Carolyn Buhs, SNDdeN made her first contact with Notre Dame at St. Dunstan School in Millbrae, California.
Her fourth-grade teacher, Sister Marie Joseph, became a lifelong friend and mentor.
The story of then "Blessed" Julie Billiart made a deep impression. To Sister Carolyn, St. Julie became a real person and influential in her choice to enter the congregation.
The notion of going to the missions also came early. Sister Carolyn describes how, in fifth and sixth grades, her desire was fed by stories in Maryknoll magazine.
In seventh grade, she earned a Girl Scout horseback riding badge, hoping to ride horses on missions like Maryknoll missioners in the Andes Mountains of South America. However, Notre Dame de Namur beckoned, and the experience of California Sisters going to Brazil in the early 1960s raised her hopes.
When Sister Carolyn requested missionary service, she was sent to Hawaii–an incredible four years of sunshine, swimming (by that time allowed) and hiking (which she loved), but not exactly what she had in mind for mission!
In the meantime, with the guidance of Sister Anna Voss, Sister Carolyn found her love of geography and began a master's degree in that field at Cal State, Los Angeles.
She also discovered that she was slow to learn other languages, which limited her choices for overseas missions. While in Hawaii, she began studying Kiswahili, a widely used African language.
Finally, in 1976, Sister Carolyn was sent to Kenya to teach at Egoji Teachers' Training College, where she stayed for 10 years.
Later, Francis Kithinji, a former student who became the principal of a secondary school, contacted Sister Carolyn. He was working toward his master's degree at Kenyatta University and asked her permission to dedicate his thesis to her and his late father.
Sister was for Francis, "… the pearl and shining star in my life…my inspirer."
Nearby Sudan had a sizeable Christian population in the southern part of the country, and the need for service to that population was great. For the next six years, Sister Carolyn worked in northern Sudan—all the time studying Arabic while she taught displaced people from the south.
When the unrest of war spilled over the border into Ethiopia, a large refugee camp was established in northwest Kenya. Sister Carolyn spent three years there with Sister Mary Ellen Howard, SNDdeN (also a Californian) and other women religious working with refugees—including the "Lost Boys of Sudan," who found their way into the camp to escape the wars.
These boys had lost family members and homes and were in great need of education and religious support. Sister Carolyn created the camp's first library. Anticipating the future, Sister Carolyn spent three more years teaching Sudanese students in Kenya and training catechists.
Her last assignment in Kenya was as Postulant Director of young women who were coming to enter the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
Sister returned stateside for a few years and worked in the NDNU Registrar's office and the SNDdeN Archives office.
In 2011, with much excitement, Sister Carolyn returned to South Sudan with Solidarity With South Sudan, an inter-congregational religious community, where she taught young men and women to teach in primary school.
She also helped prepare the teaching materials for the teacher-training college and—with the help of talented Refugee Librarian Daniel Garang—organized three college libraries during her nine years there.
Of her more than 60 years as a Sister, she says, "My thoughts are filled with gratitude to our Good God for Her great mercy in loving me and my family, bringing me to Notre Dame and blessing me with such wonderful years of ministry in Kenya and South Sudan. Reflecting on the thread of events through my various ministries fills me with wonder at how God does work in our lives."
Sister Carolyn's Ministries
1965-66 Sacred Heart School, Saratoga, California (Teacher, 2nd Grade)
1966-68 St. Louise School, Covina, California (Teacher, 4th and 7th Grade)
1969-70 Holy Family School, Honolulu, Hawaii (Teacher, 5th Grade)
1968-72 Star of the School School, Honolulu, Hawaii (Teacher, 6th Grade, then High School)
1972-74 St. Louise School, Covina, California (Teacher, Grades 3 & 4)
1974-76 College of Notre Dame, Belmont, California (Teacher and Administrator)
1976-86 Egoji Teachers College, Kenya (Teacher)
1987-88 Nairobi, Kenya (Teacher)
1988-92 El Obeid Diocese, Sudan (Teacher)
1993-96 Kakuma Camp, Northwest Kenya
1996-2000 Bakhita Formation Center, Kenya (Dean of Students, Teacher)
2001-07 Malava, Kenya (Postulant Director)
2008 SNDdeN Archives, Belmont, California
2009 NDNU Registrar's Office, Belmont, California
2012-21 Solidarity With South Sudan (Teacher Training)
2021-Present Kenya