Rector's Welcome Statement

Karibu! Welcome! It's a great pleasure to welcome you to Hekima College. ‘Hekima' is a word rich in meaning and tradition. It's Swahili for ‘wisdom'. Here at Hekima College we take great pride in our name. We seek to achieve a kind of wisdom that is holistic. Not only does our programme of studies in Theology and Peace Studies draw from the rich resources of Jesuit, Ignatian and Catholic traditions, it also explores the challenges and opportunities of our contemporary world, beginning here in Africa. ‘Hekima' is about forming men and women for others; people who will be at the forefront of transforming Church and Society in Africa. For over two decades we have developed a programme of studies and formation that responds to the needs of Church and Society in Africa and beyond. This quest is collaborative and interdisciplinary. The result is exemplified in the number of men and women who have graduated from Hekima and assumed important ministries and responsibilities for the growth of the Christian faith in Africa and the transformation of our African societies. As we approach our 25th year, we are confident that our vision and goals for the future will build on our solid achievement in the field of Theology and Peace Studies, as well as open up new paths of knowledge, research and scholarship in other domains of human endeavour. ‘Hekima' represents wisdom as a shared value, a grace bestowed by God, and essential for promoting a new vision of humanity and global solidarity in the image of the kingdom of God. It's an exciting quest and I'm delighted to invite you to explore the various aspects of our programme at Hekima College. To quote a dear friend of Hekima College, “The world needs the African Church; the African Church needs Hekima.” Karibu! Welcome!

MISSION STATEMENT

When theological reflection is undertaken with the seriousness of research and the creativity of imagination that it merits, within the broad spectrum of Catholic Theology and in the midst of the varied circumstances in which Jesuits live and work, it can give rise to specific theologies which in diverse times and places, incarnate the gospel message. Theological research and reflection in the service of the Gospel can thus help to respond to the broadest questions of the human mind and the deepest yearnings of the human heart. (General Congregation 34, d. 16, n. 8).

Jesuits have been engaged in university teaching, research, and scholarly publication almost since the foundation of the Society. From astronomy to classical ballet, from the humanities to theology, Jesuits try to enter into the languages and discourses of their inherited or emerging cultures. They attempt to discover, shape, renew, or promote human wisdom, while at the same time respecting the integrity of disciplined scholarship. They also seek to accompany in faith the men and women molded by the potent cultural forces inherent in the university as an institution. St Ignatius was aware of the wide cultural impact of universities and chose to send Jesuits there, as places where a more universal good might be achieved. Throughout our history we have continued to affirm this basic Ignatian intuition. (GC 34, d. 17, n. 1; emphasis added).

Hekima College is a Constituent College of The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) founded and maintained by JESAM. We are a centre of formation, research and intellectual scholarship that places a high priority on quality education and spiritual formation to Jesuits and non-Jesuits (lay, clerical and religious), men and women, competently and astutely trained in the finest traditions of Jesuit humanistic pedagogy and heritage, based on institutional and individual excellence and rigour, in order to discern, identify and attend positively to ‘the signs of the times' in African societies and the church in Africa of the 21st century.

In keeping with our Catholic character and Ignatian identity, Hekima College is committed to the formation and training of men and women in research and professional competence. This commitment is embodied in the following goals and objectives: - Promoting an African theology that is rooted in the best theological traditions of the Catholic Church and attuned to the realities of faith, life and ministry in contemporary Africa in a globalizing world in the 21st century. - Training our students to provide instruction, conflict analysis, negotiation and expertise in peacebuilding from the perspective of Catholic traditions of peace and social justice, in response to the various situations of conflict that undermine Africa's quest for an environment conducive to sustainable development. - Developing and applying an interdisciplinary approach to the different historical and contemporary challenges facing the African Church and society in the 21st century, to ensure that our students are able to adapt to the constantly changing and diverse situations of work and ministry through active collaboration and partnership. - Training our students to reflect on experience and apply the data to their studies in order to generate appropriate and contextualised responses to their situation in life and work, and become architects of transformation in the Church and society. We desire to train men and women ‘involved in disciplines which, although they may have no explicitly Christian perspective, are nevertheless central to the way in which human beings understand themselves and the world around them' (GC 34, d. 6, n. 20, par. 2; cf. GC 34, d. 16, n. 7, par. 2).

The graduates of our theological, spiritual, intellectual and professional training programme will be men and women of faith ardently ‘engaged in the challenge of building up a young and vibrant African Church, rooted in the richness of different cultures, creating new bonds of solidarity among peoples, and struggling to overcome the global forces that tend to marginalize the whole continent' (GC 34, d. 2, n. 2, par. 2).

Brief Historical Background and Context of Hekima College

In 1984 Hekima College opened its doors as a Jesuit School of Theology to serve the needs of the Society of Jesus in Africa in the formation of Jesuits for priesthood and to provide for the needs of the Church in an indigenous context of Theology. All of this was done to prepare people for Ministry in the Church. Today, we now have a graduate institute of Peace Studies and International Relations. The college offers the following academic titles and degrees: the Bachelor's in Theology and the Master's in Peace Studies. The programme in Theology is predominantly organised in the cycles of study prescribed in the Apostolic Constitution Sapientia Christiana. The academic units are: one faculty (theology), one institute (Peace Studies), and we are planning for Human Development, Pastoral Leadership and Management, and Computer Software Engineering. Hekima now numbers 103 students, from 8 religious congregations (Pallotines, Assumptionists, Jesuits, Montfort, Guadalupe Missionaries, Yarumal Missionaries, Redemptorist, and Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart), and 20 countries. Over the last 23 years, our student body has changed dramatically. By way of example, in 1984, there were 13 students from 8 countries, today there are over 100 lay and religious, men and women, students. There are now approximately 76 religious men and one woman religious, and 26 lay persons. The number of students is set to grow in the coming few years as we expand our programmes of study to cater for the needs of the laity, especially women. At present most of our students are being prepared for the priesthood. The rest will be seeking employment and career options in development and peace-building in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and ministry in pastoral settings (parishes, schools, etc). The Church in Africa and the Society of Jesus have called us to prepare our students for the new apostolic challenges of inter-religious and intercultural dialogue, reconciliation, justice and peace; the new evangelization, the sociological and economic reality of globalization and development; and the new technologies of communication. It is our intention to integrate these apostolic priorities in the ongoing development of our academic profile. Research is an indispensable part of the mission of Hekima College. We intend to develop this aspect of our work in order to ensure that Hekima is known internationally for the quality of the research in addressing the most pressing issues facing the Church and African Society. Every year the members of the College community undertake impressive research. Many of the results, including some research papers of the students are published and so contribute to the continuing work of the broader scholarly community. Current faculty members have published original contributions in the following areas: Socio-economic change and development in Africa and Christian social ethics; the challenges of HIV/AIDS; poverty, and refugees and the church in Africa. Beside human and intellectual formation, one of our main goals is to position the community called church as a central institution promoting transformation and development in Africa. In addition to the work of original investigation, the College places great importance on the other professional activities of the scholar: the imparting of scholarly discoveries to a broader audience; the development of new insights through interdisciplinary work; the editing of Hekima Review; regular organisation of Hekima Forum for Exploring Faith in Public Life (our guest speaker in November 2006 was Nobel Laureate for Peace Professor Wangari Maathai); Hekima Peace Forum; contributions to African culture, and other tools that form the infrastructure of the scholarly enterprise.

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