Meet Jackie!

What is your name? Jacqueline Wairimu Gitonga.

Where are you from? Hometown of Nyeri in Kenya, Africa.

How old are you? 31 years old.

When did you enter? October 12, 2009.

Where did you go to school? For my undergraduate studies, I majored in Business Administration at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2001, I came to the United States to pursue my Masters and Doctoral studies in Human Resource Education. I graduated in June 2009 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) (Go Illini!).

What do you like to do professionally and for fun? For fun, I like to hike, travel, read, listen to music, dance, bake, view artwork specifically paintings, historical sites, collect flowers and make flower arrangements. Professionally, I enjoy helping people achieve their full potential in various work settings particularly through the design and evaluation of training and professional development programs.

What languages do you speak? English (of course); Kiswahili, Kikuyu, French (un peu!).

How did you meet the Daughters of St. Paul? In 2004, I was chatting with a Franciscan sister from Tanzania about my vocational journey and she mentioned the Daughters in our conversation. Later on in my time of prayer and adoration, the idea of the Daughters returned and I searched for information about the community in the Vision Magazine. My first visit was with the Daughters in Chicago in October 2004 where they were celebrating 25 years of ministry in the “windy city.” I was amazed at the immense peace I felt while there and desired to continue communicating with the sisters. Since then and while working on my graduate studies, I remained in contact with the Daughters through attending retreats, parish and conference book exhibits, internship and live-in experiences, phone, mail and email communication.

What drew you to the Daughters of St. Paul? Devotion to Jesus through their daily hour of adoration, evangelization mission using a diverse set of skills and technology as well as the internationality of the congregation.

Favorite Scripture passage: “Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never comes to an end” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8).