Today we distributed over 200 mosquito nets to families at Ronas Gardens a depressed area (slum) within the parish where we have our Formation House.

The 200-odd families were very happy and were all smiles on receiving the large nets which were donated by friends.

The proper organisation of all the families and the distribution of the mosquito nets was made possible with the help of Ma’am Yeng, who is the “Secretary” of Ronas Gardens settlement.

Rev. Victor Otieno, MCSPA

The chance was too good to pass up. For the first time, our parish in Singapore – the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (OLPS) – was holding a visual exhibition to showcase its various outreach activities.

The event, which saw different ministries putting up display panels over two weekends, was prompted by Pope Francis’ designation of October 2019 as the Extraordinary Mission Month. 

My husband, Michael, and I thought it was the perfect platform to promote our ongoing collaboration with Fr. Francis Teo and his team in Manila. 

We had visited Nariokotome and other MCSPA Missions in Kenya in June 2017, and were moved to spread the word about the community’s tireless work after we came back. 

At a church camp later that year, we shared our experience and had people coming up to us wanting to find out more. 

Like us, most of them were keen to expose their kids to outreach activities that would help pave the way for an others-centred life in an increasingly self-absorbed world. 

Many children in Singapore are blessed with a comfortable life but not attuned enough to appreciate their good fortune.

A trip to Turkana, however, is neither an easy nor cheap one to make. Instead, Fr. Francis proposed a group visit to MCSPA’s Asian base in Metro Manila. 

When some of the potential visitors asked what they could do to help, he gave his standard reply: “Just come and see.” 

So in December 2018, five families from OLPS went and had a glimpse of MCSPA’s scope of work in a few slum areas. 

Over four days, we visited some of the homes, organised Christmas parties for the families and distributed food and presents.  

We didn’t do much. But the seven youngsters in our group of 16 learnt first-hand that applying their talents and resources  – no matter how meagre they might seem  – for the good of others brings much joy and meaning in life.

This is not a one-off, feel-good project though. We have scheduled another visit to the Manila Mission in December this year. This time, the group size has nearly doubled to about 30 people.

Through these annual visits, we hope to forge a long-term relationship with some of the families there and continue to support MCSPA’s work in any way we can. 

This is also the message behind our display panel at OLPS, which featured photos from our Manila trip in 2018, summed up what we did there and shared the ethos of MCSPA.

May we, like the missionaries of MCSPA, learn to put our faith into action and share the Gospel through personal witness and welcome. 

By Gemma Tee

On the 8th and 9th of November we had a colourful graduations at St. Teresa – Riokomor and ST. Mary -kokuselei Mother and Child centres (MCC’S). 

It was the first time we have graduations at Saint Teresa Centre which was officially opened in April this year. 12 children have graduated and will be joining the primary school next year. They were accompanied by their parents and the whole community during the celebration.

At St. Mary, mass celebrated by Fr. Denis followed by the graduation. 31 children will soon be attending grade 1 at Kokuselei primary school after completing PP2 at our pre-primary centre.

Both communities mentioned their appreciation for the work done by the MCSPA in Kokuselei – Riokomor area.

Eleni Tsegaw- MCSPA

Never in my youth did I plan on visiting Turkana, and even less did I imagine that I would be living here. I did not even think that I would be able to speak and write in other languages apart from English and Kiswahili. And this was an absolutely new world that was opened to me thanks to the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) and especially Fr. Francisco Andreo, the founder, and Fr. Francis Teo, who invited me to participate in their vision and experience. Thus I was able to see things differently and discover in my life the value of directing my gaze towards others and to help them, in small gestures, to discover Jesus in this way: “Because I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was homeless and you gave me a shelter; I was naked and you clothed me; sick and you visited me; in prison and you came to see me.” (Mt. 25:35-36)

In those times, travelling for two days by road was something unimaginable which only a few crazy people would have done. In addition, it was very adventurous to go to a place like Turkana taking into account that people from the southern part of Kenya, like me, do not know its history or culture, and that most of us find it difficult to recognize it as a part of Kenya.

I grew up in Nairobi and was fortunate enough to belong to a generous and very Catholic, middle class family (as they are described these days). My parents had to work very hard to make sure that their children enjoyed a decent education, have food on the table every day and that they grow to be good and God-fearing people.

Living in this environment, I grew up believing in certain values: there was need to study hard, get good results, look for a good job, help our parents and siblings so that they have a good life, get married and continue doing the same with our children, and they with their children. I did not think that I could see things from a different perspective. But this journey to Turkana helped me to undo the prejudices that I had, including towards my own family, like for example, that we were the poorest in the neighbourhood because we did not own a car or did not eat meat every week. It was only when I saw the poverty that was in Turkana, I realized that we were very privileged indeed!

I knew about the MCSPA through my cousin George Ouma, who in those days was living with the missionaries, with Fr. Francis in particular – and he wanted to be a priest like the other missionaries. He came to my home and narrated to us what he was doing in Turkana and from then on, I felt a great urge to go there too. This was only to know this interesting but strange place called Turkana.

The journey was very, very long. The two days of travelling appeared unending and I thought that we would never arrive. Fr. Fernando Aguirre was driving a 4-wheel drive vehicle. It was my first time to ride in a 4-wheel drive vehicle apart from only seeing them in movies! The car, filled to the brim with foodstuff, medicines, furniture, chicks, saplings with only a little space in which we fit four people in the pick-up. We travelled with some Turkana boys namely, Napocho, Ekalukan and Morita. They explained to me little details about Turkana. These stories gave me the morale and illusion to continue with the journey and slowly by slowly, I overcame the initial fear and prejudices about this very remote area.

I remember we stopped somewhere during the journey and Fr. Fernando, Natalia, one of the lay missionaries, and the boys brought out a basket, and all of a sudden we made a wonderful improvised picnic with Spanish omelette, bacon, mangoes and water – a complete meal! This was another small gesture that made me change my way of thinking and helped me look at things in a different way. I never thought of carrying food during a trip, I always thought that one could stop and go to the shop and buy it. To my surprise, Fr. Fernando told me: “Even if you had the money, where are the shops to buy? If you want to be a good missionary, you have to be prepared to think of others first before yourself.”

As we approached Turkana, I realised that the landscape had become very dry and sparse as we could only see some camels and goats crossing the road once in a while and small groups of huts made of sticks and branches. The boys explained to me that those were the houses of the people, and I thought to myself, “But where are they taking me? This appears like the end of the world!” 

Finally we arrived at Nariokotome Mission. There, after two days of travelling, I said: “Finally we are at home”. We offloaded everything from the car and I was taken to a house by one of the women missionaries who told me, “This is your room, please take a shower. We will have lunch in an hour’s time and later you will go to rest.” I gave a sigh of relief … and retired to my room!

Some few minutes later, I heard a call of “Emergency! Emergency!” When I looked out through the window, I saw Natalia, who was a medical doctor as well, running towards the car. I went out and inquired what was happening. She told me “Board the car and let’s go! We are going to see to a pregnant woman who is unable to give birth.” I went into the car and she drove – like one doing the Safari Rally competition – up to Riokomor in the mountains. It was a very bumpy ride. On arrival, we met a pregnant woman who had been in labour for two days without delivering; she was very anaemic and did not have much strength. Dr. Natalia took the “basket” of the car and prepared tea with a lot of sugar, gave it to the lady to drink, and we then put her into the vehicle and hurried back to Nariokotome Mission because the main dispensary is located there.

After forty minutes bouncing along on the track, those at the back of the pick-up shouted to us to stop. When we alighted to see what the commotion was all about, we discovered that the baby had already been born! I understood nothing at that time, but I was just very happy because the lives of the mother and baby were no longer in danger. When we arrived at Nariokotome, Natalia explained to me that thanks to the cup of very sweet tea that she had given the mother to drink and all the bumping around of the car, the mother was able to gather sufficient strength to muster the contractions and to give birth.

Since small details such as these occurred severally during my stay there, they definitely made me look at things in their proper perspective and see things differently from how I did before.

I was in the mission for two months helping in whatever way I could: in the kitchen, in the garden, at the mobile clinic and nutritional centre, cleaning etc. In summary, I was doing many things that I had not done before in my own home. From the first day, I felt more as one of the community rather than a visitor, despite the fact that they were people from different countries: Kenyans, Colombians, Venezuelans, and Spanish. There was something that united them: they all loved.

I went back to Nairobi and began to study. Six months later after my experience in Turkana, when I had already forgotten that way of life that I had experienced, my cousin George arrived again and asked me if I would like to go for a Mass in which the missionaries had invited me. Although I had already been for mass, I went again. There, I met again Fr. Paco and Fr. Francis. It was a simple Mass with a few persons. However, I felt something that I do not know how to explain. Something happened within me that took me back to the same happiness that I experienced during those first two months when I was in Turkana.

At that moment, I could not tell whether I had a missionary vocation. But this happiness, the importance of learning the concerns of others and directing one’s look towards the other were things that made me think again as to what I wanted to do and be in life. Through these small experiences that I have narrated, I discovered the treasure that was in Turkana with the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle. The invitation to the Mass in Nairobi that weekday, the motivation from Frs. Paco and Francis to think of me and being concerned about inviting me, and later the spark that lit this flame inside me, and which slowly by slowly was fanned alive by people who thought not only of themselves, but rather wished to share their happiness with me and others. I believe that the combination of these small gestures, people and motivations ended up awakening this missionary call in me. If they would not have invited me to this Mass, I think I would have ended up doing what everybody else does: study, work, help the family, get married and have children. I thank Francis for inviting me to that Mass which eventually moved something in me!

This call within me, intensified by the people who have surrounded me during these 20 years, has been the motivation that made me into who I am and be where I am now, in the Mission of Nariokotome. 

I would wish that God illumines and gives me the strength to be able to share all that I have learnt along this road, as it is said in the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: “Make me a channel of your peace.”All that I do is first of all to thank God for giving me life, to my family, to the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle and also the support and help that comes from my friends in Spain, Kenya, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany … They support us with their friendship, prayers and material assistance in order to do all these works.

During these years I have lived a multitude of experiences, sometimes good and sometimes bad. I have visited and lived in many different countries (Ethiopia, Colombia, Germany) with different people. I speak different languages, and all these have made me into a humble and, I would like to believe, a better person. It has also moved me to try and share my happiness with other persons of encountering Jesus in others through small gestures. I hope that my experience will help others encounter this same happiness, always carrying God’s smile to all places.

Lillian Omari, MCSPA

It is always difficult to explain how one’s vocation was born. My case is not as striking as one may imagine. People often consider the missionary or the religious person as someone so special, almost describing them as extraordinary beings. However, it is not like that. We have so much to learn from others. What characterizes us is that we have a deep love for those who are marginalized, even when this is not always easy. 

As you can see by my name, I am Italian even though now I have little in me from Italy, because I have been living in Kenya for more than  28 years and, as you know, here we speak English and Kiswahili; in our community, we speak Spanish and English. In short, I do not know what language I speak anymore, probably a mixture of everything. 

Let me tell you how I arrived to this remote land. I lived in a small village called Pietraforte, in the province of Rieti, in Italy. At the time my town had around 100 people, and I am not exaggerating. Many people had left the town looking for jobs in the larger cities. The parish priest was from Spain. One day, he came to celebrate a funeral in the town and I went to see him, to request a certificate for one of my cousins who was getting married. I saw the priest’s car outside the church and two young women sitting inside. I got close, opened the door and sat with them. The young women were surprised to see me and I explained to them why was I there. They spoke to me half in Spanish and half in Italian. They were two lay missionaries of the Missionary Community of Saint Paul Apostle, who talked to me during more than half an hour about what they were doing in Kenya. I told them that I had always wanted to be a missionary, but that every time I approached the priest he introduced me to nuns, to see if I wanted to be a religious sister, and I saw that this was not for me. 

After a while the priest came and invited me to go with them to Rome, because Fr. Paco was arriving that day. I went with them. From the first moment Paco saw me, he invited me to go with them to Kenya. He seemed too determined, to me. It was the first time that someone who did not know me trusted me at first sight, and I told him yes, I would go. I was with them for two days, and even though everyone tried to talk to me in Italian I could barely understand them, and I did not speak Spanish at the time. 

That was how some months later I left my family. I had previously a brother, four years younger than me. He was born premature, six months into my mother’s pregnancy. He had to stay in an incubator for some time. Later was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and lived only until he was nine, when I became an only child. Fortunately, my four-year-old cousin came to live with our family after his father died and my mother raised him until he was 14, and went back to live with his mother. Then I really became an only child. Nonetheless, my parents did not oppose my going to Kenya. At the beginning they missed me a lot, but later they accepted it. 

Now, after many years, I understand well Paco’s determination to call me to leave everything and follow Christ, in order to go where there is nothing, where people are so poor that they live with “less than nothing”, in Turkana. 

When I came to Kenya I lived for a long time in Nairobi. I was the only Italian in the community and I only spoke Italian. Many times I felt odd, I wanted to go and live in Turkana, in the desert, and not in a large city. I remember that at the beginning I only wanted to be with one of the young missionaries whom I had met in my village, but she had to go to another mission in Bolivia and it was hard to adapt to the rest. My mother would call me occasionally for a minute to see if I was well, and even though I always said yes, she noticed that it was not true. I never told her, but it was very difficult to leave my family and my “small world” where I was used to do everything I wanted, to travel and to make my own choices. 

The first months were like this: “I like it, but…”. After some time everything began to change: I understood better the meaning of the life I had embraced. The love and, most of all, the patience that the community had with me were extraordinary. After some months I decided to stay. It was after visiting Turkana, after seeing how people lived, after seeing the work done there. I think that Turkana moved me, and the thought that I could be useful changed me. 

During the 28years I have been with the Community my mother has come almost every year to stay with us. She felt at home, teaching people to sew, embroider, and cook Italian pasta, sausages and other things. It is beautiful to see how one’s family can become a part of the Community, and at the end we all form one, big family. When they come they serve others, they learn to love our people in the mission and have a better understanding of the things I have explained to them. 

It was not mere coincidence that my small village had a Spanish priest. Everything came from God’s hands, who was there. I simply had the door open, and I hope that God’s hand will continue to guide me on the mission’s paths, wherever He wants to take me 

Patrizia Aniballi, MCSPA