Board Spotlight: Sr. Mary Amanda Nwagbo, IHM

For 29 years, Sr. Mary Amanda Nwagbo, IHM, of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Christ, has answered a call she first began to feel as a young girl growing up in a deeply religious family in Nigeria.

“I felt that God was calling me to serve his people,” she shares.

Today, that calling is lived out primarily through education and leadership. Sr. Mary Amanda serves in her congregation’s education ministry and in regional leadership, along with carrying administrative responsibilities. Together, their schools serve more than 15,000 students.

Through her visits to those schools, Sr. Mary Amanda sees both the tremendous potential of young people and the profound challenges they face.

“There is a lot to be done, but little or no resources to accomplish it,” she says. “I encounter people and children who are disadvantaged from the onset. They manage with minimal resources. And the irony? They seem happy!”

One experience remains especially vivid. During a school visit, Sr. Mary Amanda walked into classrooms where children were learning mathematics using plastic bottle caps as counting tools. “In the 21st century!” she recalls.

For Sr. Mary Amanda, the story illustrates one of the greatest challenges facing the communities Sisters serve: a shortage of nearly every kind of resource—financial, human and structural. Yet Sisters continue to find ways to educate, serve and create opportunity.

That is also why Sr. Mary Amanda finds hope in Sisters Rising Worldwide and the PeaceRoom.

“Being part of the SRW Board of Directors reassures me that there are still good people out there ready to sacrifice and offer needed help to others, to strangers, so that they may have a dignified existence,” she says. “I am hopeful that with SRW’s PeaceRoom platform, the needed help will definitely reach us and others who need it.”

Her hope for the future is for that circle of connection and generosity to grow: more Sisters joining the PeaceRoom, more supporters investing in Sister-led ministries, and more of the world’s resources reaching communities where they are needed most.

Amid the responsibilities of ministry and leadership, Sr. Mary Amanda finds renewal in the steadfast love and support of her family and friends.

And to those who make Sister-led work possible through Sisters Rising Worldwide, she has a simple and direct message: “We need you! We are counting on your generous donations to get critical needs taken care of for the most vulnerable.”

She also wants supporters to know they can trust that their generosity will make a difference. “Be assured that your donation will reach those it was meant for,” Sr. Mary Amanda says. “Thank you for what you have donated already.”

For Sr. Mary Amanda and Sisters serving communities around the world, that partnership means more than resources. It means knowing they are not alone, and that across borders and oceans, people are choosing to stand alongside them as they create opportunity, dignity and hope.