A Return to Congo: Honoring a Mentor and a Friend
December 30, 2025
Supporting Our Communities: Hope and Dream Realized
What brought me back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after nearly 40 years? Gratitude. I returned to thank the Sister who mentored me through my first
Sisters Marie-Hélène Ntieiti and Joan Burke, SNDdeN after community Sunday Mass, Kimwenza.
years on the continent—Congolese Sister Marie-Hélène Ntieiti, SNDdeN, the first African Sister of Notre Dame de Namur. Now 103 years old, Sister Marie-Hélène first entered the Soeurs de Ste. Marie de Kisantu in 1940 and later joined the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur when local vocations were welcomed.
As St. Julie often said, “Beginnings are always difficult.” When I arrived in the Congo in 1980, I was assigned as secretary to a small rural high school in Mpese, which translates to “cockroach.” Mid-year, when the lay principal resigned, Provincial Elisabeth-Marie Mbwanga asked me to step in “temporarily” until a Congolese Sister could be trained. I felt like an “over-qualified incompetent,” but she assured me I would manage because Sister Marie-Hélène, the Directress of the Boarders, would be my support. She became not only my right arm, but my Sister and friend.
Bust of Sister Marie-Hélène Ntieiti placed at the property entrance on the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2022.
Those early days were challenging. We shared no common language—she spoke Kikongo and French; I spoke English. Slowly, through patience and humor, we found our way. Sister Marie-Hélène possessed profound wisdom and an innate ability to understand people. I valued her rich store of practical wisdom and deep-lived knowledge of her people. When I peppered her with questions, she would often say in Kikongo, “That’s the way it is.” Over time, she taught me to observe carefully, listen deeply and learn from what I saw. Locally, she was respected as a gifted mediator (nzonzi). When disputes arose, she was called to resolve them with patience, timing and peace. Her gentle authority brought harmony where words alone could not.
During my visit to Kimwenza this August, we spent mornings reminiscing while she strung rosaries for villagers, still sharp and curious as ever. In the afternoons, I explored the community’s new ministries, spent time in the cemetery where I paid my respects to our ancestors,
and chatted with several other longtime friends from my early days in Africa.
I returned home with a heart full of gratitude for my visit with “Ya Lene,” as she is fondly called. Her long life and unwavering fidelity are a blessing—for the Province, for all of Africa and for our entire congregation.
Mural of St.Julie’s vision at Compiegne on the outside wall of the Provincial Offices, Kinshasa, DRC.
This story is also featured in the Winter 2025 edition of our Sowing Goodness magazine.
