On 15th December 2017 we celebrated the 9th graduation of Furrows in the Desert Course to train future Turkana farmers to become experts in irrigated desert agriculture. The celebration was colourful and it was attended by those graduating, the Furrows in the Desert team, former trainees, representatives from the MCSPA and members of the local community. Bishop Benson from Outreach Ministries Church in Lodwar also attended with pastor Esikuku from Kerio, since they have contributed to Furrows by sending some trainees, who are going to join an agriculture project run by the same church in Lodwar.

Up to this 9th course there are more than 300 people who have studied at furrows. Those who are still active are organised into a Farmer’s association and they are grouped into different farms, of which more than 40 of them are doing very well. During the speeches Fr. Albert focused on the importance of agriculture in Turkana as a source of alternative livelihood, especially water and food production as the only real and sustainable future for Turkana.

We congratulate all the graduates and thank all the Furrow’s team, the benefactors and all the stakeholders who make this project a reality.

Fr. Angel Valdivia MCSPA

Better animal health means better health for people. This is the objective of doing deworming campaigns in pastoralist communities such as Turkana and Nyangatom where the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle is working. Last week, we finished a deworming campaign in Kakuta village, Nyangatom, South West Ethiopia, where members of the MCSPA are present since 2014. This has been thanks to the Veterinary Department of the Local Government of Nyangatom and the College of Veterinaries of Asturias, Spain.  Dr. David Iglesias a veterinary from Oviedo, Asturias, has come for the second time to Kakuta in order to carry out deworming of caprine and bovine life-stock. The objective was to deworm more than 4.000 animals. When animals are dewormed they improve their health and therefore their production of meat and milk in about a 30% more. This means that in pastoralist communities such as Nyangatom, where animals are the most important source of livelihood, improvement of animal health means more production for the people and better health.

Fr. Angel Valdivia MCSPA

Today is the World’s Children Day. In Ethiopia, as well as most African countries, it is a very important day because there is still a long way to go before children’s rights are truly achieved. It is also important to keep in mind that the girl-child are at a disadvantage as compared to boys. It is important to recognize that girls also have the right to study, to be trained, to decide what they want to be in their lives and also to decide with whom to share it.

In Ethiopia the girl is the housekeeper, the eldest sister, the cook, the water carrier and also the carrier of wood, most of the times so much that the two thin legs below the bunch of heavy sticks on her back seem they are going to break.

Because of being a girl she will do it barefooted, unlike a boy who would have the advantage to get some shoes.

Because of being a girl a man will choose her as his wife, never the other way round.

Furthermore, because of all these duties she may never go to school. We are also facing the fact that if they want to study, many girls have to move to larger villages or towns and work as servants for families in return for accommodation. This fact makes them spend more time working than studying at school. Sometimes this situation leads to power and/or sexual abuse causing unwanted pregnancies.

Ethiopian society expects their girls to be complacent, obedient and helpful, but we expect much more from them. From the Missionary Community of Saint Paul Apostle we believe that in the future these girls should have a say in this country too. 93% of Ethiopian girls are studying Primary Education, although more than half above the age of 15 years are still illiterate.

Due to these staggering figures, in 2016 we built a Home exclusively for girls in Muketurri so that they can continue their Secondary Studies and can give up being servants.

In Maite Iglesias Home we want to empower the girls who are studying now. In addition to be a home for them, it is also a meeting place where everybody can share their opinions, read books because there is a library, work and contribute to a lot of things. We want to make them aware that they are the society’s engine.

It is true that in this country more and more girls start going to school and women start working. However you can still see certain old practices, such as female genital mutilation or arranged marriages, which are not eradicated yet.

So, most of our efforts are focused on small villages. We are sure that Ethiopian girls will manage to rule their own life without our help. They must try to succeed in changing their world all together.

Sofía garcía- Ramos Fojón (Popy)

Psychologist and technician of international cooperation

Todonyang Mission, has received three new fishing boats courtesy of the friends of Todonyang. This is a great additional asset to the rising population of Turkana fishermen and women along the shores of Lake Turkana.
“Let’s go fishing”, a slogan used by the beneficiaries of the said boats and by those already having the fishing boats, has ensured steady increase in food production. Thriving fish business has attracted lots of people from various parts of this dry landscape. The pastoralists who were affected by the drought late last year are neither left behind. The lake has become a stable source of food and family income.

Cosmus Onyango

Miles and miles of dry riverbeds
Sparse and thorny trees abound
You look and look but cannot find
A single soul around.

But then a tyre punctures
We stop to check it out
Suddenly the goat herds come running
Shiny happy faces not even a little pout!

It is the smiles of these special people
I take home with me today
They who have so little
Yet they have so much to say

The old grandma with missing teeth
Whose grip is really strong
The schoolkids in hand-me-downs
Who sing their pitch perfect songs

The dancing congregation
Who jump with such energy
The little babe on her sister’s hip
Who is suddenly thrust at me.

The missionaries of MCSPA
Who give their very lives
To make sure that their charges here
Not just survive but thrive!

These amazing people fill my heart
And move me to the core
They teach me not to grumble
‘Cos life is so much more

They teach me about gratitude
For every blessing big and small
That I should not seek more, but less
To be able to hear His call.

They teach me that though life is hard
And they have nothing much
They find joy in the smallest things,
A smile, a hug, a touch

They teach me He’s not just in my friends
But in strangers everywhere
And in the desert I found His face
His passion, His cross, His care.

I find the missions inspiring
Each with a beauty of their own
Nariokotome, Kokuselei, Todonyang, Lobur
Each day my respect has grown

The fathers and their volunteers
Show it doesn’t matter
They can do a million things
Though they are few in number

Their actions show unconditional love
They make concrete Christ’s words and teaching
Thank you my friends for your great love
You are awesome and inspiring!

By Elayne Ho

Elayne and her husband Stephen visited the MCSPA missions in Turkana, Kenya, in June 2017, together with another couple Michael and Hun Ching; both couples are from Singapore. Their stay in Turkana was short but very intense, as the poem above, written from the heart, demonstrates.