The Sisters of St. Louis ( SSL), Ghana Region wrapped up their renewal course on August 24, 2026.
This is a programme held by the Sisters in August every year.
This year’s Renewal Course began on August 18 and ended on August 24, 2026 at the St. Louis Jubilee School at Oduom in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
This year’s programme focused on Emotional Intelligence, Values and Traditions of the sisters of St. Louis and Community life.
The Course begun with a recollection themed “Recommit to the Journey” led by Sr. Dr. Evelyn Serwaa Adjei, SSL, who admonished Sisters to make recommitment to their vocation journey through prayer, meditation and community life.
She said Sisters must love God above all things and relate intimately with Him through prayer and the Sacraments.
She continued that without prayer, the Religious is just like a humanist, but prayer differentiates her (Religious) from others.
Sr. Michelle Ankrah SSL spoke to Sisters on Emotional Intelligence, and she said it was about recognising and understanding one’s feelings and that of others and responding appropriately.
She also said that when an incident happens, an individual should pause and reflect before he/she reacts. This, she noted would help the individual to give the necessary reaction to the situation.
She gave the five pillars of Emotional intelligence as “Self-awareness; the awareness of our emotions and understand why we feel so, Self-regulation, meaning not letting our feelings control us, Motivation which helps an individual to move beyond how they feel, Empathy: the ability to sense how others are feeling and see things from their point of view and Social Skills; the skills needed to handle and influence other people’s emotions effectively”.
She concluded that Sisters should imitate Jesus who is the model of Emotional Intelligence.
Sr. Georgina Edwine, SSL, who spoke to the Sisters about the values and traditions of the Sisters of St. Louis, took the Sisters back to the time when the Irish St. Louis Sisters were in Ghana.
Addressing the Sisters, Sr. Georgina said community living, hospitality, punctuality, neatness and oneness is what St. Louis is known for.
She continued that the St. Louis Sister is one who is dedicated to God, her apostolate and community. Some of the values spoken about was humility or childlikeness; where Sisters were advised to be humble, loyal and generous.
The seminar on community life was led by Srs. Bridgid Nancy Andoh, SSL and Beatrice Venyellu, SSL.
Sr. Bridgid said Sisters should see communities as their homes and treat them as such and advised Sisters in the various communities to always take part in activities and make the community a happy one.
On her part, Sr. Beatrice Venyellu led a panel discussion on community life as Sisters took turns to answer various questions pertaining to community life.
This year’s Renewal Course was one of a kind as the whole seminar and discussions were solely led by Sisters from the SSL Congratulation.
This is an encouragement to all Women Religious groups to also look through their congregations and let their Sisters take on various roles during their Retreats and Renewal Courses.
By: Sr. Clara Adwoa Konadu SSL, Sr. Joan Dzifa Bosro SSL, Sr. Adelaide Bemah Saahene SSL and Sr. Michelle Ankrah SSL (Sister Communicators Network, Ghana – CASCON-GH)
