HOLY TRINITY KARIOBANGI CATHOLIC CHURCH

A VISIT REPORT BY VISITORS FROM POLAND TO KARIOBANGI CATHOLIC CHURCH ON 30 TH APRIL 2012

MEMBERS PRESENT1. Mr. Thomas- Guest2. Mrs.Thomas – Guest3. Miss Eva –Guest (Chief Executive Officer) – Bacca4. Mr. Baiba- Kenya Community Association (K.C.A)5. Mr. Cleophas Kiio - Kenya Community Association (K.C.A6. Sr. Nganda Guest7. Fr. Paulino Mondo- Parish Priest Holy Trinity Kariobangi8. Ms Jacinta Wanjiku- Peace building Coordinator9. Ms. Hellen Wanjiru – Church Representative, Peace Builder10. Mr. Timothy Gatitu – Church Representative, Peace Builder11. Mr. Lukas Tchikopwe –Parish Adviser, Peace Builder12. Mrs. Lucy Kinyanjui –Women Peace promoters Chairperson13. Ms. Ruth Wanjiru Mbugua –Social Worker.

GROUPS VISITED1. Women Peace Promoters2. Mwamba Peace Club3. Boxing Youth Group4. Nyota Africa5. Youth Transforming for Change6. Huruma Self Help Group7. Kariobangi Library8. Kariobangi Peace Park (Reclaimed Dumping Site)9. Mother Teresa Sisters

COURTESY CALL TO FR. PAULINO T. MONDOThe visitors arrived at around 11.30 a.m at Kariobangi Catholic Parish. They were received by the Parish Priest, Fr. Paulino T. Mondo- a Comboni Missionary. They were invited to his office and the Priest led them with the opening prayers. Introduction followed led by Rev. Sister Scholasticah Nganda. Mr. Baila gave an overview of why they visited the Parish. Afterwards Fr. Paulino gave a brief of activities in Kariobangi Parish.

BOOKS PRESENTATIONFr. Paulino on behalf of the Church Community received a book from the family of Mr. Thomas entitled “NEW BEGINNING” Social market economy edited by Barbara Sadawska In turn, Fr. presented a Peace Building Manual prepared by the Parish Holy Trinity- Kariobangi for peace building lessons in Schools within the Archdiocese of Nairobi where peace clubs are being created.

INTRODUCTION OF THE GROUPSOne of the members from the groups that were present introduced themselves and highlighted all the activities they do. The following are some of the groups which displayed and explained their activities.

WOMEN PEACE PROMOTERSThis group was started in 2011. It has twenty three members from different tribes and religion. The main aim is to promote peace starting from within, in the families and stop tribalism. Their main activities are as follows

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Peace advocacy Empowering women through merry -go -round contributions Clean ups Candle making for self empowerment Tree planting for environmental conservation Counselling young girls to live morally good lives

MWAMBA PEACE CLUB The Group was formed in the year 2009 under Holy Trinity Kariobangi Catholic Church. Mwamba means ‘Rock’. Jesus Christ is our rock as jua kali artisans.This group is composed of men and women ready to promote peace through different activities. At present their members are 53 in total and one Peace-building Coordinator. The membership is mainly composed of mechanics, business people, sellers of old tires, repairers of bust tires, gases, hoteliers, making and selling tire bushes etc. They are from different Kenyan tribes. The main objective is to promote peace among themselves, families, workplace and the society.They promote peace through the following activities

Planting Peace Trees for environmental management Regular clean-ups in the surroundings Car assembling and repairs. Starting of small hotels (cafes) as a way of getting income Establishing pool tables for income and recreation Tire repairs and wheel alignments Involvement in different seminars for example on peace-building skills, leadership, Management skills and Active Non Violence skills.

This group normally meets twice a month. All the members meet at the end of every month and executive meets on fifteenth of every month. The group has monthly contributions which we hope we shall start an income generating activity in the future.

KARIOBANGI YOUTH FOR ENVIRONMENT AND PEACE (KYEP) NETWORKThe project recognizes that the youth have suffered a great deal either as perpetuators or victims of violence. This has been as a result of unemployment, ignorance, environment, drug abuse, and peer influence. To reduce this, the project has over time mobilized more than 100 youth groups into a network that helps them redirect their energies to useful and acceptable activities. Each group has an average of 30-40 members making total membership of over 4000 youth. The network, called “Kariobangi Youth for Environment and Peace Network”. Through the network, the youth have undertaken a number of peace-building activities.

Planting over 15,000 trees planted in public parks, schools, chiefs camps, police posts and road reserves.

Counseling and motivating other youth to get out of crime - some have ultimately quit crime and handed in their guns to the authorities or through the Catholic Church

Participating in the conflict early warning Community policing Environmental management through frequent clean ups, unblocking sewer systems etc Community education and sensitization through sports, drama etc Income generating activities, such as, collecting the garbage and making peace cards

using waste papers. Peace-building workshops

The project bought them pull-carts for garbage collection, mechanical tool kits and tools for unblocking sewer systems.

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THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE YOUTH GROUPS THAT WERE VISITED BY THE POLAND VISITORS

BOXING YOUTH GROUPThis group is composed of 32 members aged between 9 to 35 years. They are engaged in sports, they enhance members in self-employment; sensitize members in social and environmental activities. Their Activities include clean-ups, tree planting, car wash, body fitness whereby they practice boxing as a sports. The Catholic Church of Holy Trinity Kariobangi bought them car wash machine for washing cars as a way of eradicating poverty among them.

YOUTH TRANSFORMING FOR CHANGEYouth Transforming for Change is an organization formed to bring together reformed youths from crime and other criminal activities. It was formed in 2009 to provide a platform for the Kenya Youth to be empowered, to be physically fit and to transform their lives and become peace builders. Their vision is to live in a peaceful society free from crime, to create a platform for the youths to be self employed, physically fit and transform them into positive living. Objectives

To sensitize and change the youth from life of crime, drug abuse, prostitution and other criminal activities

To expose their potential talents To create a forum where the youths can exchange different social ideas and opinions in

order to become responsible, mature and independent citizens Encourage self employment for all the members Encourage positive living for all the members through Christian prayer and Taize

MeditationActivitiesBeads work, Physical fitness, community policing and environmental managementProposed future activities

Open cyber café Fast food restaurant

NYOTA AFRICA YOUTH GROUPNyota Africa Youth Group Was formed in July 2009 by a group of youths who decided to come together in order to utilize their skills and talents. It was registered in Kenya as a community organization in 2010. Nyota Africa is based at Holy Trinity Kariobangi Catholic Parish. In the core of practicing and preserving their culture as young people, they not only employ themselves but also educate the society by focusing on the issues that affect their day-to-day social lives as conflict resolution, promotion of HIV/AIDS awareness, counseling other youths to get out of crime, environmental conservation and encouraging young people to work hard in their endeavors. The activities for Nyota Africa includes theatrical work for example traditional dances, drama, songs, poetry, acrobatics, research on cultural diversity and resource mobilization.

Their vision is to realize a society transformed by social-cultural education and promotion through enhanced use of art in Peace-building. Nyota’s mission is to sensitize the youth and the society in general on the cultural heritage of Kenya and Africa in order to create a platform for all, for learning through art. The aim of the group is to ‘end crime’ through entertainment, as an income generating activity. They as well promote Christian love, peace and unity.

Challenges faced by the youth groups Lack of vocation skills trainings Lack of alternatives out of crime.

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Unemployment Lack of funds to expand their projects Lack of exposure to other well intended Catholic Youth Groups

HURUMA SELF HELP GROUPThis is a church sponsored group therefore, a non profit organization, started in 1994.The main aim was to help members to save their little funds for the future. The group has about 4,137 members which includes development director, the patron and democratically elected committee members. The members benefit from the following

Loans that are returned with 1% interest rates Savings where they get the dividends Benefit from the shares invested with stock exchanges Social gathering

Challenges-Members fail to get guarantors-Members failing to repay their loans as per the agreement-Deduction of guarantors’ savings to repay the loan -Competition from upcoming microfinance’s-Loosing members through job loss or when business going down-Lack of proper monitory education among the members-The health fund introduced by the self help group reduces the interest of the group- abrupt death due to diseases like HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and road accidents

LIBRARYKariobangi Catholic Parish has only one library, which caters for a population of about 600,000 people who occupy an area of about 9 square kilometers. The library is equipped with few books which cannot be enough for two secondary schools and 14 primary schools around the area. This Library is always full to capacity with over 300 readers from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm.

CHALLENGESThe Library is small with few Text Books to accommodate all the pupils and students

KARIOBANGI PEACE PARKKariobangi Peace Park along Outering road was formally a dumping site. In 2005 The Catholic Church through the Peace-building Project in conjunction with Nairobi City Council cleared the site and removed all the garbage. Afterwards, we planted peace trees which continue filling the gaps. The trees provide shades, recreation site, shelter for people who cannot manage to rent a house for themselves, for example the watchmen who most of them earn 4,000 Kenya Shillings. This amount cannot cater for the basic needs. The watchmen opt to sleep under the peace trees as a sacrifice for the family during the day, taking bath from their friends, buying what to eat from the small hotels, then at night they go to work. These people lack water toilets and bathrooms. There in urgent need for funds to improve this facility.

MOTHER TERESA SISTERSThis is a religious Congregation. Their main activities include taking care of the abandoned children, the sick and the elderly. They evangelize through prayers and assisting the needy and the abandoned in the society. The your go their regularly to volunteer.

SPEECHES AND VOTE OF THANKSMR. THOMAS

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Mr. Thomas expressed his gratitude saying that, he was very happy for Kariobangi Peace Activities. He added that, Kariobangi representing Africa is very far from Europe, Asia, America or even Russia. He lamented saying that, it is not only in Africa where people suffer, but still the same thing happens in Europe. For example, lack of vocational training and lack of professionals. He challenged Africa to wake up and train children and youth in order to end poverty. He recommended the work which was done by Mother Teresa and asked Africans to follow suit by coming together for a common purpose.On the other hand, He emphasized that, Africa has overtaken other continents in relation to kindness, generosity and eagerness to strive for the best. He thanked Pope Benedict XVI for asking other continents to help Africans since no country can succeed on their own.

He thanked the groups for growing very fast compared with those in Poland. He still asked the Catholic Church to continue with the good work of transforming Christians and asked them to believe in God since to Him everything is possible. This is what the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church encourages He concluded by asking us to forgive each other and share with others in order to succeed. He then invited the members to visit Poland and see what they do.

FR. PAULINO MONDO- PARISH PRIESTHe thanked the visitors for being kind enough to visit people of Kariobangi. He also highlighted on the challenges that we face for instance lack of enough toilets, uprising number of street children, disease and HIV / AIDS, and lack of enough schools.On the other side of the coin, he talked on how groups and association organized by the Catholic Church have done great in transforming the area, for example, economic standards in Huruma Self help group, schools for orphans such as Watoto Wetu Centre’, just to mention a few. He concluded by saying that visitors have now become permanent friends of Kariobangi and wished them God’s blessings for their visit.

Rev. Sr. SCHOLASTICAH NGANDAShe thanked Fr. Paulino for accepting the visitors in his Parish at a short notice. In addition, she thanked everybody for taking all the risks and time to accompany the visitors to see activities around the parish, to witness God’s greatness.

Challenges witnessed by the youth groups Lack of vocation skills trainings Lack of alternatives out of crime. Unemployment Lack of funds to expand their projects Lack of water Lack of land Lack of exposure

Since the Parish has one acre peace of land meant for boys polytechnic. The Project Proposal will be forwarded Barka Foundation through Mr. Thomas.

Report prepared by:Jacinta Wanjiku Nganga Peace building Coordinator Kariobangi Catholic ParishFr Paulino Mondo Parish Priest Holy Trinity Kariobangi Catholic Parish

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