The story of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ) in Africa began in Calabar, Nigeria, where on the 20th of September 1930, the first SHCJ Sisters arrived. Calabar is an urban city located in the South-eastern part of Nigeria, now in the Cross River State.

Nigeria
The first Holy Child Sisters to step onto the Nigerian soil were five. Two came from Rome to explore the possibility of sending sisters to work in Nigeria. Shortly after the exploration, two European and one American Holy Child sister began the ministry of the Society in Calibar. Within another year another European and American joined them.

By 1932 two schools had a cottage system for boarders where serving local children. In another short time a rudimentary dispensary was functioning and teaching hygiene to pupil-teachers. By 1933 our sisters were helping to establish the first Catholic hospital in Nigeria, St Joseph hospital.

From the beginning of our sisters ministry in Cross River State our Society’s presence grown. Today there are seven convents in Nigeria, located in Jos, Lagos, Otukpo, Duduguru, Bauchi and Abuja.

Almost 40 years ago Teresa Okure, the first Nigerian, a graduate of Cornelia Connelly College in Uyo, respond to God’s promptings to join the Society of the Holy Child Jesus. As women from Nigeria and Ghana joined the Society of the Holy Child, the Society established our presence in West Africa as an African Province.

Ghana
On the 20th of February 1946, the three pioneer Holy Child Sisters came to Cape Coast, Ghana. By May they were joined by two more SHCJ’s and three lay women. Together they journeyed the 51 miles from Takoradi to Cape Coast to establish the Cape Coast College with two departments: Teacher Training department and the Secondary department. The School was officially opened on the 21st of June 1946. In 1955 the Training College moved from Cape Coast to Takoradi.

The Society had grown in Ghana since 1946. Today, the number of the SHCJ convents in Ghana has risen to five, with their locations in Cape Coast, Takoradi, Accra, Bolgatanga and Walembele. The first SHCJ Sister from Ghana was professed in 1975.


Tchad
The first SHCJ Community in Tchad began in 1992. It was begun by two Americans, two Africans, and one European. They were received in N’djamena, Tchad, at the Centre d’Accueil at Kabalaye by the Archbishop, Charles Vandame, SJ, and Fr. Serge Semur.
Presently three African SHCJ Sisters live and work in Tchad.

Cameroun
Three SHCJ sisters have begun a mission in Cameroun as of September, 2001.


For more information on the history of the SHCJ in Africa,
click on Publications.