To mark the 8 th celebration of the World Day of the Poor, under the mentorship of H.E. Archbishop Bert van Megen, the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya, to whom we are very grateful, our Embassy reached out to the community of the St. John Paul II Catholic Church situated in Mathare, an informal sector of over 1 million people located in the heart of Nairobi. It is a place where hundreds of thousands of parents raise their children, sometimes without access to education and proper sanitation facilities.
Houses are packed like sardines next to one another. Each piece of land is utilized to the fullest, neighbours literally sharing walls, bathrooms, and water faucets at times. Though the conditions may not be ideal, the sense of community is strong. And said strength we felt and witnessed at Holy Mass celebrated by Fr. David Kamau, of the Order of the Franciscan Capuchins, who leads this community with fervour, compassion, dedication and love, giving the faithful the courage, hope and dignity with which to face their daily lives. During Holy Mass the congregation came alive with song and dance and one could indeed feel the “Prayer of the Poor Rising Up to God”. The parishioners were delighted to be addressed in Kiswahili by our Chargé d’Affaires who thanked them for making us feel so welcome.
Every Sunday, in line with the community’s Street Family Feeding Programme, several street families are provided with a nutritious meal. Our Embassy was happy to contribute to the soup kitchen on this World Day of the Poor and was struck and deeply moved by the humble and orderly demeanour of the underprivileged people who came to partake of the meal. The area where the Sunday soup kitchen is organized is adjacent to the primary school which is attended by about 260 pupils who are studying in a well-established school system, albeit in very modest classrooms, with a dedicated team of teachers and social workers. In this school yard 50 needy families, representing about 200 people in all, assembled the following Tuesday when our Embassy returned to the community to offer food hampers as a gift to commemorate the World Day of the Poor and to usher in Christmastide.
