we damage all other life species. We do it because we want to dominate, and we do it mindlessly. We must wake up to that wisdom, because this wisdom is everything.”

The Garden of Oneness, however, has many logistical hurdles to overcome before it is complete. Materials and cost of living are approximately the same in Zambia as Europe, and Abraham estimates the entire project will cost $100,000. The community builds piecemeal as they raise money from donors abroad and small donations from the villagers, but they are still tens of thousands of dollars short.

The project’s location also makes it difficult to be self-sustainable. Abraham envisions that there may be accommodations on the property, which could be rented for spiritual retreats or seminars. But Kaoma is a five-hour drive from the capital of Lusaka. Though there is a tar road in good condition from Lusaka, the location is much too far to be convenient for international visitors or NGOs working in other parts of the country.

Abraham bristles at the suggestion that the Garden of Oneness would be more geared towards visitors from outside rather than the local villagers who built it and took ownership of the idea. However, since most residents are subsistence farmers barely making ends meet, they will not be able to pay for the services planned for the eco-spirituality center, including natural healing. “In the center itself, we don’t have anything that provides,” she said. “It will create a culture of communion, of supporting one another.”

She has applied for grants from international organizations, but has not received any. “I can understand that if you’re looking after orphans, or if it’s an economic project, it’s easier to get funds,” she acknowledged. In an area that is so impoverished, where so many children go hungry and there are so few schools, it seems strange to dedicate so much money to a spirituality center rather than a school or a clinic.

But Abraham believes that when sisters step in to provide the services the government should be offering, it allows the government to shirk their responsibility. And she asks a simple question. “Just because they are poor, don’t they deserve to explore their spirituality?”

“At first people wondered, ‘Why give the sisters this place?’” Marite, the church treasurer, said. “But it is good. Now people come to draw water for their families,” from a well the sisters drilled, he explained. Others are learning about sustainable farming and the importance of planting new trees when they cut one down for firewood. “Visitors who are coming, even those who aren’t Catholic, they come and see. . . . What a development in our area!”

As the brick walls grow higher on the houses on the four directions of the compass, Abraham and the volunteers survey the site with satisfaction: a place of peace, which they built through sheer will.

“It’s been an adventure of faith,” admits Abraham. Even though her project doesn’t help in the traditional service capacities that sisters usually undertake in Africa, she believes that the Garden of Oneness will be a place of inspiration.

“There’s an awakening happening, the whole world is waking up to that spirit of oneness,” she said. “On one side, there is so much about Al Qaeda and the wars and violence, and that’s the news that we get on every channel. Who tells the story of the good things that happen? Humanity is waking up to this oneness, waking up to something more profound, something deep that gives meaning and purpose to our lives.”

[Melanie Lidman is Middle East and Africa correspondent for  Global Sisters Report  based in Israel.]

Spirituality | Presentation Sister from India builds a garden of peace in rural Zambia

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Presentation Sisters participating in the mission of Jesus in the United States

Inspired by venerable nano nagle, our foundress, we participate in the gospel call of liberation and social transformation., spreading god’s love through compassionate service., is god calling you to be a sister.

Union of Presentation Sisters

In addition to our Presentation Sisters and Friends of Nano living and ministering in various locations throughout the United States, we are also a Unit of the international Union of Presentation Sisters and are members of the International Presentation Association, linking us to Presentation people around the world in charism and mission.

Members of the Union live and minister not only in the United States but also in Canada, Chile, Dominica, Ecuador, England, Holy Land, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Slovakia, Thailand, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart established convents and schools in other towns and cities of Ireland. In 1791 Pope Pius VI granted papal approval. The sisters took simple vows and were not bound by enclosure ensuring that Nano Nagle’s desire to be wherever the poor were to be found lived on in the work of her sisters. At the core of the congregation’s mission was a passion for justice and a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

During the pandemic our sisters have held their meetings virtually. In this photo we have our Unit Leadership Team: Sr. Katherine, Sr. Jocelyn, Sr. Mary Margaret and Sr. Antonio. Click below to learn more about our sisters!

Our Spirituality

We, Presentation Sisters, commit ourselves to a Spirituality of being in Communion that seeks God in the inter-connectedness of the whole of creation and empowers active love for self, others and all of nature. Gathered in union with the Cosmic Christ, we experience our interconnectedness and the call to communion in our diversity. This interconnectedness draws us to nurture and reverence the Cosmos, Earth and its peoples, particularly those most wounded.

our ministries

Presentation prayer center, 5300 12th st. s, #110 fargo, nd 58104.

The Prayer Center collaborates with individuals and groups in nurturing mind, body and soul to discover ever-deepening relationships with God, self, and others.

Presentation Ministry Center

2003 ruiz street, san antonio, tx. 78207.

Presentation Ministry Center is a place of hospitality, primarily dedicated to meeting the needs of immigrant people. Programs offered are designed to educate participants and to provide opportunities for holistic development in a community building atmosphere.

Presentation Learning Center

2216 e. 108th street los angeles, california 90059.

An educational project, of the Presentation Sisters serving primarily Spanish-speaking women and men from the Watts area of Los Angeles.

Presentation Sisters Center

Shaw, mississippi.

In September 2009 the US Unit establishment a ministry in Shaw, Mississippi, where there was a critical need for remedial education due to an under-achieving school system. The ministry has grown to offer school tutoring, adult computer classes, computer availability for online courses, adult reading, and outreach to nursing homes and the home-bound. Our Sisters have recently left this area and have handed over the Ministry Center to the current community. 

Wisdom Initiatives

As a core dimension of our mission, our congregation respects and honors the presence of energy, the wisdom and experience of our older members and all elders in society. Everyone is invitied to participate and contribute to the best of his/her ability.

Presentation Music Studio

Sister Bernadette Trecker teaches over 25 students each year from her music studio, which she began in 2004 in Fargo, North Dakota.

Presentation Partners in Housing

219 7th street s. fargo, nd 58103.

Presentation Partners in Housing (PPiH) is a ministry sponsored by the Union of Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, United States Province to assist people who are homeless or threatened by homelessness, and who, despite their personal efforts are struggling to meet basic needs.

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- Nano Nagle

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Presentation Sisters begin Congregational Gathering

• Mar 5th, 2024

Gathering Logo by Sr Mary Southard CSJ

Source: PBVM Sisters

Presentation Sisters from around the world have begun a Congregational Gathering in Mount St Anne's, Portarlington, Ireland - with delegates from Zambia , Zimbabwe, Canada, England, India, Latin America, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines and the USA.

Under the theme 'Embracing Vulnerability as Possibility,' it's the tenth Congregational Gathering of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin - an Order formed just under 250 years ago by the Venerable Nano Nagle. On behalf of the whole Congregation, the delegates will make decisions - through prayer, reflection, conversation, discernment and searching together.

Congregational Leader, Sr Julie Watson, reminded the delegates and the sisters who had joined via live-streaming, of the congregation's fragile beginnings in 1775 and of the faithfulness of Mary Anne Collins to whom Nano Nagle entrusted the fledging community. It is no accident that this Gathering is taking place in LENT - a word meaning spring. As the days are lengthening, this is the season of growth, of new life, of possibilities of re-birth.

Congregational Gathering Prayer

Creator God,

In this time of acknowledging great vulnerability within our world

we are faced with change that causes us all to ask deeper questions

about our lives and to be open to be transformed for the good of the whole.

May we wait in silence; wonder with awe and respect, and dream together possibilities that will enable us to become the best of who we are as part of your creation.

In opening our hearts as people following the light of Nano may we embrace our vulnerability as new life and grace. May it flow as streams of compassion and hope within our world.

The Gathering's Logo is designed and painted by Sr Mary Southard CSJ

The Logo invites us to experience once again the life and mission of our Congregation as a communion of Sisters - intergenerational, intercultural, with great diversity - woven into the fabric of the whole world.

We are called forth by the pregnant energy of the Mysterious Spirit into a movement inward, outward and onward into Mission - Mission in a world where Earth, Life, Religion, Religious life … is in a state of uncertainty, and upheaval depicted by the dark colours, the dark waves and the dying tree.

Yet our hope in the One who beckons us from the future is urging us to new life, seen in the green shoots bursting forth from the roots of the ancient tree.

This Mysterious One is luring us, very definitely, into 'Embracing Vulnerability as Possibility'.

Tags: Presentation Sisters

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