By Fr. Patrick McCormick

Two Sisters form Malawi, a country in Central Africa, visited St. John the Evangelist Parish during the past weekend. The two sisters, Sr. Fransiska Moyo and St. Marcelle Simukoko, are members of the Rosarian Sisters, a community of African sisters founded in their home diocese of Mzuzu.

Presently the two are studying at Mt. St. Joseph’s College in Cincinnati, Ohio for their bachelor degrees in education. They expect to return to Malawi and continue their work in the missions around Christmas time. They have been in the United States for two years now.

Sr. Fransiska was born in Malawi, into a Catholic family. Originally her family came form South Africa, but around 1800 they left South Africa because of the tribal wars and migrated to the more peaceful areas around Lake Malawi where in time they became part of the Tumbuka tribe.

Sr. Marcella was born in the country of Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia). When she was a young girl, her family moved into the more peaceful farm areas of the Cinangie tribe in Central Malawi. Her family was originally of the Bemba tribe. Sr. Marcella’s family were members of a Christian African church know as the Congregation of Christian African Protestants (CCAP. This Church was an offshoot of the European Presbyterian Church.

Her family sent her to a Catholic boarding school in Katete, a mission of the of the Mzuzu diocese, where she was taught by the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception, a community of French Canadian Missionary sisters. Later she became a Catholic and after finishing secondary school she entered in 1958 the Rosarian Sisters. Both sisters were counselors to the Mother General before coming to the United States.

When they return to Africa, the sisters expect to teach in the secondary level. Prior to beginning their studies at Mt. St. Joseph both taught the 8^th grade.

Both sisters speak English, which is the official language of Malawi, and the language used in the schools from the first grade. In addition, both speak several different dialects. The most common language in the Mzuzu diocese is Tumbuka, which is the predominant tribe of Northern Malawi.