Mwanza, Tanzania - Affiliate Chapter

Patricia Rutahigwa, who serves on the international Maryknoll Affiliates board of directors, sitting with Sr. Janet Srabalus MM.

Maryknoll Affiliates have two Chapter in East Africa. The Kenya Chapter is a virtual interfaith Chapter which meets monthly. The Chapter in Mwanza Tanzania is featured her in excerpts from a recent Maryknoll Magazine article written by Paul Jeffrey.

To read the full article, click on link:  https://www.maryknollmagazine.org/2026/08/alive-with-the-maryknoll-spirit/

The Affiliates carry on the legacy of Maryknoll’s missions. They operate a small thrift shop, using the proceeds to help orphans and other vulnerable children in the community. They tutor students and help poor families with uniforms and school supplies. They sponsor a small loan program for women entrepreneurs. Additionally, members of the chapter carry out a variety of outreach projects individually.
 
“The charism the affiliates learned as children has carried them through to adulthood and provided the model for how they engage the society around them,” says Maryknoll Sister Janet Srebalus, who has served in Tanzania for much of the last six decades. She is an advisor to the Affiliates chapter in Mwanza.
“The Affiliates program is for lay people who are attracted to the Maryknoll charism of mission but can’t take a year or more to become a lay missioner. They’re people who are very interested in social justice both locally and globally,” Sister Srebalus says.
 
“When I was young, in Tanzania and much of Africa, girls were not always encouraged to go to school. You were supposed to get married and take care of the family,” Affiliate Alvera Kashushura a prominent educator, has traveled internationally as part of her advocacy on environmental issues. speaks. “But the sisters said we could do anything if we studied hard. Throughout my life, with all the hardships and difficulties I’ve faced, that spirit — that I can do it — has kept me going.”
 
While many of the affiliates have built impressive lists of professional accomplishments, they measure the success of their missions in the lives of others.