by Dionel Rodriguez | Mar 5, 2025
Lobur sits in one of Kenya’s most remote and underserved regions, where the nearest hospital may be hours away over difficult terrain. For families in this area, a treatable illness or complicated childbirth can become life-threatening simply because adequate medical care is so far out of reach. High rates of poverty and malnutrition compound these risks, particularly for young children.
The Lobur Mission Dispensary, supported by Maryknoll, provides a critical point of access to healthcare for thousands of people who would otherwise have little to none. Services include general illness treatment, maternal and child healthcare, mobile clinics that extend care to even more isolated households, and emergency referrals for cases requiring more advanced treatment than the dispensary can provide.
In one of Kenya’s most remote regions, this dispensary embodies the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Life and Dignity of the Human Person, affirming that geographic isolation does not diminish anyone’s claim to basic healthcare. It also reflects Maryknoll’s founding charism of going to the peripheries, to places the institutional Church and broader society often overlook, and remaining there as a consistent, trustworthy presence for families with nowhere else to turn.
Gifts to this project provide medicine, transportation, medical supplies, and staffing support that keep the Lobur Mission Dispensary functioning as a lifeline for families in one of Kenya’s most isolated regions.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Mar 5, 2025
Orphaned and vulnerable youth across parts of Kenya often face an especially difficult set of circumstances: responsibility for younger siblings, no steady income, and limited options for continuing their education. Without some source of livelihood, many are forced to leave school early, cutting off longer-term opportunities in order to meet immediate survival needs.
Maryknoll is helping these young people build sustainable livelihoods through small-scale poultry farming. Participants receive chickens, ongoing veterinary support, and training in both animal care and basic business skills, equipping them to manage a small enterprise rather than simply receive a one-time handout. As their flocks grow, participants gain a renewable source of income through egg and poultry sales, along with improved food security for their own households.
This project reflects the Catholic Social Teaching principles of the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable and the Dignity of Work, recognizing that young people carrying adult responsibilities deserve both compassion and the practical tools to build a sustainable livelihood. It also carries forward Maryknoll’s charism of empowering rather than simply assisting, forming young people capable of supporting themselves and their families with dignity rather than remaining dependent on ongoing outside aid.
Gifts to this project provide chickens, veterinary care, and business training that help orphaned and vulnerable youth generate their own income, stay in school, support younger siblings, and build a more hopeful path toward adulthood.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Mar 5, 2025
Widows and single mothers in Tanzania frequently carry the full weight of providing for their families, often without the social safety net, inheritance rights, or economic opportunities that might otherwise ease the burden. Many struggle to secure enough food, safe housing, healthcare, and school fees for their children, with little margin for unexpected setbacks like illness or crop failure.
Maryknoll helps these families move toward a more secure and self-sufficient future through a combination of practical support and skills development. Assistance includes vocational and skills training that helps women generate their own income, agricultural support for families who rely on farming, healthcare assistance, home repairs for structurally unsound housing, and financial aid to cover urgent needs.
This project reflects the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, with particular attention to widows and single mothers, figures given repeated priority throughout Scripture, and the Dignity of Work, equipping women to provide for their families through their own skill and labor. It also embodies Maryknoll’s charism of accompaniment, walking alongside women rebuilding their lives after loss or abandonment rather than offering assistance from a distance.
Gifts to this project provide skills training, agricultural assistance, healthcare, and home repairs that help widows and single mothers in Tanzania build lasting stability and a better future for their children.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Feb 8, 2022
In some of Nairobi’s poorest neighborhoods, many women raise their children largely on their own, with little financial support and few opportunities for stable employment. Some have fled abusive relationships; others have been widowed or abandoned. Without access to savings, credit, or job training, many struggle simply to keep their children fed, housed, and in school.
Maryknoll works directly with these women to help them build more secure and independent lives. The project provides support for launching small businesses, along with access to healthcare services and assistance covering school-related costs for their children. Rather than offering only short-term relief, the emphasis is on equipping women with practical tools, such as basic business skills and startup capital, that allow them to generate their own steady income over time.
This ministry embodies the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, giving particular attention to mothers and children who carry disproportionate burdens of poverty, and affirms the Dignity of the Human Person by recognizing every woman’s capacity for self-determination. It reflects Maryknoll’s charism of accompaniment, walking alongside women in difficult circumstances rather than simply providing aid from a distance, so that dignity and agency grow together.
Gifts to this project help mothers in difficult circumstances start small businesses, access healthcare, and keep their children in school, creating pathways out of poverty for entire families rather than temporary fixes for a single crisis.
by Dionel Rodriguez | Jun 1, 2020
HIV/AIDS has affected Kenyan communities for more than four decades, and while significant progress has been made in treatment and prevention, the disease continues to place a heavy burden on families, particularly in lower-income urban and peri-urban areas. Beyond the medical challenges, individuals living with HIV often face stigma, isolation, and disruptions to their livelihoods that compound the difficulty of managing a chronic illness.
The Eastern Deanery AIDS Relief Program, supported by Maryknoll, has served as a comprehensive resource for individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The program provides life-saving antiretroviral treatment, HIV testing and counseling, maternal healthcare aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission, prevention education, and spiritual support for patients and their families.
This ministry has embodied the Catholic Social Teaching principles of the Life and Dignity of the Human Person and the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, treating each patient as someone made in God’s image regardless of diagnosis or social stigma. It reflects the Maryknoll charism of long-term presence among the suffering, remaining steadfastly alongside communities through decades of an epidemic that many other institutions have long since stopped discussing.
Gifts to this project sustain a program that has provided consistent, compassionate care to some of Kenya’s most vulnerable communities for over thirty years, helping ensure that life-saving treatment and support remain available to those who need it most.
