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

Our MCSPA house in the Philippines serves several purposes: on the one hand is a study house for our priests who seek further studies, and our philosophers and theologians, as well. And on the other hand it is also a spring board from where we can reach many places in the South East Asia in order to carry out missionary animation and vocational promotion, as well as bridging between Asia and Africa. This apostolate has already borne fruits as the Diocese of Antique in the Philippines, has sent two priests to take care of the parish of St. James in Kaikor, Turkana, and a congregation of sisters to take care of outstation Kaleng.

Fr. Francis Teo and Ambrose Wanyonyi went to Panay Island, recently. They went particularly to San Jose Antique, which is the home of the Philipino priests and sisters mentioned above. At San Jose, they gave talks at two universities: St Anthony’s College and the University of Antique for vocation promotion, establishing new relations with the clergy and some families and strengthening our bonds with the people that have always been there to assist us.

They then proceeded to Iloilo City, about a 3-hour ride away, to establish contacts with colleges and also some priests there and to see Archbishop Lazo who is now the Archbishop of Jaro. He had been to Turkana in Kenya.

They also visited the Judicial Vicar of Jaro who also responded positively on our mission campaign. He has invited us, in the later part of this year, to give talks to the lay leaders there on mission, so as to create more awareness of missionary work, especially since this is the Extraordinary Year of the Missions.

They then went on to Cebu for vocation promotion activities, and Victor Otieno and John Amadi joined our team from there. On Sunday morning Fr. Francis con-celebrated the 8 am mass in Cebuano the local dialect and presided over the 10 am mass at Sibonga Parish, outside of Cebu City. There, the local parish priest had invited us to his rural parish on many occasions. After the 10 am mass, we met with some youth of the parish at the parish hall, where we held a talk and showed videos on the missions in Turkana. The youth were very excited and asked lots of questions about our missionary life in Africa. We were also invited to present another talk at the San Carlos Major Seminary in Cebu, where we met Msgr Rey, the Rector, and also the Vocations Promoter and other priests. They were very interested and welcoming. There were about 80 seminarians.

The Vocation Promoter invited us for the Archdiocesan Vocations Jamboree which will be held in Cebu from the 23rd to 24th of February. The MCSPA will be invited to do vocations campaign.

It is our hope that with these talks we have planted a missionary spirit in the youth that we met. Especially as we prepare for the coming month of October when the Church will celebrate the extraordinary month of Missions. We continue praying that, God willing, some Philipino vocations may join our community in the years to come. We entrust this endeavour to the patron saints of our house in Manila: St Joseph and St Francis Xavier.

By Victor Otieno and Ambrose Wanyonyi

The members of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) in different countries remembered their founder who passed on 6 years ago.

At Nariokotome Mission, where Fr. Paco was laid to rest, the villages came in large numbers to remember him, carrying branches while singing and dancing. It was a great celebration as we fondly remembered Fr. Paco as a man who brought light to people, like a lighted candle in a dark room.

Lillian Omari – MCSPA

The Ethiopian high plateau, 2,700 metres above sea level, is the highest plain on the continent. It used to be called the “roof of Africa”.

It belongs to the Oromo region and makes up the North Shoa area which has several demarcations called “Woreda”. Only in the Wuchale Woreda where the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) has been present since 2007, live 130,000 people. The capital of Woreda is Muketuri, a village of 17,000 inhabitants, the centre of activities of the MCSPA.

Climate in this region is extreme: 3 months of stormy and abundant rains and 9 months of drought. Temperatures range from 27 degrees during the day to 4 degrees at night. The percentage of humidity in the rainy season is 70%.

The harshness of the climate is undoubtedly part of the character of the population, strong, coarse, survivors; but also kind when they know you and you stay. Incredulous with those who come and go and grateful with those who accompany them in the long term.

The MCSPA began helping in villages with hand-dug wells in 2011 when a group of peasants approached the San Jose Maternal and Child Center that the MCSPA launched in 2008, showing interest in vegetable gardens.

The surprise of seeing how in the dry season plants grow that can be eaten. The secret is only water.

All the water that falls in summer drains through the cliffs, causing great erosion, but it leaves water in the superficial water tables. With a simple system of excavating with pick and shovel one finds water between 8 and 18 meters. Enough so that by installing cement cylinders and a rope pump 5 families can have water for daily consumption and plant a small vegetable garden.

A big change is made in the families that have a garden: the girls no longer have to fetch cloudy, dark-coloured water from streams and they can go to school. The diet includes beets, courgettes, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, chard, onions… Some even start selling in local markets.

In the last 7 years 104 wells have been dug. Five wells have also been drilled in places where a community garden with drip irrigation has been installed.

But many villages remain without water. Many malnourished children continue to come to the Centre, because the food is reduced to the cereal produced during the rainy season, which is insufficient in quantity and quality. Growth retardation is permanent and transmitted from generation to generation.

Access to water breaks the cycle, and opens the possibility of a better diet, which, together with the exposure of the population to new possibilities, education, health ultimately offers a hopeful vision for the future.

The MCSPA has launched a program of dinning rooms in 4 villages with the aim of being able to extend it to more villages, so that together with water, food and agricultural production the population can have access to a more dignified present and future.

But we must continue to look for water. Walk under the sun finding faces toasted by the sun, which smile when they recognize the white and pale complexions of the missionaries who come from Muketuri. The women hurry to prepare coffee, always accompanied by something to eat.

The last place we visited, a village located in a valley behind the cliffs, called Nono, a landscape precious and imponent.

Together, we’re still looking for water

Lourdes Larruy

MCSPA

Today’s feast – the Conversion of St. Paul – is an important day for the MISSIONARY COMMUNITY OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE. It was also an outstanding day for our founder, Fr. Francisco Andreo, as it was on this day that he started his journey to the priesthood. May St. Paul the Apostle, our patron saint, inspire us in our journey to conversion and fill us with his missionary zeal.