Comboni Lay Missionaries

HABARI ZA KITELAKAPEL-poghishio-kwa?karam!

LMC Kitelakapel

Updates from the Comboni Lay Missionary Community in Kitelakapel, West Pokot

Some background information on our area of mission:

Kitelakapel is under Kacheliba parish. It has 17 villages and 17 elders with a chief who works closely to see on the wellbeing of the people of the community.

West Pokot County is one of the 14 Counties in the Rift Valley region. It is situated in the North Rift along Kenya’s Western boundary with Uganda border. It borders Turkana County to the North and North East, Trans Nzoia County to the South, Elgeyo Marakwet County and Baringo County to the South East and East respectively. The County lies within Longitudes 34° 47’ and 35° 49’ East and Latitude 1° and 2° North and covers an area of approximately 9,169.4 km2. West Pokot County, whose Headquarters is Kapenguria, is mainly inhabited by Pokot community and minority community of Sengwer. They are religious people, and most of them are Christians, but there are also Muslims. The culture is rich, and we embrace it. The County is known for its rich cultural heritage, agriculture and livestock. Agriculture and livestock sector is the backbone of the county’s economy with more than 80% of the population engaging in farming and related activities. The county is characterized by a variety of topographic features. On the northern and north eastern parts are the dry plains, with an altitude of less than 900 m above sea level. On the southeastern part are Cherangani Hills with an altitude of 3,370 m above sea level. Landscapes associated with this range of altitude include spectacular escarpments of more than 700 m. The high-altitude areas have high agricultural potential while medium altitude areas lie between 1,500 m and 2,100 m above sea level and receive low rainfall in addition to being predominantly pastoral land. The low altitude areas include Alale, Kacheliba, Kongelai, Kitelakapel.

The Pokot have always been solidly rooted in their own traditions and lifestyle, so only recently have they started to value school education, and the general level of scholarization remains low. Families are mainly polygamous, girls are often married at a very early age, which means, for those going to school, dropping out, as in the case of underage pregnancies, which are also quite common.

The families are quite fragmented, with cases of divorces and separations, causing inevitable consequences on the children’s behavior, feelings and wellbeing. Among young and adults, there is a widespread problem of alcohol and drug addiction, as well as HIV and other sexually related illnesses. Kitelakapel community has 90% of very poor and 10% of middle class consisting mainly of teachers and local government officials and a few commercial farmers.

The agricultural sector is growing and improving given favorable consistent rain and fertility of the soil by application of cow dung. Mostly they plant maize and vegetables in wide fenced area to avoid animals on free range system to destroy them, high breed animals have been introduced to a few to increase milk and meat production.

With improvement in the soil and constant rains the members are fully engaged in growing maize at a large scale which is used for domestic and commercial consumption. Since Majority have a lot of land, the need of equipment’s like a tractor, fertile soil and good seeds will support the community have enough food that can be stored and used in the dry and drought seasons. Maize being a food and cash crop, some households use it to look after chicken and animals which has increased income and food like meat , eggs etc. Reclaiming the dry and idol land trough irrigation that needs availability of pumped water from the underground, onions green paper, tomatoes and greens are coming up from the abandoned land.

A new project: the KITELAKAPEL INTEGRATED COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY BASED ORGANISATION (KICE-CBO):

This is a CBO which we have recently formed in Kitelakapel, as an instrument to empower our community and family households. 175 members have officially applied and joined the CBO and we are still receiving more applicants willing to join the group. We are now fully registered and certified by the government, and we are at the stage of starting a set of income generating activities, for example bee-keeping, handicrafts, catering, poultry keeping, etc. It is also a SACCO, so the revenues will be given to the members as loans, as well as interests for their savings. We are hoping that this will enable men and women, especially those who don’t have any other source of income, to get involved in economic activities which will allow them to be independent and stay away from addictions and violence. The people love unity and self-support groups through which they are able to get opportunities, save money, trade and participate in socio-economic activities.

Members of KICE –CBO during AGM “It was an honorable atmosphere of joy, great unity, smile for the photo and a good feeling of belonging together to a certified Community Based organization in a village of the poorest and most abandoned

Comboni lay missionary Pius Oyoma Showing the certificate of registration and constitution to THE KITELAKAPEL INTEGRATED COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT -CBO members.

As the coordinator Comboni Lay Missionary of the international community of Kitelakapel, member of parish development committee and treasurer of CLMK with my profession as a business administrator and accountant and project management skills, sharing my skills to unite and empower people gives me satisfaction through impactful positive influence to the local people that are in need of my work. This helped the group to be certified and recognized by the government and the community. The catholic universal church encourages unity and development through JPIC, CARITAS, parish council, development committee and other NGOs.

The Board members and Leaders of the KICE CBO from the left is the treasurer Christable Cheyech, v/chair Musa Napa, v/secretary Ann Barasa, secretary Samson Changorok, chairlady Paulina Titika

The AGM meeting of the KICE-CBO

Other positive effects of the creation of the KICE-CBO:

In my encounter for the 1st year the majority of men never wanted to go to church, you could only find two but after the campaign SEND MEN TO CHURCH through CMA and KICE –CBO today we celebrate more than 30 men attending church and excited to integrate with women to work for a common goal.

The CWA and CMA visit each other and to support those in serious need with money contributions and prayers.

Integrating and empowering the CMA, CWA, YOUTH and the non-Catholic to build a solid community is a game changer for Kitelakapel, as previously people where not united but staying far apart from each other

Pius Oyoma, CLM Kitelakapel (Kenya)

Happy New Year from Kitelakapel

LMC Kenia

Greetings from Kitelakapel!

We hope you are doing well. We are doing great. We are starting the new school year. Linda and Pius return to schools to teach life skills. I spend more and more time in clinics. I am patiently waiting for my official work permit. Our pastoral work, the Why Blue Sky project supporting teachers, also return to the regular schedule.

Last 3 weeks, the turn of the old and new year, we spent on the road. Just after Christmas, which we spent in Kitelakapel, we went to the Turkana region inhabited by the tribe of the same name. We went there together with Guilia and Hani who visited us again 🙂 . We went to visit two Comboni missions in Lokichar and Lodwar. Built from scratch by the Comboni Missionaries. In the middle of nowhere. In Lokichar there is a church, a school and a center for children with various disabilities. In nearby villages there are further schools built by the Comboni and handed over to the people. Similarly in Lodwar. Schools, chapels, health centers. From people to people. Created with love to serve others.

On Monday we returned from Nairobi. We spent a week there, completing various formalities, but also getting to know numerous projects such as a children’s center in the middle of the largest slums in Africa, run by our friend from the CLM community, or the Kivuli Center street children’s home founded by the diocesan priest Kizito. As an international community, we also participated in the annual meeting of the Kenyan CLM group. Together we summed up 2023 and planned 2024. During the meeting, new leaders were elected and at the solemn Holy Mass, one of the candidates, Mercy, officially became a lay Comboni missionary. It’s amazing how much we feel part of this group.

We have various ideas in our heads and planned workshops. The new year promises to be intense. We will keep you updated on what’s going on with us.

Marzena Gibek

Comboni Lay Missionary –Kitelakapel, Kenya

One year of missionary experience in Kitelakapel Kenya

LMC Kenia

The hospitality and arrival in Kenya started on the 19th November’ 2022 welcomed by Fr. Maciej and Linda and CLM Kenya members. As a new international CLM from Uganda I was introduced to so many people and places in Nairobi…. Karibu Kenya.

Touring the Peace Center where many lives were lost due to terrorism…. Was a moment of reflection and meditation, finding grace and peace and God’s divine mercy. As we reflect on the world of today in war Ukraine vs Russia, war in Sudan, pandemics and our daily struggles with each other and our own selves.

Gratitude

I would like to start with gratitude to my CLM Uganda community and MCCJ Uganda for all the financial, spiritual and moral support accorded to me to be able to travel, survive the challenging environment of missionary experience… They sacrifice a little from their hard earnings to contribute to my up keep in Kitelakapel. They gather in the community house of Bugolobi Mbuya to share and assemble for meetings and prayers and recollections and formation of new members. They also meet in Luwero for seminars and workshops to refresh their faith and missionary work.

Gratitude also to Alberto and the Central and African committee and coordinating team for the trainings and formation programs and all the moral support given in the one year and encouragement in tough moments of fear and anxiety.

You have not chosen me; I have chosen you to go out and bear fruit that will last… Jn 15:16

My community in Kitelakapel…

We live three people in the community: Linda Micheletti from Italy, Marzena Gibek from Poland and Pius Oyoma from Uganda. We care and look up to each other. We are the first team to start the international community in Kitelakapel- Kenya. We often receive visitors from within and out of Kenya. We share together good moments of prayer and laughter. Our community organizes games for kids. We also do various training like Kiswahili langue, enneagram, formation programs, assemblies ad attend Mass and other festivals in the church. We travel to train and do youth retreats.

The Lord is loving and merciful, slow to anger and full of constant love…

Education….

We are teaching Life Skills in secondary schools of St. Paul’s Boys and St. Bakita Girls boarding school. Gratitude to our sponsors who have financially supported to meet the cost of reach out to the distant schools to train more than 800 students in 2022-2023 academic year as we seek to open doors to other schools in need of our services.

My work and mission… transforming lives…. touching lives…. inspiring… sowing practical talent… and skills

Let the children come to me…

Pastoral Activities with the small Christian communities… Jumuiya.

Another of our main activities consist in visiting families, praying for the sick and troubled families and connecting… being there… being with people, we do also meetings with YSC, Sunday School, Catechism, Bakhita Group, choir, TTI Group.

Kitelakapel is an outstation of Kacheliba Parish. It is still an area of first evangelization. There is a small church, built by the MCCJ, and a fathers’ house with a farming project. Not far from it, the MCCJ built a new house that has been allocated to us, in a large compound. Within the compound, on the left side of the CLM house, there’s a plan to build, in the future, a hospital, and on the right side a hall and pitches for the youth to play. The idea is to prepare for the possibility that one day this may become a parish on its own. It’s a very marginalized area, very dry, where people lack access to water and live mainly out of pastoralism. The Pokot in this area remain quite attached to their traditions, with low rates of school attendance and low school performances. As soon as we got here, we could immediately identify some basic needs, in terms of pastoral work, as there seems to be little involvement of the faithful into the running of church activities. The same catechist in charge is too busy to dedicate time to the Jumuiyas and teach catechism. Only recently have some women organized themselves into a small choir, while there are still gaps in the organization of church cleaning and provision of essential elements like candles and other accessories for the celebration of the Mass.

In terms of social aspects, there is an evident problem of alcohol addiction in the area, as well as drugs, disaggregated families, early pregnancies and early marriages (with consequent school droppings), but we are still in the process of understanding and discovering more about the social needs in this area.

Economy….

Supporting the communities with ideas and programs to survive the tough economic times after the COVID pandemic and ongoing world wars is also part of my duties… SACCO it is a system to encourage savings and product development to create jobs and increase revenues and earnings of the group… I was appointed project coordinator for CLM Kenya.

I will bless the fruits of your hard work and multiply you… I will uphold you with my victorious right hand… nothing will ever separate you from my love.

My stakeholders…

Meeting our Bishop HENRY JUMA was the most exciting moment of my life and this feeling of faith and passion made enjoy every moment of his presence… Our parish priest, father Charles, a friendly and fatherly man and fathers from Kacheliba Parish and Amakuriat Parish… Comboni sisters and brothers and our lay missionaries of Kenya. Our provincial superior Fr. Andrew so welcoming and warm hearted and fatherly to everyone.

Fr. Philippe and Fr. Thomas our legends of west Pokot share with us good moments of the 50 years of Comboni in Kacheliba. Golden jubilee…

The moment I met you, my value increased and that’s how much valuable you are to me…

The youth… young …the energy and the magic.

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God so that he will lift you up in his own time. Leave all your worries with him for he cares for you…

God is my creator and my redeemer and he loves me dearly… Shukurani…

Pius Oyoma, CLM in Kenya

African Memory Project: José Carlos Rodríguez

Jose Carlos

We continue this series of testimonies with José Carlos Rodríguez.

A journalist of formation, he worked for more than 20 years as a Comboni missionary in Uganda reporting on conflicts and as a social worker after the civil war. He is the only Spaniard to have spoken with Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, during meetings and talks in which he participated with the aim of restoring peace in the country. He has also worked on conflict resolution projects in D.R. Congo and in the Central African Republic, where he continues to work today.