In the tradition of the Oromo tribe in Ethiopia horses are adorned for the great celebrations of life: a wedding, a birth, a funeral… And now, the farmers of Abo Kaso wanted to celebrate by adorning their horses that they´ve got water thanks to the drilling of a well, as a sign of how important water is for life!

Last Friday, June 14, a hundred people waited on the main stone road for the vehicle of the members of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle who live in Muketuri. From there several kilometers across the field to the place of the well a score of peasants on horseback surrounded the car and singing they started their typical dances that are done on the horse back. All of them with the coloured saddle with the motive of the Lion of Judah, a sign of Ethiopian culture.

These were sublime minutes! A vast landscape of the Ethiopian plateau, 3,000 meters above sea level, people hardened by poverty and cold, today, wrapped up in celebration: having a water tap has changed the lives of 68 families, more than 500 people!

When arriving at the place of the well the construction of a 4 meters high structure of reinforced concrete is glimpsed. A deposit of 10.000 liters is going to be placed there from where the gardens will be irrigated with a system of drip irrigation… When approaching to the place a group of women dancing and singing to the rhythm of their clapping hands receive us, next to the deposit they are already taking water from every morning and afternoon; an event that this community celebrates like a milestone…

The Community of Abo Kaso has waited for 4 years, since they made the petition to the MCSPA to get water. Many of the children in Muketuri’s malnourished children’s care programme come from this village, which until now only disposed of water from small streams and puddles, a murky, scarce water that forced women and girls to walk miles to fill their 25-litre jerrycans.

Now, they have a well with a flow of 4 litres per second, for domestic use and to plant gardens in the dry season and add vegetables to their diet.

As part of the programme, they have received training in home gardening, composting, crop rotation, nutrition and hygiene.

It was a great experience to celebrate with these men, women and children the importance of water, an event comparable to the celebrations of the mystery of life, birth, death … and now, to have water!

At the celebration, for which they put up an overhang, benches, and cooked a sheep, the speeches followed a prayer of thanks from the local elders and poems from several young people.

The MCSPA missionaries thanked God for the occasion, and proposed a prayer for the common dream of a more just world, as God wants it, and for which people leave their homes and families and share their lives with people so far away.

The applause followed the request to cooperate all from our possibilities so that the children of this community could have a dignified future.

Lourdes Larruy, MCSPA.

20 farmers from the villages of Arkiso and Gore Ketema visit the agricultural project at Jebene, Ethiopia.

On 30th May – the feast day of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth – a group of farmers from the villages of Arkiso and Jebene from the Ethiopian plateau visited Jebene, where the MCSPA is present since 2014.

With great expectations, the farmers trekked to St. Joseph’s Mother and Child Centre in Muketuri where two vehicles were waiting to ferry them to Jebene, 20 km from Muketuri on a gravel and dirt road. In Jebene, the MCSPA started in 2014 excavating hand-dug wells and organizing agricultural courses to start family vegetable gardens. This was following the request of the women and men after seeing the vegetable garden of the Mother and Child Centre at Muketuri. They demonstrated their interest by producing in the dry season. From then, 70 men and women have undertaken the course, and in 2016 a well was drilled and a drip-irrigation system was set up in a 1,000 sq. m. plot. The Emalaikat Foundation, Arcadi Motion Picutres, the Autonomous University of Madrid and the Foundation Harena participated in this project.

The secret to this community’s proper functioning is due to the presence of an extraordinary man: Tibabew (a word which means “wisdom”) who is the owner of the land where the project is being carried out. Tibabew is a man recognized by all as a “good man”. In 2018, he offered more land to enable more farmers to use the drip-irrigation system to produce onions, zucchini, cabbage, spinach, carrots, beetroot etc. during the whole year. This is a big change in a society where only some cereals are produced in the rainy season. Now they have 3 harvests in a year which the families share for the own consumption and they have also started to sell vegetables in the local markets nearby.

Furthermore, in 2018 a feeding programme for children under 7 years and pregnant women was started; this was to ensure growth through an appropriate nutrition.

Tibebew was proud to explain how they shared the vegetables produced and how he goes to the vegetable garden every morning to collect vegetables for the feeding programme.

It was an encounter full of optimism and hope, but it was also a challenge for the visitors. All were happy to see the fruits of their effort and they shared their fight to improve their situation and that of their children, very much like Mary and Elizabeth in the Gospel!

The women of Jebene prepared food for all: they slaughtered a sheep and shared the bread that the visitors brought from their villages. At the coffee ceremony, the leaders form each place gave thanks for the encounter.

The met each other, they shared experiences … they visited each other.
Many expressed their wish to repeat this experience and in the future the farmers would visit the different communities.

If it has been possible at Jebene, it will also be possible in Arkiso and in Gore Ketema! And, we hope in many more villages!!

Lourdes Larruy. MCSPA

Bishop Dominic Kimengich visited Kenya Security Personnel in Todonyang and Lobur area. He encouraged them to continue ensuring peace around these areas and the Kenyan border at large.

After the 6th Peace conference that was held in Lodwar a few days ago, Bishop Dominic visited some of the border areas along the Lake Deanery, encouraging Christians to remember that peace starts with disarming our hearts and minds first in order to be able to do away with guns.

The Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) is also trying to build peace in these areas with the different development work carried out for the people along the border areas through dams that provide water for both communities, a health post to provide health and curb malnutrition through the Mother and Child Centres that they run, and all the pastoral activities to constanly speak about peace. Let us go out and be people who bring peace wherever we go.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossian 3:15.

Lillian Omari – MCSPA

When life is so low and down, it is difficult to be thankful for anything. So it was for Mr. Alemayehu when his wife and two of his children passed away. Alamayehu was left with only one son. He himself suffered from severe elephantiasis. Alamayehu lost all hope of living and all he sought was to be in a place where he could rest in peace.

While working at his “kebele” or village, MCSPA members were informed of Alamayehu’s case. We immediately took him to Aman Hospital where he was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his left leg. The doctors advised that his leg be amputated. Alamayehu did not hesitate: he chose amputation because he wanted the pain to be taken away and to smile again.
 
After the surgery, we visited him at the hospital everyday. The smile on his face revealed the deep joy in his heart. Alamayehu’s gratitude only proved that it is not how much one gives, rather how much love is put into that giving that matters.

Alamayehu has since returned to his “kebele” in Bench Maji Zone. He is very grateful for being able to return home free of physical pain. He is conscious of the many graces that God has given him, the most important of which is that he is able to be with his only surviving son.

We thank all those who supported Mr. Alamayehu, for a helping hand is a great gift that brings a smile and joy to others.

Esther Kerubo MCSPA

Bishop Dominic Kimengich is currently visiting Nariokotome Mission after several days visiting other parishes in the lake deanery, Diocese of Lodwar. He has spent the day visiting the Mission primary school, the constructions taking place at that school. He later on visited St. Rita ECD/Nutritional centre.

The elders of the area and the women with the children in the ECD paid him a courtesy call where issues of social and spiritual development were discussed. The Bishop was gifted with two goats by the elders.

The Bishop finishes his visitation to the Deanery tomorrow with Mass and deanery meeting at Kalokol. It has been a pleasure to have our Shepherd visiting us.

Fr. Denis -MCSPA

Today in St. John the Evangelist Lobur Catholic mission, we witnessed young men and women graduating from agricultural course offered by the Farrows In the Desert (FID) project.

This was the 12th graduation since the programme begun 7 years ago. Bishop Dominic Kimengich, The bishop of Lodwar diocese presided over the ceremony today.

As a result of this project there are 120 farmers all over Turkana County who practice active agriculture. Fr. Alex gave a brief history of the programme and also acknowledged the efforts of Frs. Paco and Albert who were the brain child of this wonderful initiative in partnership with other Israeli organizations.

The new graguates were encouraged to cheerfully go and put the knowledge they have received into practice for the betterment of their respective villages.

Such a programme under the watch and direction from the MCSPA are alternative ways to eradicate hunger in Turkana region since it gives an alternative source of livelihood and food security.

Fr. Joseph Githinji

We were blessed to have the MEDs team from Nairobi visiting our health facility in turkana. MEDs is a faith based organisation that supplies quality medicines in the country.

Members of the team were Dr. Jane Masiga Managing Director MEDS, Shadrack Meme Marketing and Business Development Manager, Meshack Thananga Field Officer. During their visit they also enjoyed the priviledge of visiting the cradle of man kind: the place were the fossile of the homo-erectus or nariokotome boy was discovered. They also visited the lake turkana, the largest permanet desert lake in the world. In addition they also visited some of our patients in the dispensary and at their homes.

Now they are able to testify that the medicines that are purchased from them reach the furthest corners of Kenya. They later faciltated a two days workshop for all the medical staff at the DOL thanks to the medical coodinator Sr. Winne.

We are so grateful by their visit. We give thanks to all the donors who support our health program because it is thanks to them that we are able to purchase medicines from Meds and bring health to the community around Nariokotome.

Lillian Omari – MCSPA

As part of his pastoral visit to the Lake deanery, Bishop Dominic went to St. Phillip Neri, Maisa outstation, where he blessed the chapel and visited the nearby farm initiated by the project “Furrows In the Desert” which is run by the MCSPA from Lobur Mission. He addressed the congregation and urged them to have faith and be prayerful. “It is through faith and prayer that great things are achieved”. The outstation which is under St. Joachim and Anne Kibish Parish is run by members of the Missionary Community of St. Paul (Frs. Alex and Joseph). We pray that the young seeds of faith planted in Maisa will grow into a big tree for all to enjoy! Amen.

Fr. Wycliffe Ochieng MCSPA

Today, 25th May 2019, there was a great celebration at the Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Todonyang. The celebration was marked by several events which include; confirmation of 82 people, blessing of Class 8 2019 candidates, and blessing of the newly completed multipurpose hall (dining hall and kitchen inclusive).

Three years ago, we lost one of the elders from the Dassenech community in the school compound, when all were gathered to celebrate ten years since Todonyang mission re-opened and there was peace.

Today we have remembered that all who lost their lives in this border area from both Turkana and Dassenech communities. We pray that peace will prevail in this corridor and all who pass by Our Lady Queen of Peace School, will be ambassadors of peace wherever they go.

In his homily and speech, Bishop Dominic called all to be peace ambassadors.

Todonyang Integrated Centres was the best in Turkana North in last year’s KCPE exams. We thank all MCSPA members who previously worked in Todonyang and the current ones in the persons of Frs. Andrew and Wycliffe. We also thank the mission staff for making Todonyang what it is today. God bless you all!

Lillian Omari – MCSPA

Missionaries from Kokuselei and Teachers from the public and private pre-primary and primary schools of Riokomor and Kokuselei enjoyed recently an exposure trip to Our Lady Queen of Peace Integrated Centre in Todonyang. They learned from the educational work that both teachers and children are carrying out at the border. Especially the dedication and commitment they put.

We thank the entire team of teachers from the mission school and our MCSPA missionaries in this place for their warm welcome.

There are many teachers with a lot of talent teaching in Turkana, who contribute a great deal to improve the situation of the vulnerable children where they work. We hope to continue sharing more experiences such as this to grow together and make quality education possible in Turkana.

Diana Trompetero, MCSPA