by Dionel Rodriguez | Feb 8, 2022
Food Assistance – Buza Parish
Fr. John Waldrep’s project will teach about COVID and its impact on Tanzanians. COVID has hit the informal economy very hard. Many day laborers are out of work and unable to meet basic needs like food and rent. In addition, Fr. John hopes to help those in their COVID relief measures and other social service programs.
Help parishes in the Southern area of Dar es Salaam as well as various religious congregations in their assistance programs.
“Our Christian mission directs us to aid less-fortunate fellow humans in body as well as soul. We extend our aid to raise standards of living and to provide better facilities for health and education. We recognize the right of every man to have enough to wear, sufficient to eat, decent housing, and the opportunity to raise and educate a family. These are just some of the practical applications of what the word “mission” means.”
- The Mark of a Christian by Fr. Albert Nevins, Editorial, December 1960 p. 37
by Dionel Rodriguez | Feb 8, 2022
Transfiguration Catholic Church Parish Development
Transfiguration Parish property in Mabatini-Mwanza was overrun by squatters when it was an outstation of Bugando Parish. Maryknoller Fr. John Eybel developed the out-station into a parish, with church and parish house. Numerous squatters have left, however, four of them remain. Once those squatters leave, Fr. Eybel plans to put a fence around the property.
With your help, the re-acquired property will serve the social needs of Transfiguration parishioners offering potential space for education, meetings, receptions, recreation and Sisters’ housing.
“Poverty is not an option. The poor have no options. Develop a situation where the people have opportunities, and they will flourish.”
– Fr. Thomas Goekler, Maryknoll Magazine, September 2009
by Dionel Rodriguez | Feb 8, 2022
This project will assist with the training of the four catechists working in Buza parish as well as materials and supplies for the various classes and seminars they conduct: RCIA, Baptism Preparation for Children, Confirmation Preparation, Leadership training in the Christian Communities, Bible study, enculturation seminars, etc.
Your support will allow Fr. John Waldrep to work with catechists so their Christian identity is enhanced so they may perpetuate the teachings of the Catholic Church.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Feb 8, 2022
The reforestation project will take place in 20-30 outstations of St. John the Baptist Parish. Two types of drought-resistant trees will be planted. The trees will bring various nutritional and socio-economic benefits to the local population. The second part of this proposal is for a solar pump for a well in St. John the Baptist Parish. In 2015, the Society funded the drilling of a well in the Parish. That well is now the main water source for the surrounding community. Fossil fuels are used to power the pump. Shifting to a solar pump will protect the environment and relieve the community of the costs entailed by purchasing diesel. If the trees survive, the tree project will become self-sustaining. The well has already been a self-sustaining project. The solar pump will enhance the well’s durability.
This care of creation project is for sustainable trees in the semi-arid area of Kibwezi in southeastern Kenya and a solar pump for a well. The Moringa Oleifera tree can provide a source of nutrition to community members, especially during the dry seasons, and the use of a solar pump will eliminate the need for fossil fuels to power the power.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Feb 8, 2022
Mission Outreach Programs
For several years, the Region has been sending teams of university students to serve in impoverished, pastoralist, marginalized areas of northern Kenya: Turkana, Isiolo, Marsabit, and Pokot. The teams assist in parishes for 4-6 weeks and carry out educational, catechetical, women’s empowerment programs, and health programs in the parishes. Two mission teams of medical, nursing, public health, and pharmacy students volunteer for medical ministry in Turkana, northwestern Kenya. University students will offer tutoring in parish schools for primary and secondary school students. They will assist catechists in providing religious instruction. They will offer health education in matters of diet, hygiene, maternal health, children’s health, human sexuality, and HIV prevention. Medical, nursing, and pharmacy students will assist in parish dispensaries. Students in agriculture and animal husbandry will offer training on small-scale agriculture and livestock development.
Your support will give student participants the experience of mission for a new understanding of themselves as agents of evangelization by living our Catholic faith. Fr. John Waldrep wants to assist parishes in northern Kenya with their educational, catechetical, women’s, and health outreach programs.