From 8th-10th May 2019, the directors and heads of all Catholic schools under the Diocese of Lodwar underwent training on leadership skills at St. Teresa’s Center in Lodwar. The workshop was organized by the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle in collaboration with Strathmore University, on behalf of the Diocese of Lodwar. The sessions were conducted by a group of facilitators from Strathmore University in Nairobi. The key area that were looked at were:

a) Leadership and what it entails.
b) Catholic schools identity.
c) Mission and Vision in our schools.
d) Teaching, learning and assessment.

These key areas were looked into for the three days of the training by different facilitators, Fr. Steven Ochieng being one of them.

The last day of the workshop was graced by His Lordship Bishop Dominic Kimengich, who urged the directors and teachers to focus on the mission and vision of the Catholic private schools in the diocese for the betterment of the Diocese and Turkana county at large.

Fr. Andrew Yakulula MCSPA

Over the weekend we went on pastoral visitation to the villages around Dingimo, in Ave Maria Parish, in Tombura-Yambio Catholic Diocese, South Sudan.

Some in the group thought it was good to carry food if we were to spend the whole weekend. However, some of us knew better by experience that people would feed us and we would not be able even to finish all the food! Indeed, in every village we went people expected us to eat.

We were six in the party and they had arranged for us to sleep in the headmasters office in the Dingimo Primary School. In the afternoon we had a meeting with the school committee in the presence of the Sultan (chief). Then, towards the evening people started arriving with their sleeping mats. This is because, once the priest comes, people have to leave their houses in order to spend the night with us in the school and pray the Rosary together. We started with the Rosary at 9 pm, after supper, and it went on until almost 10:30 pm!

During this weekend we had baptisms in several villages, First Holy Communion and a Wedding.

People in Dingimo show that their Faith is Alive, since God is always with us in everyday life.

Fr. Avelino Bassols MCSPA

The children and families of Riokomor community celebrated on April 29th the blessing of their new preschool, St. Teresa’s Mother and Child Center.

This educational center is one step forward in a long journey of hope. This was already started by our founder the late Fr. Paco Andreo and the Missionary Community of St. Paul in this area of Northern Turkana many years ago. For this reason, the members of our community thanks those who, for almost twenty years, have accompanied the families of Riokomor in improving their living conditions through water infrastructures, health care, nutritional care of the young ones, the support of primary education, and all those initiatives that have allowed us to bring the Good News in this place.

Thanks to all this and to Sta. Teresa’s Mother and Child Center, the youngest children will be able to consolidate the foundations of a more dignified life for all their families. We thank our benefactors and friends who are making a better future possible for all of them.

Diana Trompetero, MCSPA

The children and families of Riokomor community celebrated on April 29th the blessing of their new preschool, St. Teresa’s Mother and Child Center.

This educational center is one step forward in a long journey of hope. This was already started by our founder the late Fr. Paco Andreo and the Missionary Community of St. Paul in this area of Northern Turkana many years ago. For this reason, the members of our community thanks those who, for almost twenty years, have accompanied the families of Riokomor in improving their living conditions through water infrastructures, health care, nutritional care of the young ones, the support of primary education, and all those initiatives that have allowed us to bring the Good News in this place.

Thanks to all this and to Sta. Teresa’s Mother and Child Center, the youngest children will be able to consolidate the foundations of a more dignified life for all their families. We thank our benefactors and friends who are making a better future possible for all of them.

Diana Trompetero, MCSPA

With joy and gladness we would like to thank God for Victor Otieno who was installed as Lector and Acolyte by Bishop Dominic Kimegich, Bishop of Lodwar, yesterday at the MCSPA House of Formation at Cubao, Metro Manila (Philippines). It was a joyful moment to see our friends in Manila joining in to witness this occasion. In his homily, the Bishop urged us to be holy servants of God and true witnesses to the Gospel of Christ wherever we are sent, just like the apostles did. We are all baptised and therefore are sent to bring the Good News.

Bishop Dominic, who was in the Philippines briefly to attend other key events, also blessed the House of Formation which is under the patronage of St. Joseph, patron of vocations, and St. Francis Xavier, patron of the missions.

Congratulations Victor for this step made in your journey to the priesthood!

Lillian Omari -MCSPA

In recent years, we have been able to set up 15 vegetable gardens in the area of Kokuselei, each one of them resulting from numerous efforts due to the difficulties of introducing agriculture in a place where the population had not seen it before. Each of the orchards is an important innovation in this mountainous, rocky and desertic area where grazing has always been the only way to survive.

We had the first meeting of farmers in the area of ​​Kokuselei to share the achievements and problems of this road through which they have decided to journey, and that involves numerous changes in their families and communities. Everyone is happy to have the possibility of producing food and not just depending on the herding of their flocks: unstable and weakened by the constant droughts.

It has been a meeting of pioneers, concrete people who produce their own food for their families, who boost the local economy and who incorporate nutrients and new vitamins into the diet of the Turkanas, who now have previously unknown vegetables and fruits.

The team of missionaries of the MCSPA in Kokuselei gives thanks to all the benefactors who have made possible the water infrastructures and everything necessary to start up these gardens, to the team of the Furrows in the Desert program of the MCSPA in Lobur for journeying with us in this way, and to each of the farmers of Kokuselei  who work for a Turkana without hunger.

Diana Trompetero, MCSPA

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead, restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.
Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him, give thanks to his holy name.His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.
The Lord listened and had pity. The Lord came to my help.For me you have changed my mourning into dancing: O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.

Psalm 29:2. 4-6. 11-13.

Kokuselei – School children’s Mass in the New church and meal.

The MCSPA Members at Kokuselei celebrated the feast of St Joseph with style. All the children of St. Joseph primary school and the whole village attended mass and shared a meal together. Let St. Joseph be the role model of the school.

Nariokotome – Celebrating the feast of St Joseph with plenty to eat!!

‘The children at St Joseph Mother and Child Centre – Nariokotome celebrated the feast of St Joseph with plenty to eat. Imitating the foot steps of St Joseph, a father to all, who provided for his children the same happens at the centre in Nariokotome. Let’s give the best to our children.

Muketuri MCC Ethiopia – Drawing to St Joseph

The children at St Joseph Mother and Child Centre – Muketuri Ethiopia, celebrated the feast by making the best drawings dedicated to St Joseph. Lets help these children develop their talents.

Feast of St Joseph – Andode Mission Ethiopia

The children of St Joseph Mother and Child Centre – Andode, were not left out for the feast of St. Joseph. It was great to see the children sing hymns to St Joseph. They shared the little they had together, but the best was the smiles on their faces.

Lillian Omari MCSPA

What is Spirulina?

Spirulina is a very nutritious superfood microalgae, which is naturally found in some soda lakes in East Africa, e.g. Lake Turkana. It can be cultivated optimally in waters with a water temperature of approximately 37 degrees Celsius at a pH of approximately 9.5 and corresponding salts in the culture medium. Due to its nutrient profile, the possibility of being grown in otherwise unusable water and the high yields, it is renowned as a “superfood”. At the 1974 UN World Food Conference it was described as “probably the best food for the future”. Spirulina is a nutritious superfood not only with its nutritional profile with many vitamins and minerals, high protein content (65g protein/100g) and energy content (300Kcal/100g), as well as the supply of micronutrients. The vitally important vitamin B family, vitamin E, folic acid as well as iron, zinc and selenium are particularly well represented. But also with its culinary versatility.

As an accompaniment to fish and meat and also for ugali, Spirulina makes a valuable contribution to taste and health. Spirulina is also considered an enormously promising food due to its high rates of harvest, low water and resource consumption and its ability to bind CO2 instead of consuming it. As Spirulina grows with cell division, the growth of Spirulina can easily be modelled according to Levasseuer. After about 120 days, one milligram of Spirulina produces about 1 kilogram. This way of growth makes Spirulina one of the most harvest-full plants to grow. Spirulina can feed 1,250 people on one hectare of arable land; by comparison, high-performance wheat can feed just 144 people per year. One kilogram of dry Spirulina consumes just 166 litres of water in production, while 1 kilogram of beef already consumes 15,000 litres of water, 1 kilogram of rice 5,500 litres. 741 kg CO2 are bound per ton of Spirulina.  

We grow Spirulina in Nariokotome-Anam!

Because here in Nariokotome the water is salty and alkaline, we can grow Spirulina naturally with high quality. It can grow better than in most other places in the world. It is good food for children, elderly, sick and people concerned about their health. Here in Anam, it also has a unique salty and sweet taste. Try it out now! You can get it from Joseph Ekoyan and Thomas Ekiru.

Daniel Kotter