As we look forward to the month of June, the month of our annual vacation at the Jesuit Historical Institute in Africa (JHIA). We feel compelled and motivated to recount some of the outstanding activities, projects, and outcomes of this semester and those scheduled at the beginning of the new semester in August 2024.
JHIA continues with its initiatives focused on sourcing collections that have a unique African sense. We are indebted to the Almighty God for the opportunity extended to us and to all players including our partners and donors who are part of our challenges and victories in the struggle for the awareness and actions we make in our establishment, Jesuit community, and the society around us. Without these partners, JHIA is certainly incomplete. Having in mind the opinions of the founding Fathers of the JHIA, we take on board their messages and values. However, as a result of this, we always emphasize that JHIA is an institute that is specially created for preserving memory and promoting historical knowledge in Africa and its adjacent islands.
The 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus – The Jesuits, Most Rev. Adolfo Nicolás, S. J., gave the idea to the studying of his Order’s largely unexplored involvement in the missionary work in Africa which is now summed up in the following overview in the JHIA’s Vision and Mission
The Founding Fathers of JHIA
On the 24th of March 2024, JHIA convened a Librarians and Archivists Gathering in collaboration with St. Paul’s University to discuss the Needs Assessment of Setting Up an Archive. The gathering witnessed a good number of participants who applauded the efforts made by JHIA to bring together such gatherings periodically. The objective is to share knowledge and resources through roundtable forums amongst librarians and archivists drawn from Christian universities and institutions in Kenya, in particular, those within Nairobi and by doing so, we aim at addressing problems relating to both physical and digital libraries and archives. Members of this gathering also appreciate the fact that the events are turning out to be a rapid platform of information resources to relevant players who feel that participating institutions should fully partner with JHIA both in kind and material to support this worthwhile course.
At the end of the training, the instructor provided participants with a template for conducting a Needs Assessment, survey, and appraisal in their institutions. They were required to utilize it to formulate an evaluation of the institution’s archive’s requirements for potential sharing in future gatherings. The findings of this evaluation could be summarized in a proposal and shared with the organization’s board of directors or administrators to seek their support. The next gathering will be held on the 24th of August 2024 at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA).
Rev. Dr. Jean Luc Enyegue, S.J., JHIA director attended a global workshop at Loyola University on March 20th, 2024, that featured prominent professors and scholars from around the world. The objective of the workshop was to discuss the best ways of writing world history for a post 1801 Society of Jesus. The Symposium was sponsored by Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu at Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu in collaboration with the newly established Jesuit Heritage Research Centre at Loyola University of Chicago. At the same time, he also attended a meeting of the Renaissance Society of America (RSA) held in Chicago, Illinois. RSA is involved in the publication of digital and paper resources to provide a platform for people from all walks of inquiry and practice and spreads the messages of its salient members in the knowledge space of the Renaissance era through the dissemination and organization of both in-person and online events.
During the month of June, the JHIA director is expected to give workshops on the history of the Society to Tertians in Zinkwazi and Bukavu. Later, during the Fall, he will attend a Conference on Missiology in Mexico between the 21st and 28th of September 2024. He will also attend a Workshop on Ignatian Spirituality in Spain from October 3rd to 8th 2024. Then at the end of the Semester 2024/25, he will participate in the History Symposium in Bafoussam.
Christian University’s Librarians and Archivists Gathering at a Past Event
The 4th Librarians and Archivists Gathering is one of the many events marked on the JHIA calendar of activities to take place in the near future. As already mentioned, it will be held on the 24th of August 2024 at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). We also are expecting to look into Ecclesiastical archives that have their own instruction set, which mostly resembles the secret archives of the Vatican. Perhaps in the future, we will require a workshop that will be dedicated solely to researching dioceses and religious congregations.
The Archivists and Socii of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM) will also meet on Zoom on 10th September 2024. This came about as a result of the meeting of Jesuit Historical Centers in Rome (2019), which encourages regular regional meetings at the conference level in partnership with Rome, with Province and Region Archivists and their Supervisors (the Socii).
The contributions of our benefactors and traditional donors cannot be overlooked since they continue to make valuable impacts to sustain JHIA initiatives. As we speak, we have books already in the shipping from our partnership in the UK. Some donations have been made both in kind and monetary form to support our work. We know that they do not give because they have plenty, but because “they have a certain image of the way the world should be, and strive to achieve that end. Although the world is not a perfect place, these people do not stop giving their time, energy, or money. As optimists, they see the world in a different light than others.” ~E.C. LaMeaux.
The JHIA monthly Newsletter is circulated online before the 1st of every month. The bookstore tab on the website portal is also active and can be accessed from the following link: https://www.jhia.ac.ke/book-store/.
We would like to remind our readers, students, and researchers that the JHIA reading room is open to all. For more information, you can reach out to us at inquiries@jhia.ac.ke.
Geoffrey Obatsa
Administrative Assistant, JHIA
