News & Events
Kitale Visit To Fr. Julius Shibanda
Most of us will remember Fr. Julius Shibanda who worked as a curate in Donnybrook from September 2009 to August 2010.
As a person who has a very great passion for Africa, i often spoke with Fr. Julius about his home country – Kenya and in particular Kitale, a city in the west of the country with a population of approximately 225,00 people and where Fr. Julius was based. Kitale is near Mt. Elgon in the Cherengani hills, which forms part of the border with Uganda. I quickly learned that this was an area that i would like to visit and decided to include it in a holiday that i was taking in East Africa this year. The idea of meeting “normal, everyday” kenyans, away from the general tourism areas greatly appealed to me.
I arrived in Kitale, by air, on Tuesday 27th of September 2011 and was greeted by a beeming Fr. Julius at the local airstrip. After a meal in a hotel in Kitale, during which i updated Fr. Julius on the happenings in Donnybrook, we then drove the 27 kms to his home. The journey took over an hour as the road surfaces were absolutely dreadful – full of pot-holes as well as cracked surfaces. This particular journey was undertaken in the dark and i must give Fr. Julius great credit for completing it without mishap!.
Over the five days that i spent in the area i received a level of hospitality from total strangers to me, but good friends of Fr. Julius, that reminded me of what Ireland used to be. Being invited into homes and offered a virtual feast – i was informed that i was an honoured guest – and made to feel so much at ease made this trip very special to me. I met Fr. Julius’s family while i was there – mother Salome, sisters Joan and Lilian, brother William and nieces Eliz and Jacinta. On other days i also enjoyed meals with Mr and Mrs Jeremiah Itheri, Mr and Mrs Okemwa.
Some other people with whom Fr. Julius and I met and had lunch with were two English teachers from a High school near Mt. Elgon called Immaculate heart of Mary girls – saboti and the Holy Trinity boys schools – saboti. It was a very entertaining meal and afternoon as the teachers Ms. Liz and Ms Lucy were very witty people with great senses of humour which crossed over any cultural differences.
Religious belief is very strong and saying grace before and after meals is simply an integral part of their normal routine. A number of the homes displayed religous pictures and this just seemed to blend in with the general atmosphere .
Fr. Julius’s Parish is called Kachibora and includes a school – St. John the Baptist Catholic school - that provides education for 280 children – boys and girls and this will increase by about another 40 next year ( an additional teacher has just been recruited to assist with the extra students ). The school also provides a food programme and each day the students are given very nutritious food, which includes porridge as some of them would have little or nothing to eat.
When Fr. Julius knew i was coming to Kenya, he asked that i bring with me some footblalls for the children to play with. On the second day of my visit i “presented” three balls to the children in St.John the Baptist school during their “break” in mid morning and i truly believe that a famous film star would not have got a better reception. It was very emotional feeling their appreciation and how quickly they accepted me. I was asked so many questions and every child just wanted to hold my hands and see if this “white” stranger was like them. The next day when i bought my camera and started to take photographs they all wanted to be in each picture. I just remember this sea of smiling faces and each and everyone of the children calling for my attention. As the camera was digital I showed them the photographs immediately after they were taken and they “went wild” when they picked out their friends or themslves in the picture.
I also visited Noigam Primary school ( where i got the same reaction when i gave them one of the footballs ) and St. Peters high school and the reception was no less welcoming.
The children normally start arriving at school from 7 a.m. and come from near and far. Some walk great distances and others get a lift on the back of a “motorcyle taxi”. Their school day finishes at 4 p.m..
They have a love of learning, despite having no school books except copy books and pencils which they share between them. One girl was so proud to show me her battered pencil box which contained 3 pencils of various lengths.
They are currently building extra class rooms to handle the demand for space which will increase with the additional 40 students next year.
Many local projects like building a house seem to run out of money before completion and there are many homes being lived in that do not have a door or window frames as the person who was building the house ran out of cash and just moved in to it and hopefully when they can gather some more money and complete the building sometime in the future. Luckily the temperature in Kitale does not vary much throughout the year – Averages are 24 to 28 degrees centrigrade during the day and 15 to 17 degrees centigrade in the Night.
One building that is 80% complete is the new church that will ho;ld up to 1,200 people (standing) and they will be holding a special collection in the region to see if they can raise the remaining money. The average Sunday collection is 2,000 kenyan shillings ( 130 shillings to the euro ) and obviously this will not cover in anyway the amount needed to complete the church. One bag of cement costs the equivalent of 8 euro!!
Despite financial shortages the people of Kitale remain very positive in life and maybe we should take a leaf out of their book and put more emphasis on friends rather than possessions at a time when we in Ireland need support in our trying times..
Whilst i was there i was invited along with some other parish guests to plant a tree in the church grounds – a symbol of new life. This is a very important gesture by the people and represents their hopes for the future. In many areas of Kenya, the land has been de-forested for agriculture – especially the growing of maize – and locals want to put something back into the eco system. Kenyans, in general, want to “re-place” the lost forests and the
During my stay, a very famous Kenyan environmentalist, Professor Wangari Maathai died and there was a huge out-pouring of grief by many Kenyans and in her memory the people planted 5,000 trees on Saturday 8th of October 2011. Professor Maathai founded the Green Belt movement which led to the planting of 30 million trees throughout Kenya. She won the nobel peace prize in 2004 for her work in conservation and women’s rights.movement to do this has grown very signicantly in recent years.
One saying i learned in Kenya and Tanzania “Pole – Pole” (pronounced poly- poly ) this is the Swahili for Slowly or Gently and what it suggests is that instead of everybody being in a hurry to get somewhere in life, that they should approach everything in a more gentle and sedate manner and get greater benefits from life itself. Maybe not such a bad idea............ .....................
I will not be losing contact with Fr. Julius and the various people that i met whilst in Kitale and will assist this loving parish in any way that i can as they certainly enriched my life and i want to give them back something to help their plans for the future.
Tony Macdonald