For Mechela Kindergarten, Under Muketuri mission in Ethiopia, 15th of January 2023 will remain a remarkable day as they inaugurated new kitchen and toilets within its fence. The whole village of Mechela, young and old, gathered at the compound of Mechela Kindergaten to celebrate the opening of its new facility. From the entrance of the kindergarten, one could clearly see the grass which was spread on the ground to mark a traditional fragrance of the celebration.

The Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle (MCSPA) has always believed that integral education is a key to transform lives. With that intention, MCSPA has emphasized on quality education from the early stage of a child. It is equally important to note that poor health of children does not only compromise growth of the child but also result into educational setbacks and lowerperformance of the student. As a result, MCSPA rendered it an imperative to run centers which cater for the two principle needs of the students. Thus, education and nutrition. Mechela is an example of such centers which operate as an education unit and at the same time as a nutrition hub. The two-fold needs of the children are given a priority.

For some time, Mechela lacked proper facility like a kitchen and toilets to meet the required delivery of quality education to the children. This compromised the dream of MCSPA to always compliment education with pleasant nutrition and health of the student. Consequently, Josephine Amuma took an initiative to close this gap through a construction of a kitchen and toilets. Now the Kindergarten is also equipped with its own vegetable shamba (garden) and a wire fence to ensure its security.

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, Fr. Fernando stresses that, ¨A child’s early years are the foundation for his or her future development, providing a strong base for lifelong learning and learning abilities, including cognitive and social development. ¨ He also explained in simple terms the importance of early childhood education as an essential building block of a child’s future success.

Josephine was delighted with the collaboration of the local community. In her speech, she urged them to continue with the same spirit of commitment. She also assured them that children are the stronghold of the future, therefore worthy investing in them.

The ceremony reached its climax when the representatives of MCSPA shared a common meal with the local community of Mechela. As per tradition, the community had prepared njera, typical Ethiopian food, for lunch. During the meal, different performances were done by the children and the scouts from Muketuri. The cerebration ended with a coffee ceremony to mark its significance.

By Innocent Letasi

Very recently we had the visit of the Asturian veterinarians David Iglesias, Esteban Iglesias and Carlos Iglesias to Nyangatom, Ethiopia. Their last visit was in 2019, since then they could not come due to the pandemic and local sociopolitical problems. Once again, they have resumed the annual deworming campaign for the Nyangatom animals.

The team has had the significant help of local veterinary assistants and the support of the mission team.

It has been about 10 days of intense work and more than 15,000 goats and sheep have been dewormed. Many more could have been done, but due to the severe drought that is currently hitting the Horn of Africa, many of the herds and their herdsmen have migrated to mountainous grazing areas located north of the Nyangatom region, within the Omo national park, where there is no accessibility.

Despite this, we are very happy with the result and with the good reception by many local herders. We have been able to successfully complete the areas of Kakuta, Lorau, Lomuria, Naturomoe and Kaderinyang, benefiting about 5,000 people.

In addition, the veterinarians were able to carry out castrations of dogs, which will help reduce diseases with a high incidence in the area transmitted by these animals to humans, such as tapeworms, hydatid cysts, rabies and others.

We have experienced a multitude of anecdotes in a short time, and we have had very direct contact in the daily life, both full of difficulties and joys, of this very authentic Nyangatom people.

We thank the veterinary team from Spain, and all those people and institutions that have supported this much-needed project, remembering that the health of human beings is closely linked to the health of animals.

Thank you very much!

Fr. Angel Valdivia. MCSPA

We have recently returned from Ethiopia, from the project that the MCSPA is carrying out in Muketuri and that MOSSolidaria NGO supports, supporting the kitchen and checking the nutritional status of children under 7 years of age, pregnant and lactating mothers in the village of Gimbichu.

World Food Day is celebrated every year on October 16th, the anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) which was founded in 1945. This day aims to promote healthy eating and eradicate hunger, according to the 2030 agenda, by this year world hunger should be eradicated. I am very afraid that, although it could be achieved, it will not be so.

There are large pockets of poverty and a lot of hunger, for the few people who work on the ground, from the base. We have to be there, but also make known what the missionaries do, here, without our moral support and solidarity, it is very difficult that they carry so much forward. It is sad to know that, while some Western countries allow us to waste food, because we can pay for it and we have it within reach, others suffer from diseases derived from an insufficient and monotonous diet, which prevents them from developing their most essential capacities.

Boys and girls are born with low weight and suffer from the deficiencies presented by the wasting, that their mothers suffered. Then, their babies suffer, due to the lack of such basic and essential nutrients as proteins, vitamins and minerals.

The MCSPA mission in Muketuri, and its responsible, Lourdes Larruy, make an effort to maximize the feeding of the more than 370 boys and girls who attend the Muketuri mother and child center, plus the soup kitchens in the surrounding villages. The combination of the food is properly done, so that it is sustainable and provides the maximum of varied and complemented nutrients. This is not an easy task, if we take into account that to obtain milk you have to feed and care for the cows. To offer eggs you have to buy corn for the hens and that to provide vegetables you have to take the water to the garden, plus complement it with rice, pasta, vegetables, bread etc. Even so, the missionaries achieve it. In the kitchens they prepare delicious stews, which fill the atmosphere with a special smell, a traditional home, all of us, young and old, enjoy those delicious meals, simple but complete and well accompanied.

But hunger is not only alleviated with bread, it is also satiated with love, lots of love, with hope, with assistance and listening, with faith, a strong and powerful faith that is contagious and brings more faith and conviction that a more equitable world is possible. Because of that faith the missionaries continue there and in so many other difficult and hostile places, which they soften with their iron conviction, because they know that they are not alone, that God protects them and that other men and women are attentive to their needs. To continue with the mission of assistance, listening, health, personal growth, which they offer to those who request it. Thank you for enabling us to  hope that hunger can be alleviated!

Mari Olcina (10/16/2022)

Today in Lobur mission, the Furrows in the Desert marked the 17th Graduation Ceremony. This time, 14 graduates completed the 6 months of training which marks a full course.

The invited guests including our people from Lobur witnessed the colorful ceremony. Few members and guests were given a chance to say a word of congrats to the trainees, encouraging the graduates.

The term Food Security kept on being repeated by several speakers. The graduates promised to bring to reality what they have been learning at FID in the regions where they come from. Those who graduated came from different parts of Turkana county and one trainee from Nyangatom in Ethiopia, this made a great impression on everyone including government officials who were present during the graduation. May the Peace continue to reign in our region as we all work together in order to produce our daily bread.

Let’s make a green Turkana!!!

Fr. Joseph Githinji MCSPA

October 2022 will mark 10 years since the start of the Furrows in the Desert (FID) program. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the MCSPA program management has convened a participatory evaluation to assess the performance of the project during these 10 years, as well as to discuss the direction the program should take in the years to come.

The evaluation took place from 24th to 28th January, during which a team of MCSPA and FID together with external evaluators from the Turkana County, Utawala, Baraka College and others, visited different places to meet with farmers.

We had a very successful mission where the farmers shared their challenges and successes through open discussions about all the different aspects relating to farming, water, irrigation, infrastructures, and marketing among others. So far there are 221 farmers have been trained and 16 additional assistants have been installed in the last 10 years.

The evaluation ended and was crowned with planting trees in the model farm of Furrows in the Desert in order to mark the 10 years for the FID existence in Turkana.

Thanks to all the team involved in the assessment, and especially the Lobur Mission team plus Arava Institute, our Israeli partners for all of these years of effort, that has helped many families begin to realize that fruits can grow in the desert, to produce and improve life.

Fr. Joseph Githinji MCSPA Lobur Mission

When we rebuilt the mission of Our Lady Queen of Peace Todonyang 14 years ago, after many many years of being a “no-go-zone”, our main aim was to bring peace in the area. However, peace has been built and also destroyed on several occasions.

As MCSPA members living and working in Todonyang we will not stop striving to bring peace. Apart from the school, which is one of the main projects we run in the mission, we have been for many years building and distributing boats.

This year we are planning to build 18 more boats and distribute them to several families that will have from then on an income. With these boats, families will be able to take their children to Todonyang integrated school, and these same children will be one day the peace promotors in the area. These are not mere boats but boats that build peace and bring life.

Lillian Omari MCSPA

Yesterday, 11th June, in Lobur Mission, we celebrated the 15th graduation of Furrows in the Desert.

Every graduation confirms the success of this program as a way of making a difference in Turkana. Today there are 13 new farmers ready to be self-reliant, producing food and generating income for their own families from agriculture.

We want to thank all the support from the guests, especially from CEC Agriculture Philip Ebei, CEO Agriculture Dr. Jacob Loleia, Director Veterinary Services Dr. Benson Long’or, Ekwakai Lobek Sub-county Administrator, David Lonoko patron Kokuro elites, chief area Ezra, MCSPA Kokuselei Alexy, and Fridah, and the representatives of World Relief and Concern.

Also, to the ones that they were not able to be present, however, they are giving so much support to the graduates through TIPA project from Rotary International. Thanks to them the graduates will be able to start their own farms in their original place.

Thanks to all other partners, Turkana County Government, Arava Institute Israel, Emalaikat Spain, DKA Germany, New Ways UK and others at the local level that support furrows in the desert programme since the beginning, 9 years ago.

Congratulations to the new farmers, and wishing you a good future.

Maque Falgás

Never stop believing in one’s capacity which could rise like bread that rises from simple dough to become something delicious.
On 13th of March 2021, we inaugurated a Bakery at Nariokotome Mission, Turkana.

The celebration was presided over by Fr. Fernando and also present were Frs. Antonio and Denis among the other MCSPA members.

This is a project we had dreamt to initiate for long time. It is in line with the Late Fr. Paco’s dream (founder of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle), of creating as many initiatives as possible in order to avoid that neither children or people would ever go hungry. He used to go around always carrying a basket fully of bread to give to the nomadic children and the elderly in Turkana.

With this project we hope to empower the women through baking bread and pastries at very low and affordable cost to distribute to the children in the Mother and Child Centres.

Baking bread is like a miracle to me. Through the alchemy of fermentation, the dense mass of wheat magically rises and transforms into a fragrant loaf. Bread was the ancient food for our ancestors as seen in the Bible. After all, when the Israelites escaped from slavery into the desert, the Lord rained down bread on them from heaven (Exodus 16). It was a reminder that even if they would go through trials, they were not forgotten.

The same applies to the process of bread baking which is long and slow thus requiring patience. We mix the flour and yeast to make dough after which we pound it and place it in the oven to bake. When ready, we feed as many people as we can. The miracle of bread is like a metaphor in our lives in which we wait patiently for a miracle to unfold.

The women are enthusiastic to participate in this project and we hope to create more initiatives to transform their lifes and that of their families for the better.

Thank you to the entire Cantabria Labs family and many others who have made this dream a reality!

Lenny Jilo and MCSPA Nariokotome team

The MCSPA launched in 2018 a Pump Maintenance Unit (PMU) with the aim to secure the access to water in Turkana North.

The project is run by St. John the Evangelist, Lobur Catholic Mission. Three years down the line, the project has established itself in the area, where about 60 boreholes (30% of the total) are regularly checked, serviced and repaired.

The local communities contribute with a symbolic annual fee while at the same time are trained at the village level on how to maintain these essential facilities.

During 2020 Lobur Mission signed an ambitious three-year contract with a consortium of benefactors, to Improve the security of access to water and the environment management for Turkana North and Kibish sub-counties, with a total land of 17.500 sq. km inhabited by about 100.000 pastoralists.

The contract will now allow to equip the PMU to maintain not only the pumping facilities but the boreholes themselves, providing an integral service. Additionally to this main activity, awareness on rain water harvesting, environmental care, food security and sanitation and hygiene have now been included in the PMU Programme via Capacity Building Activities.

During the first week of December 2020 the first awareness activity took place at St. Eirin’s Nursery School where the following topics were addressed: desert agriculture practices, organic compost making and vegetable and fruits nutritional values, targeting a shift to a more varied and rich diet for the local inhabitants.

31 neo-farmers (23 women), coming from 11 different villages actively participated in a very intense workshop, with the collaboration of the Furrows in the Desert Programme and the Health Department of Lobur Catholic Mission.

Pablo Moñino, Lobur Catholic Mission

Partners consortium: Prince Albert the II of Monaco Foundation, Slovak Aid, UNESCO, Irish News and Emalaikat Foundation.

All the event was broadcasted live by Radio Akicha Lodwar.
https://www.facebook.com/101004203273481/videos/373448393754088/
https://www.facebook.com/101004203273481/videos/3570004013067449/
https://www.facebook.com/101004203273481/videos/373448393754088/

Videos:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vtbg6xl0ng5ilgk/VID_20201202_154157.mp4?dl=0

Audios with a description of the Project:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/npas0i11iwqw3ct/Audio%201.opus?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n35tc2g7u2tx4iy/Audio%202.opus?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8vxsdnjz08vso4i/Audio%203.opus?dl=0

Today we celebrated the 14th Graduation of “Furrows in the Desert” in Lobur Catholic Mission. The celebration was a colourful one and took place in the dinning room of Saint Irine Mother and Child Centre, just at the entrance of the Mission.

The students, now farmers, could not hide the joy after completing their training course. They were all awarded certificates because of their good and hard work, after completing six months, doing both class and field or practical farming studies. During the six months they have been able to eat from the produce they planted while learning.

Despite the covid19 pandemic, the trainees have tried to observe the rules and regulations announced by the Ministry of Health of Kenya. That is why they have achieved their goal of graduating and of being declared as one of the best team since Furrows was started in order to fight food insecurity in Turkana.

We have witnessed real agriculture taking place in our region, we have seen and tasted the sweetness of the products. This year, the trainees came from different parts of Turkana County. In addition, a number of trainees came from Marsabit County, proving that Furrows in the Desert is alive and it is still transforming people’s lives.

The achievement has been thanks to team work, especially supported by the Lobur community, establishing a conducive environment where the trainees have been able to accomplish their goals and become skilled farmers who are ready to transform their land, known to be barren, into a garden of Eden.

Fr. Joseph Githinji MCSPA