NEWSLETTER Mukuru Promotion Centre Christmas Edition

DECEMBER 2015

Papal Visit Cervical Cancer

Screening Day

New Buildings Staff Changes

Major HAPPENINGS 2015

Papal Visit to Kenya …………………………………………………………...

Surely one of the highlights for 2015 was the visit of the Holy Father. While we

hoped that he would come to Mukuru Slums for a walk around, a number of the

MPC staff received a special invitation to the Kangemi

(St Joseph the Worker Parish) gathering on the other side of

the city. This small intimate assembly of 1,000 people

provided a golden opportunity for our clients and staff to

experience the Pope up-close and personal.

The Director, Sr Mary Killeen was invited by the Vatican officials

to give an address on the issues facing people living in the slums.

As Sr Mary presented several points there was spontaneous

applause as she highlighted the “cause and effects” of the injustices

for people in the slums.

Extract of Sr Mary’s address

to Pope Francis.

Your Holiness, Today I, and all who work with slum dwellers, welcome you. We are blessed to meet you. You in turn are blessed to see the people of Nairobi slums, who face many challenges including the following: Evictions and Fires: Evictions of slum dwellers take place in a very cruel manner. People are forced out of their homes during the night. They save their children but lose everything else. For people trying to climb out of poverty, eviction reduces them to dependence and destitution. This year alone in Mukuru we had seven major fires, affecting thousands of people. Everything is lost. Fires displace schoolchildren and disrupt their precious education.

Floods: All slums in Nairobi are vulnerable to flooding, caused by heavy rain. An even greater problem is man-made floods, caused by ‘land-grabbers’. These powerful people dump soil along the banks of the river to create new land which they sell. This causes devastating floods. Environmental, national and county laws are ignored. This problem could be addressed by implementing your own encyclical ‘Laudato Si’. Insecurity: As people live in temporary or semi-permanent houses, they live in fear of being robbed, both within their houses and in the small surrounding lanes. The end of the month after receiving their salary is a vulnerable time.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse: In the slums there are those who manufacture and sell cheap alcohol. Hundreds of people die each year from drinking home-made alcohol, while others are left handicapped. Dangers to Children and Youth: We hear constant reports of sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children – and children who have been trafficked. The children of single parents, the sick, weak and addicted are particularly vulnerable. A strong family unit makes children more secure, and we appreciate your efforts in promoting the family. Health and Education Services: Most state services are improving but not for the poor. Children become cripples because their family cannot afford to treat a broken leg. Cancer goes

untreated. Education is vital for poor children. Free Primary education enabled most kids to go to school, but many have dropped out because of corrupt demands for fees. Dropping out of school means joining one of the poorest groups on earth.

Corruption: This is a huge problem in Nairobi slums. Slum dwellers have to pay more for transport, education, health, all types of services. They cannot afford to. They are imprisoned when they cannot pay fines and bribes. Poor people are further impoverished by corruption. Corruption allows powerful people to illegally take land that belongs to schools and clinics. I myself, and the Sisters of Mercy, have been brought to court for allegedly blocking the development of a plot set aside for a playground. Presence of Church in Slums: 65% of the people of Nairobi live in slums, but which percentage of church personnel work there? The harvest is great but the labourers are few. Some are afraid to work in slums. Some refuse to work there because it is financially unsustainable. We hope that your visit will inspire more of your flock to work with the very poor, as you exhorted consecrated men and women in ‘Keep Watch’. Here I pay tribute to the individuals, schools and charities, some of whom are here today, who DO work with slum dwellers and who have sustained development work in slums over many years. Sometimes the challenges almost cause us to despair. Your visit has given us new courage and hope. By your very coming here, you shine a light on these challenges and inspire us to redouble our efforts. Your meeting with us has brought dignity to our work and to those we work with and for. You have included us where normally we are overlooked. We thank you for that. We pray for you, and we wish you every blessing in your sacred mission of leading the Catholic Church.

Cervical Cancer Screening Day

Australian High Commissioner, John Feakes with Dr Pragati

and Sr Kathy at the launch of the Direct Aid Program from

the Australian Government.

The DAP funding assisted the Mary Immaculate Clinic to provide

free cervical cancer screening examinations on November 28, 2015.

Over 150 women from the Mukuru slums benefited from the

program. Over the next few weeks the women will learn the

pathology results.

Presently we are sourcing a number of companies in Kenya to help

with the treatment of those women who will test positive. The

treatment could involve some vaccinations, chemotherapy or

surgery all of which is well and truly beyond the people from the

slums. Some referrals can be made to the government hospital

however, there is no guarantee that someone from the slums will be

treated.

We congratulate the staff of the clinic as well as overseas volunteers who gave a helping hand to

ensure a successful program.. The students from St Catherine’s Primary school provided some

entertainment for the women while they waited to be screened.

Not to be outclassed the boys from St Catherine’s Primary School also showed the women some

smooth steps.

St Catherine’s Primary School Choir

The dancers from St Catherine’s Primary School

Some o f t h e women a r e

entertained by the students

Registration in full swing

Elizabeth (Clinical Officer)

explains what cervical cancer

is to the women

Dr Pragati (Medical

Officer) gives a vote of

thanks to the women for

attending and to the sponsors

of the program—Australian

High Commission.

New Buildings at MPC

During 2015 there has

been much activity at

the Head Office

campus. The 2

hectare site which is

situated parallel to the

river contains the

Vocational Training

Centre, St Bakhita

Primary School as

well as St Michael’s

secondary school.

On any given day the site is

a hype of activity with over 1,500 people all going about their business. Conducting building

stages where students are involved is always a big undertaking. We congratulate all the

teachers of St Bakhita, St Michael’s and Skills for their patience throughout the year while the

construction has taken shape. In 2016 the primary students will move into their brand new

school thanks to the German Entrepreneurs, Kenyan Government and the Sisters of Mercy.

St Michael’s buildings will take a good part of 2016 to complete.

St Bakhita Primary School

The New Hall for St Bakhita and St Michael’s Secondary

Making a big difference!

In December the students

will move into the new

Plumbing and Masonry

workshop thanks to the

g e n e r o s i t y a n d

commitment by Africa

Direct and St Michael’s

Grammar School, Lurgan.

The new course will

enable more young people

from the slums to train in

a skill and thus become

financially independent.

Both donors have been

wonderful in supporting

our programs at MPC

over a number of years.

The new plumbing & masonry workshops and art rooms under construction is near completion.

Funded by Africa Direct and St Michael’s Grammar School, Lurgan.

New Bus For Skills

Through the generosity of Miva Switzerland and Mandurah Catholic

College the Skills Vocational Training Centre managed to purchase a

Mitsubishi Rosa 29 seater bus. This will prove invaluable as public

transport is not always reliable. Our students will be able to attend many

educational, sporting and cultural events.

Yeagon our driver, takes some students to a

careers expo in the new bus donated by Miva

Switzerland and Mandurah Catholic

College, Perth Western Australia.

Activities

2015 has been full of activity. Thanks to our donors many of our students

were able to experience some fun and educational activities that they would

not normally experience. The WAVES Trust through Malcolm and

Margaret Savage provided the support for the yearly Scouts program at

Mary Immaculate Rehabilitation Centre for Street Boys as well as the ECO

trips to the Giraffe Centre for all the Year 5 students from our primary

students as well as the Kerrigan Cup which was enjoyed by our keen

footballers from the 4 primary schools and the Rehab centre. The winners

were St Bakhita girls defeated St Catherine’s girls 1-0 and the boys final was

between St Catherine’s boys and Mary Immaculate boys with St Catherine’s

as the victors.

Scouts on parade at Mary

Immaculate Centre

Kerrigan Cup 2015 Winners

In July over a 100 students participated in the GSK’s “Orange Day” where

staff members from GlaxoSmithKline accompanied our students to Karura

Forest where they experienced a treasure hunt; art and crafts; games and tree

planting activities. All the activities involved coaching and mentoring of the

child for the future.

Airtel staff organized a motivational workshop for Standard 8 students from

St Bakhita Primary school. The workshop was held at Airtel’s Parkside

headquarters. The program is part of the employees’ voluntarism initiative.

The students were also provided with lunches during the KCPE examination

period. Airtel also sponsors a number of students at St Bakhita.

Students at St Catherine’s and Mary Immaculate Rehabilitation centre were

introduced to Aussie Rules Football by an enthusiastic couple from Australia.

The students took to the fast moving game with great flare.

Aussie Rules Fanatics with Emmah Ndonye (HOD) at Mary Immaculate Rehabilitation Centre

Our students are decked out in the team colours

Staff Changes

After many years of service Sr Angela Hartigan (Principal of St Michael’s)

and Sr Sally Mounsey (Donor Relations Manager) returned to Ireland to

begin a new chapter in their journey as Sisters of Mercy. The MPC staff

gave a fitting send off with lots of speeches from the Heads of Departments

and entertainment by the students from St Bakhita.

At the Farewell Sr Angela, Sr Sally and Sr Mary Killeen (MPC Director)

Songs from the Students

We also farewelled a few other staff members: Alex, Joseph and Sr Esther.

We wish them well in their future endeavours. From Australia we

welcomed Sr Kathy Kettle as the Executive Development Officer and who

also has the Sponsorship portfolio. Our technical advisor from

Horizont3000, Martina Tutschek from Austria will provide further

assistance to our finance department. Also Dr Pragati who has settled into

the medical officer’s position at the Mary Immaculate Clinic. We also

received Perpetua, Evans and Titus to the Head

Office. We hope that with the new accounting

procedures in place we speed up our reporting to our

donors.

Martina helps out at the Cervical Cancer Screening Day.

The new Medical Officer at MIC Dr Pragati

Sponsorship Program

The program continues to provide ongoing education for

our most needy and vulnerable. In 2015 we have managed

to sponsor over 261 students; provide thousands of meals,

cloth over 200 primary students; and administer medical

assistance to dozens of children. This has made a

tremendous difference to the lives of many. Its wonderful

to see students return to show their gratitude to their

sponsors.

Such an achievement would not have been possible without the valuable support of so many people in Kenya, Ireland, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and the USA and many local corporations such as Airtel, Innscor, Rajah Trust, Topin Industries, and GlaxoSmith Kline. MPC is always mindful of the debt of gratitude we owe to all our donors, without whom we could never aspire to achieve our mission of helping the Mukuru Community. We wish in particular to acknowledge the support of the many Sisters of Mercy in Kenya, Ireland, England and Australia; DKA Austria; eRko Slovakia; Medicines for Humanity (USA); Misean Cara (Irish Aid); Mercy Solidarity Ireland; Missionaries of Africa in Kenya, and Canada; Fr Helmut Huber; Mr Shah; Sr Assumpta Walsh her family and friends; Bob Paterson and friends (Canada), Africa Direct; Mandurah Catholic College; Western Australia; St Michael’s Grammar School, Lurgan; Sancta Maria College, Dublin; Manos Unidas (Spain); Waves Trust; St. Martin’s Church; Heathrow Primary School; British Airways Crews (UK); Vincent de Paul Group, Arklow; Mater Dei College, Western Australia; and Cheshire Disabilities (Liliane Fonds). We are so grateful to you all for making such a difference in the lives of thousands of our needy people, especially our children. Ensuring that the work continues we need to acknowledge the wonderful work of all our Staff in the different departments, who play such a major role in all our efforts in Mukuru Promotion Centre.

One Hundred happy students from St Elizabeth’s Lunga Lunga with their new uniforms donated by Mr Shah and Topin Industries.

Sponsored students from St Catherine’s Primary School

One proud boy with his new uniform from St Elizabeth’s

International Visitors

We were able to extend the hand of hospitality to a number of our International Visitors during the year. We are very grateful for their presence as it always provides an opportunity for people to gain a greater insight into the many programs that are offered by Mukuru Promotion Centre. We received the students from Sancta Maria College, Dublin; St Vincent de Paul, Arklow; Frank and Paula Cullen, Ireland; John and Moira Burns, Ireland; Damian Curran, Northern Ireland; and Mike, USA, Scott Sygrove, England; Selma Sahin, Canada, Jurgen Wirele, Germany; Dr Wolfgang Boehm, Austria; Caroline Cullen, Ireland; Maria Gonzalez, England; Eddy, Scotland; St Michael’s Lurgan, staff Northern Ireland. Certainly a wonderful time for MPC staff, students and clients to understand how important our supporter are to the future of the Centre.

Sancta Maria College Students & Staff at the Rift Valley Lookout

St Vincent de Paul, Arklow with Sr Sally, Sr Mary, Sr Kathy and Judith.

Moira, Martina, John Sr Barbara, Paula and Frank during the Pope’s visit

Grants

Grants are the lifeline to all the programs at Mukuru Promotion Centre.

We are grateful to the agencies who share our values and mission to

provide hope to the vulnerable in society. Without the support of the

following agencies:

who provide the vital funds for programs, salaries, specific programs all

with the perspective of empowering the people of the Mukuru slums, we

simply could not continue without them.

Graduations

November and December is Graduation time. We had a number of graduations as the

students completed their KSCE and KCPE. Now we wait until January and February

when the results are published and students receive an ‘offer’ to attend the next stage of

their education. The Graduation for the Vocational Training Centre is normally

conducted in March.

St Bakhita Primary Graduation Mass

St Michael’s Graduation Mass

Art

After a few years absence the Art program commenced in earnest in February

2015. Sr Pauline Masters from Western Australia arrived in March and

assisted with the art program on a temporary basis for a few months. She

returned in August for a further five months. A number of students submitted

items to the Orchid Art competition in September and received several

commendations. A St Catherine’s, student, Isaiah, won an art prize where he

had to collect his prize in Japan, but unfortunately he couldn’t get a visa and

was unable to collect his prize..

At the conclusion of the school year MPC was able to offer an art holiday

program to the younger students at four primary schools which included an

element of mentorship for them.

IT Developments

Other developments at MPC have come in the form information technology.

While the changes are not obvious to the naked eye we do hope that they will

improve our services to both donors, students, patients and staff. We have

changed our website address as well as our email address so that we can ensure

a stronger secure network that will assist staff to provide quicker services to

you. Early next year we have plans to improve the services at the Clinic for

patients. We would like to thank the support staff at Frayneworks for their

assistance in the process.

info@mercymukuru.co.ke www.mercymukuru.co.ke

Empowerment Step by Step Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy

Food Program

Thanks to Mr Shah at Topin Industries, over 800

students from our schools receive a lunch meal each day

throughout the year. This certainly helps them to

concentrate on their learning.

Award

Congratulations to the Director of Mukuru Promotion Centre, Sr Mary

Killeen. Once a year on the “Anti-Corruption Day” Kenya honours individuals

who stand up for integrity, transparency and justice. Sr Mary has spent

countless hours championing the cause for children to be able to play on school

grounds that has been “grabbed” by developers. On December 9th her efforts

were acknowledged and Sr Mary received the “Integrity and Leadership

Award” bestowed by the Kenya Anti-corruption alliance.

Sr Mary receives her

award from the Hon

Hassan MP

A moment later at Uhuru Park

Christmas

As we prepare to welcome the Christ-Child into our hearts,

our homes, our lives we ask for God’s continued blessing on

our Centre. May we continue to witness, through your

generosity, the presence and love of God. May the birth of the

Christ-Child fill your heart with love, joy and peace this

Christmas and throughout the new year. Until the next

newsletter Blessings

Next edition: [January 2016 New Beginnings]