I was living in Malawi with the members of MCSPA for six months. These six months were one of the greatest times of my life.

I observed, that going to Africa, going to an economically poor country like Malawi changed myself more than I maybe changed the feeling of the people living in Benga.

The members of MCSPA tought me that to help and to serve people in need can open your heart, not only to their needs and problems but also to your own belief and spirituality. Being back in Germany I still feel the connection to the people in Benga.

Furthermore I am able to feel new connections to people more intensively here in Germany, because I have really learned that beside all our individual problems in daily life, at the end of the day we all want the same –  we all want to be loved, accepted and part of  a community. I am more than thankfull for this experience and life lesson.

Valentino Amian

(Germany)

Today June 23, 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the first members of the MCSPA to start living permanently in Turkana. It was on the eve of St. John the Baptist’s Day and in spite of the precariousness of the situation we managed to celebrate the feast the best way possible. We arrived at an empty house and with a few things that we had been able to carry in a borrowed car. So many things have happened since then! From the small dispensary that already existed, we were able to go to the border with Ethiopia and South Sudan with our presence and work covering an important part of northern Turkana to this day: health, water, nutrition, education, agriculture …. Also From Turkana, cradle of Humanity, we went out to the whole world, America, Europe, Asia to continue sowing hope and to make Africa known to those who did not know about it to promote solidarity among all peoples, in the style of St. Paul.

One of the most interesting things is that children of those days are now adults, with their own families, growing and improving their lives and those of their families. The integral development of the human person has been and remains to this day our primary goal, including evangelization, showing the world a Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the full Life for all. As Bishop John Mahon, the first bishop of Lodwar (Turkana) said, our mission is to liberate all those oppressed by hunger, ignorance and opportunities.

We thank God for bringing us to the desert, a place of trial and at the same time a wonderful place of encounter with the Creator, where you can contemplate beauty of the human being in its purest, simplest state. We entrust ourselves to Mary, Mother of the Church, so that we may continue along this path to the end.

Cecilia Puig, MCSPA

Yesterday we inaugurated and blessed the new St. Lorenzo Ruiz Mother and Child Centre at Nakorukoru, an outstation of Nariokotome Mission.

The centre has 80 children at pre-school level who receive an education and a proper diet. The centre is close to a borehole that was already drilled by the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle for the people in the area. This will allow us to teach the mothers practical skills of agriculture and so would be able to feed their families better. In addition the centre will serve as a meeting point where families will be able to learn and share many inputs with the Mission.

We would like to thank all who have this dream a reality. Thanks to all who participated in the celebrations, Fr. Antonio, Fr. Francis, Patrizia, Escolastica, Lenny and all the visitors from Singapore.

Lenny Jillo

Today at Nariokotome Mission all the workers have taken a step ahead to keep our environment clean. This activity was organised because recently one of the cows of the mission died after eating plastic bags. Thus all Nariokotome team took this initiative to collect litter today and keep our environment free of plastics. All around Africa urban and semi-urban areas are polluted because of plastic bags and our population lack awareness on environmental cleanliness. By this initiative we hope to be an example to others around us especially the young ones!
Keep Nariokotome clean! Save lives!

Lillian Omari, MCSPA

Everything starts with a step, as for us in Nyangatom Mission we are starting a new beginning… to open the road to our future new Mission in naturomoe hill, Nyangatom (South of Ethiopia). As we opened our way through thorns and bushes, breaking rocks and removing boulders, we remembered that our life and mission is also full of thorns, and stones, which apparently block us from achieving our dreams, but that in reality make us stronger if we persevere through those obstacles.

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.'” – Luke 3:4-6

Fr. Angel Valdivia, MCSPA

On 18^th January 2017, the Kenya and County Governments declared that the current drought situation in Turkana is at an alarming stage. As the situation worsens, an emergency drought situation was declared by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA). The situation has deteriorated further as rains continue to fail. The affected areas are Turkana and other arid and semi-arid parts of Kenya. The MCSPA is making an appeal to their friends and benefactors to lend a helping hand to the people affected by the drought.

Objective of the Project

Emergency Humanitarian Aid to mitigate the effects of drought on the most vulnerable population.

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries will be the different sectors of the population inhabiting northern Turkana County where the MCSPA run projects in certain missions. The direct beneficiaries will be approximately 30,000 persons. The project will be focused on the vulnerable groups of the population, especially the sick, the elderly, pregnant and breast-feeding women, children, HIV/AIDS sufferers, the widows, the orphaned and the socially marginalized.

How can you help? 

Paypal:

DONATE

From Kenya:

MPESA Paybill Number: 830286

Account Name: NEW WAYS FOR AFRICA

Cientos de pastores nómadas kenianos pertenecientes a la etnia Turkana han sido expulsados de Uganda por las tropas de este país, según fuentes de Caritas Lodwar y la Comunidad Misionera de San Pablo Apóstol (MCSPA). El ejército ugandés ha alegado como motivo que los Turkana estaban armados y eso podía provocar enfrentamientos con los pastores nómadas locales, que en los últimos años han sido desarmados por su gobierno.

En las confluencias de Uganda, Kenia, Sudán del Sur, Etiopía y Somalia – países que conforman el denominado Gran Cuerno de África – se encuentra la mayor concentración de pastores nómadas del planeta. El bajo desarrollo económico y las graves sequías que afectan a esta zona convierten el pastoreo en la principal fuente de subsistencia de la población, que vive en condiciones de extrema pobreza. La ausencia de infraestructuras y la escasa presencia gubernamental agravan una situación ya de por sí dramática.

Armas en lugar de servicios básicos

Según explica el P. Fernando Aguirre, misionero de la MCSPA, en su libro Pastoralists Conflict in the Horn of Africa “cada año, cuando comienza la estación seca, miles de pastores kenianos se ven obligados a desplazarse en busca de pasto para su ganado hacia zonas situadas dentro del territorio de Uganda, Sudán del Sur o Etiopía. Con frecuencia esto provoca tensiones y enfrentamientos que terminan en tragedia, debido al exceso de armas en la zona”.

Tradicionalmente, los gobiernos de Uganda, Kenia, Sudán del Sur, Etiopía y Somalia no tenían mucha presencia en la región donde confluyen sus fronteras y solían delegar la seguridad en sus habitantes, a quienes se proporcionaba armas y municiones en lugar de servicios básicos.

Labores de desarme

“En los últimos años ha habido un cambio de actitud y los gobiernos se han mostrado firmemente determinados a tener una mayor presencia en sus respectivos territorios”, explica el P. Fernando Aguirre, “pero este cambio es lento y no está resultando fácil”.

La MCSPA desarrolla una intensa labor humanitaria y de desarrollo en esta región desde su base logística, situada en Nariokotome, al norte de Kenia, y tiene presencia en tres puntos de los corredores de Kenia-Etiopía y Sudán del Sur. “Sólo en uno de ellos han muerto 32 personas en los últimos seis meses a causa de estos conflictos armados”, advierte el P. Fernando.

Redacción MCSPA.