NAIROBI ZONE CHARTER

I.  Nairobi zone – Physical Description

The Comboni missionaries’ presence in Kenya is divided into 4 different zones: Marsabit, Turkana, Pokot and Nairobi. Geographically speaking, the zones of Marsabit, Turkana and Pokot are situated in the northern part of the country which is largely occupied by semi-nomadic people and pastoralists. Nairobi, on the other hand, is a modern African city in the central part of the country, partly on the highlands. The location of the city provides good weather. There are rainy seasons, dry and warm spells and cooler seasons without big weather extremes.
Administratively, Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, is one of the eight provinces of the republic. As a city, Nairobi started as a rail workers’ camp in 1899 and since then, it has grown to become the biggest city in East Africa and one of the most important cities of great strategic importance in Africa. The recent estimates of the population go above 4 million people who include both migrant workers and temporary residents.
Besides a good number of United Nations agencies having their headquarters in Nairobi, there is also a large concentration of diplomatic missions. For the entire country, Nairobi serves as a capital administratively, economically and politically. This is evident as the majority of the government high offices and headquarters of ministries are located in the city. This centralisation has attracted many people to the city, hence its rapid growth over the past several decades. In Nairobi there are many learning institutions. Up to the recent times, the most influential public and private universities and colleges were and are still in Nairobi (and the greater Nairobi).
The problems and challenges of this rapid growth and urbanisation are clearly visible. The city has over 200 slums, among them Kibera and Korogocho, with over one million people, on a mere 5% of the city territory. The gap between the rich and the poor widens everyday with 56% of Nairobians living below the poverty line. Urbanisation in Nairobi has become a complex issue because of the challenges it bring with. Job markets have become too thin, resulting in underemployment and, worse, unemployment. The consequences are street children/families, child labour, school dropouts, prostitution, alarming crime rate, lack of health provisions and sanitation, environmental degradation etc. It takes a very strong political will to slow down the process of this adverse urbanisation, which at the present is irreversible.  Analysts predict that this trend will continue for the next two decades so that by 2025 about 51% of the country’s population will live in the cities. The slum reality is to stay.

As Comboni Missionaries in Nairobi, our presence can be divided into five categories:
Pastoral commitment (Kariobangi and Korogocho)

• Administration (Provincial House and Procure).
• Provincial commitments (Postulancy, Missionary Animation and Vocation Promotion)
• Extra-provincial commitments (Scholasticate, the Brothers’ Centre, Tangaza and NPMC)
• Associates (Comboni Lay Missionaries).

In this zone, most of the communities are not far from the city centre. Kariobangi and Korogocho are about 12 kilometres to the east of the centre of Nairobi city. The Communities of Mission Promotion, CBC and the NPMC are in the same compound and lie about 7 kilometres away from the central business district. The Provincial House (and Procure) is not far from the three communities. The Scholasticate lies in Langata/Karen about 14 kilometres from the city centre. The Postulancy, in Ongata Rongai, is juridically outside Nairobi city and even outside the Archdiocese. Being only 23 kilometres away from the city centre, this community belongs to the Nairobi zone.

II. Nairobi archdiocese (ADN)

The Archdiocese of Nairobi is the metropolitan see for the Ecclesiastical Province of Nairobi and the Primatial see for Kenya. The Cathedral of the Holy Family in Nairobi is a Minor Basilica and the seat of the Archbishop.
Suffragan Dioceses: Kericho – Kitui – Machakos – Nakuru.

HISTORY:

The mission was founded in 1862 as the Prefecture of Zanzibar, with Mgr. Maupoint, bishop of Reunion as its Ordinary. In 1872 the Mission was transferred to the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers.
23 November 1883: Promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Zanguebar (Zanzibar), entrusted to Bishop Jean-Marie-Raoul Le Bas de Courmont, CSSp (1883-1896), and after him to Bishops Emile-Auguste Allgeyer, CSSp (1897-1913), John Gerald Neville, CSSp (1013-1930) and John Heffernan CSSp (1930-1953).
The Ecclesiastical Province of Kenya was established on 25th March 1953 and the Vicariate of Zanzibar became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nairobi, led by Archbishop John Joseph McCarthy, CSSp (1953-1971), Cardinal Maurice Otunga (1971-1997), Archbishop Raphael S. Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki (1997-2007), Cardinal John Njue (2007 –

STATISTICS (situation on 31 December 2007)

The Archdiocese covers the city of Nairobi and the districts of Kiambu and part of Thika (Central Province),with an Area of Km2 3,271; total population 4,050,000; Catholics (excluding catechumens and those of another rite than the Latin under a different jurisdiction) 1,260,000 (31%), Non Catholics, (members of other Christian denominations) 2,780,000.
Parishes: 108; other pastoral centres with permanent assistance: 16.
Diocesan Priests: 141; priests belonging to Institutes: 396. Other priests are present in the Archdiocese under various titles. They bring the overall figure to 516, of whom 300 are African, European 130, American 32, Asian 29, and Australian 25.
Professed non-priest Men Religious: 360; Professed Women Religious: 1,107.
Members of Secular Institutes: a) men 300; b) Women: 750.
Lay Missionaries: 300.
Catechists: 750.
Training Centres for candidates to the priesthood in the diocesan clergy: Seminaries for pre-philosophical studies 27; Seminaries for philosophy and/or theology students 2.
Candidates to the priesthood for the diocesan clergy: pre-philosophy studies 257, philosophy students 37, theology students 41.

Training Centres for candidates to the priesthood in the religious clergy (situated in the archdiocese): secondary school 40; philosophy and / or theology 418.
Candidates to the priesthood in the religious clergy in the training centres situated in the Archdiocese: Secondary school students (pre-philosophical training) 158; students of philosophy 140; students of theology 200.
Catechumens (those aged over 7 preparing for baptism) 14,000
Baptism (during the year 2007) 68,320, subdivided as follows: a) up to 1 year old 7,600; b) from 1 to 7 years old 56,500; c) over 7 years old 4,220.
Confirmations 1,100. First Communions 9,420. Marriages 46

Educational Institutions: a) kindergartens 31 with 9,290 children; b) primary or elementary schools 191 with 122,210 students; secondary schools 3 with 370 male and 170 female students.
Charitable and Social Institutions: a) hospitals 12, patients 460,126 (of whom 210,800 women); b) Dispensaries 57, with 420,240 assisted patients (of whom 156,200 women).
Centres for job-training 3; centres for poverty-alleviation 3.

III. Meaning and challenges of our presence

The 2003 General Chapter identified the “ever-preponderant domination of globalisation” as the key trend generating (directly or indirectly) most of the challenges in our mission today (CA’03, 3).  Nairobi is one of the most emblematic sites in Africa where all the contradictions and characteristics of globalisation emerge with striking evidence.  This does not apply simply to the socio-economic and institutional context (think of the presence of United Nations headquarters, World Bank, etc), but also to our presence as Comboni Missionaries.
Nairobi is a strategic location for our presence in the English-speaking African sub-continent. Our work has relevance and some connections that go beyond the provincial domain. NPMC is an inter-provincial endeavour; our commitment in Tangaza College is linked to the third phase of our basic formation (scholasticate and CBC) with repercussion on the whole Institute. Comboni Missionaries qualified in liturgy, doctrine and training of pastoral agents, collaborate with the Kenya Episcopal Conference (KEC) in various initiatives to the benefit of the English speaking Christian communities of Africa, and with Tangaza College for the formation of missionaries and of pastoral agents. Because of Nairobi’s strategic positioning, we end up playing a logistic role at the service of the Church and the Congregation (e.g. services to the Church of Sudan through our Procure, the long standing presence in Nairobi of the provincial house of the province of South Sudan, etc.).
Even within the Province, the Nairobi zone is called to liaise with the other remote zones of Kenya in terms of facilitating reflection through our presence in Tangaza College, and integration between centre and periphery.  Various services and ministries based in Nairobi are meant to connect with the remote areas; case in point, Mission Animation which, organised in Nairobi in collaboration with other Institutes and on behalf of the Kenyan Church, operates all over the Country.
On the other hand, we have a specific pastoral commitment in urban and slum ministry, a new frontier in mission, generated by the socio-economic impact of globalisation and its processes.  The basic characteristic of such a presence is given by insertion in the harsh reality of the slums and by a prophetic focus on the social mission of the Church.
In Nairobi there are various fields of “first evangelisation”, besides the announcing of the Gospel to the people. New Areopagus in mission are still to be reached out systematically and with an ad hoc methodology.
In a nutshell, the Nairobi zone looks like a “microcosm” representative of the major priorities of the Congregation (first evangelisation, human promotion, justice and peace, mission animation, media, formation — cf. CA’03, 40.1-3) and of the link between the local, the regional, continental, and global level of the Institute. The challenge is to strike a balance in commitments and personnel between the zone of Nairobi and the other zones of the province.

Challenges:

Unity and collaboration: The zone looks rather diverse and fragmented, including a variety of services and commitments.  However, it is possible to work towards a more organic integration. The “Six Year Plan” encourages a closer communication and collaboration among the Mission Animation team, the media centre and the other communities.  This is a strategy that we want to pursue; it will be possible with the addition of one confrere to the Mission Animation team.
Another key area that requires more communication and journeying together is that of Tangaza College.  The various confreres working there and involved in the formation of ministers for the missionary African Church, can explore ways of constituting a reflection and research group focused on such a ministry.  It is suggested that a coordinator be selected also for facilitating dialogue and reflection with our communities in other zones.
Collaboration and joint reflection among formation houses is already present, but can be further strengthened.  Appropriate fora are the meetings of formators and the Secretariat for basic formation.  A particular area of concern is that of the apostolate of the students, which also connects the houses of formation with our pastoral presence in Nairobi and — during holidays — in other zones.
In Nairobi there are confreres committed to “ad personam” ministries, addressing important and too often overlooked problems of the metropolis, and showing new ways of bringing the Gospel values to the modern society. They are encouraged to make the best use of their charism, talents and qualifications, and to search for a better integration with the Comboni Family of the zone, as required by the indications and priorities of the 2003 General Chapter.
Finally, the General Chapter instructs us to be communities of fraternity, whose members carry out the ministry of evangelisation in team-work.

2) Presence in pastoral work: Despite being a priority of the province, our presence in the slums and in the parishes has been reduced, due to the decreasing number of confreres in the province.  Our “Six Year Plan” foresees our presence in a slum with a parish and with a community of insertion “to work among the poorest, through inserted communities, but also to engage in the cultural and social challenges the society poses”.  Our presence is linked to the broader Kutoka network of the various parishes in the slums of Nairobi, (for further information visit the site www.kutokanet.com), and to the pastoral initiatives of the local Church. Having handed over the parish in Ongata Rongai, we remain with Kariobangi-Korogocho parish, one commitment, rather than the two envisaged in the “Six Year Plan”. Moreover, we need these commitments for the insertion, apostolate, and accompaniment of our young confreres in formation.
The challenge is to develop self-supporting, self-ministering, self-propagating, and socially relevant Christian communities, so that the local clergy may be able to take over. Given the socio-economic reasons that underpin the formation of slums, an important part of ministry in the slums is the link with global JPIC movements.

3) Commitment of Brothers and the Institute of Social Ministry: The 2003 General Chapter (CA’03 No. 123) invites the General Council to take over the direction of the Institute of Social Ministry in Mission (ISMM), entrusting it preferably to Brothers.  This echoes No. 50 of the same document, which encourages the formation of a team of Brothers working together in “significant projects”.  However, the highly specialised nature of the commitment in ISMM makes it difficult to implement this recommendation. This notwithstanding, the suggestion of having a significant project of Brothers is quite important both for the missionary renewal and profile of the Province, and for a presence that may become a reference point for vocation promotion to Brotherhood.  Moreover, the current trends in basic formation show that in two years time there might be just 2 or 3 Brothers at the CBC.  This eventuality will require a different structure of formation, smaller and more inserted in a project of the Comboni Missionaries, though the study of Social Ministry at Tangaza College will remain.  The proposal of the team of Korogocho to take co-responsibility (as a province) in the rehabilitation project cycle for street-children and alcoholics could be studied in view of a commitment of Brothers that eventually could become a reference point also for formation of Brothers and vocation promotion.

IV. Guidelines for action by sectors

1) Missionary Animation

Missionary Animation and Promotion aims at fostering missionary awareness of Christian communities. This Provincial commitment endeavours to constantly remind all that we are missionaries by virtue of being baptised Christians, because whoever is touched by the Good News must share his or her experience with others. Two Church documents, Ecclesia in Africa and Redemptoris Missio put it as follows: “Since by Christ’s will the Church is by her nature missionary, it follows that the Church in Africa is itself called to play an active role in God’s plan of Salvation.”
“Missionary formation is the task of the local Church, assisted by missionaries and their institutes, and by personnel from the young Churches.”
For this important activity of the Comboni Missionaries in Kenya, the Province assigns possibly 2 full-time confreres for this ministry. Where possible, they are to collaborate with other confreres as well as with other missionary institutes to build a strong Promotion team. The emphasis of the Team is to animate the Local Church and therefore the team seeks to collaborate with the Bishops and the local clergy.

What Missionary Promotion offers to Christian Communities?

Formation of youth, catechists, Catholic teachers and parents through: Missionary awareness week-ends, missionary recollections and retreats.
Mission weeks; seminars at Parish level to foster deep biblical commitment to Catholic faith.
Doing mission appeals in order to help financially the work of evangelisation of Kenyan Missionaries.
Distribution of Missionary literature; books, posters, videos and Missionary Magazines especially the New People.

2)  Vocation Promotion & Youth Ministry

Vocation Animation and Youth Ministry are part and parcel of our evangelizing presence in any given place as Comboni Missionaries. In the Province, at least one confrere is to be engaged full time in this ministry. These are the main objectives in Vocation/Youth ministry:
To create an awareness of missionary nature among the young people at various levels: in schools, parishes, youth groups and in other learning institutions. This is done through school visitations, seminars, workshops and in various liturgical celebrations (e.g. Youth Masses).
To present the Comboni Missionaries (the Founder, their work/charism and their identity) to the young people, as a family which some of them could identify with.
To provoke commitment among the youth who are in search of individual vocations.
To follow and to scrutinize young men who show interest in joining the Comboni Missionaries, by helping them discern their vocations. The Vocations Promoter comes into contact with the families of the possible candidates to the Pre-Postulancy. He studies the backgrounds of the candidates to establish whether they could be supportive to the vocations of the candidates.
To provoke a pro-active faith participation of the youth in the mission of the Church today.

In the Province, the confrere in-charge of Vocation Promotion is also responsible for the candidates in the Pre-Postulancy programme. He collaborates with the Formators of the Postulancy in following these candidates for a period of 10 months. During the Pre-Postulancy experience:
Candidates are to be tested for their commitment, responsibility and their openness to enter into a formative programme in the Comboni Missionaries’ style of life.
Candidates engage themselves to work in a mission situation and living in a community by themselves. They receive a monthly allowance for their personal maintenance. They are to be accountable.
The Vocation Director and the Postulancy formators organise regular meetings with them for inputs, personal encounters and general follow-ups.
Candidates do a psychological assessment which is a big help for the selection as well as for later formative follow-up.

3)  Basic formation

A) The Postulancy

The Provincial POSTULANCY is located at Ongata Rongai, diocese of Ngong. As a rule, the
Community is formed of at the least two confreres as formators.
The formation of the postulants is based on the “Educative Charter” prepared by the Secretariat for First Formation and approved by the Provincial Council.
To be accepted in the Postulancy a candidate needs to come from a sound catholic family, to have reached the necessary academic standard for admission to the Kenyan major seminaries, not to be older than 24 years, to have an adequate Christian formation, shown by prayer, reception of sacraments and positive involvement in church activities, to have the human qualities requested by the Directory of Vocation Promotion: especially physical and psychological fitness, psychological and medical tests, AIDS included, balanced personality, sincerity and openness to other people, to have been followed by the Vocation Promoter for at least one year and gone through the pre-Postulancy experience.
Only those postulants who have come to a clear choice for the Comboni Novitiate and have shown their ability to accept its specific demands are admitted to the novitiate. The applications are submitted to the Provincial Superior with a personal report from the Formators.

B) Scholasticate of Nairobi

The Comboni Missionaries Theologate in Nairobi was moved from Kampala in 1988. It is located in the now rapidly changing neighbourhood of Karen – a few minutes walk to/from Tangaza College. The aim of this house is to provide favourable atmosphere for the spiritual education and formation of our candidates to priesthood in temporary vows, while they attend Tangaza College.
Since its foundation, over 100 scholastics have passed through this house; a good number now serving in various missions around the world – including Kenya. It is one of the biggest scholasticates of the Institute.
Apart from the academic work in Tangaza, we are involved in week-end pastoral ministry in various Christian communities in and around Nairobi, including the slums. This is an important opportunity to learn from the local communities the challenges of the mission today.
C) Comboni Brothers Centre (CBC)

The Comboni Brothers Centre (CBC) is the place where the third stage of the formation of the Comboni Brothers takes place. 

Whereas the first phase of formation (Postulancy) focuses mainly on human maturity and the acquisition of a profession, and the second one (noviciate) is dedicated to the consecration for the mission within the Comboni charism, the phase of the CBC is concerned with ministerial education and personal integration (deepening and personalization of the values and synthesis of the tasks of the different stages of formation).  Therefore, the ultimate goal of formation at the CBC is an “all-round” preparation for the mission.

It was established in 1981 and opened at Gilgil, 120 km from Nairobi, attached to the polytechnic institute run by the Comboni missionaries where the Brothers were trained for a profession. For the difficulty of finding resource persons, in 1986 the CBC was transferred to Nairobi, where initiatives at inter-congregational level for the formation of the Brothers and of the Sisters were easily available.

At the end of the course the Brothers are expected to have a clear and complete vision of the identity of the Comboni Brother, prepared for the mission assignments the Church entrusts to them. In particular, the Brothers need to acquire the knowledge, the attitudes, the methodology, and the skills for their specific ministry.  They are expected to get empowered for social apostolate (justice, peace, integrity of creation, sustainable development initiatives etc) and acquire skills to empower others. They also learn how to live in and build up an intercultural community and to grow in cross-cultural relations.  The Brothers need to become dialogical persons both in ministry and in community.

The CBC is a community of Brothers with some Comboni priests, one of whom is a member of the formation team. By an established tradition the superior of the community is the Brother formator. The community has a markedly multicultural and international character and offers various opportunities to get exposure to mission situations and preparation for the first missionary assignment.
The formative journey covers a period of three to four years, during which the Brothers deepen and strengthen their Comboni identity and prepare themselves for the mission. They want to become “holy and capable” Brothers with the same vision of Comboni, competent and ready to minister in the different situations of the African society.

4)  Comboni Lay Missionaries - CLM.

We recognise the place and importance which the CLM have in our missionary witness. They are part and parcel of the Comboni Missionary family. Their identity is threefold: they are Laypersons, Missionaries and Combonis (from the CLM document of Ellwangen, Nov. 2006).
Though the CLM are to be autonomous from the Comboni Missionaries, we seek to collaborate with them and integrate them in our missionary undertakings with support and fraternity. We involve them in our celebrations, prayer days etc.
A confrere is appointed to follow the CLM and to create a linking point between them and the Comboni Missionaries.
As far as the CLM are concerned, Kenya is still a receiving province. We are studying the feasibility of recruiting local CLMs.

5)   New People Media Centre – N.P.M.C.

The General Chapter of 1985 (Chapter Acts 1985, n. 118) directed the General Administration to establish a Missionary Animation Centre in English speaking and French speaking Africa. The General Council, in two consecutive consultas of 1987 (March-April and August), made the decision to erect the Media Centre of Nairobi.
The New People Media Centre (NPMC) was erected by the Superior General with a Decree dated 21st December, 1987. Its primary purpose is the missionary animation of Christian Communities in English speaking Africa.
The NPMC was established as an inter-Provincial Institution of those Provinces in Africa which are English­ speaking, or where the use of English is fairly widespread: Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Khartoum, Malawi-Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Sudan, and Uganda. In February 2007, the Province of Togo-Ghana-Benin was added to this group of Provinces.
The NPMC is an initiative inspired by the Comboni charism, which strives to awaken and increase missionary awareness within the local Churches through the means of social communication. This animation, besides being missionary, is also ecclesial, liberating, communitarian, Combonian and opens to vocation promotion. To achieve this, the NPMC provides a service of coordination and collaboration in the editing and production of publications and audio-visual aids for English-speaking Africa (cf. NPMC charter, n. 1.1).
Mission awareness is not seen here only from the religious point of view. The publications of New People Media Centre tackle politics, economics, development issues, culture, and religion. In all these, the Centre strives to offer a Christian interpretation and reflection.

a)  NPMC productions and activities:

NEW PEOPLE MAGAZINE: The first publication of the centre is New People, which appeared in July 1989 as a by-monthly magazine with the aim of “helping African Catholics to be informed about and open to the worldwide mission of the Church” (cf. first editorial).
Today, New People is printed in Kenya and Ghana, with a total circulation of 20,000 copies per issue. The magazine is distributed in Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Ghana. A few subscribers receive New People in Europe, North America, Australia and India. Each issue covers African countries and matters relevant to Africa.
NPMC also publishes an “African Family Calendar”.

DOCUMENTATION CENTRE: Housed within the centre, it is made up of a library, a magazine collection and a vast photographic archive. More than five thousand books, one hundred twenty magazines and bulletins, and more than sixty thousand pictures are stored and classified in the documentation centre.
The library is open to the public and it is mostly used by university students.
The documentation centre is important to support the work of the various editors and sub-editors working at the centre.

AFRICA RADIO SERVICE:  New People Africa Radio Service was started in 1998. It produces weekly radio programs that tackle African realities but also aim to give international outlook to listeners through the presentation of experiences and facts from outside Africa.
Africa Radio Service prepares also a variety of thematic audiotapes in English, French and Swahili.

NEW PEOPLE IMAGES: A video studio has been in operation since 2003. We are now able to produce video in a diversity of formats. New People Images produces awareness videos on Church activities.
MEDIA TRAINING: New People Media Centre offers short courses in journalism, radio journalism, radio editing, graphic design, web design, video editing, and photography. The centre also gives media students the opportunity to spend times at the centre in attachment. About twenty students spend with us between one and three months every year.

WEB SITE: NPMC has created and keeps up to date a web site, New People Online (www.newpeople.co.ke).

b)  Collaboration with the various sectors:

-  Our Comboni Mass Media are tools for missionary animation, vocation promotion and, also, evangelization.  They keep a close relationship with the missionaries working in the fields of missionary animation, vocation promotion and evangelization.
- The Vocation Director should be a full member of the editorial team and be responsible for the Vocation section of the magazine (Youth & Mission, 3 pages). The Mass Media Centre makes itself available to collaborate with those responsible for Mission Animation and Vocation Promotion for the production of materials (leaflets, calendars, radio programs, DVDs, etc) for their work.
-  The Mass Media incorporates collaborating writers from the field of evangelization (witnessing) and the Mission Animation.
- On their side, the missionaries working in Mission Animation, Vocation promotion and Evangelization use the Mass Media productions in their work and help to spread them among the Christian communities.

6) Tangaza

Comboni Missionaries are corporate members of the Tangaza College Consortium and offer teaching personnel on secondment in the School of Theology, in the Institute of Social ministry and, in the past, in the Institute of Social Communication.

Tangaza College: Academic Institution at University Level

Tangaza is an Academic Institution for ministerial formation started by a cluster of Missionary and Religious Institutes in 1986. The core concerned is the training of ministers for the different areas of apostolate such as: proclamation and sacramental life, education, integral human development and justice and peace, social communication, and so forth. In 1997 Tangaza became a constituent college of CUEA (Catholic University of Eastern Africa, which had started its journey in 1985 as a Catholic Institution for Higher Studies and became a University, formally recognized by the state of Kenya, in December 1992). Therefore Tangaza is an academic institution at university level.

Pluralism and Variety of Ministries

When Tangaza started in 1986 it was focused only on Ordained Ministry, hence the College had a highly theological connotation since the only group present were candidates for Priesthood. Then the complexity of Missionary Ministry and of the African World called for the beginning of the training of other ministers. Therefore the following new institutes were established:  for the Ministry of Education: Christ the Teacher Institute of Education (CTIE) in 1991; for the  Social Ministry and Social Apostolate, Integral Human Development, Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation; the Institute  of Social Ministry in Mission in 1994;  for the Ministry of Spirituality and Religious Formation the Institute of Spirituality and Religious Formation (ISRF) in 1996; for the Ministry of Social Communication through Mass Media the Institute of Social Communication (ISC) in 2002;  for Youth Ministry the Institute of Youth Ministry in 2002; for a scientific studying and understanding of African Cultures  the Institutes of African Studies  affiliated to Tangaza in 1990; for promotion of Leadership the School of New Learning, in partnership with the De Paul University of Chicago.

The Missionary Meaning of  the presence of  Comboni Personnel in Tangaza

Mission is for the coming of the Kingdom of God whose visible signs are basically two:

• Civil society, a political establishment, and an environment  firmly imbued and penetrated by the  values of the Kingdom of God expressed and elaborated in the Christian Social Teaching,
• Christian Communities (Local Churches) established according to the missionary principles of: of self ministering, self supporting, and self propagating and socially meaningful and influential. The old seminaries were for the Church; as if the aim of the Mission was just to found local churches.

These two objectives are clearly expressed in the fundamental Charter of the Comboni Identity: The Plan for the Regeneration of Africa which offers Comboni’s  methodology as well: promotion, formation and training of local ministers, personnel  at the level of Church ad at level of society and state for integral human development. Tangaza, with its pluralism of ministry, is highly in line with the Plan. The apostolic and missionary value of Tangaza, as a University Institution, is obvious and all the more important in a globalised world. A quotation from the first African Synod: The Catholic Universities and higher Institutes in Africa have a prominent role to play in the proclamation of the salvific Word of God. They are a sign of the growth of the Church as their research integrated the truths and experiences of the faith and help to internalize it. They serve  the Church by providing trained personnel, by studying important theological and social questions, by developing an African theology, by promoting the work of inculturation especially in the liturgical celebration, by publishing books and publicizing Catholic truth, by undertaking assignments given by the Bishops and by contributing to a scientific  study of culture. (Ecclesia in Africa 103).

 At the beginning of the third millennium for a Missionary Family like ours, the neglect of direct and qualified involvement at university level would show an inadequate and incomplete vision of mission. The promotion of intellectual excellence and direct involvement in research in publishing and in teaching is important not only for the sake of advancing the theology and praxis of mission, a constitutive duty of the our Comboni Charism, and for the sake of educating and training of ministers for the Church and the Society, but it is vitally important for the vitality and the future of the Comboni Family and Congregations as well. Many General Chapters have lamented insufficient investment of time and resources in reflection and research engrossed as we are in rampant activism. It is strategically vital for the Comboni Family to be formally committed in Institutions of High Learning with concrete steps to integrate and balance  action and reflection,  doing and research/studying in our Comboni Family.

The Institute of Social Ministry in Mission
The former President of the Republic of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, once said that the religious mission of the Church demands that all human beings’ dignity be respected, defended and promoted in the people’s lives and in their work. The Church is called to be an instrument for promoting justice and human dignity and to collaborate with all who are committed to promote equality for all people regardless of their religious affiliations. Moreover, the Church needs to acknowledge that people can only develop and improve their conditions by being involved in their own development as they share in the common good.
The social role of the Church, as it is also witnessed in its tradition, is to promote the conditions and opportunity that enable the people to participate in the process of their own development.

The Context and Vocation
of the Institute of Social Ministry in Mission (ISMM)

In May 1994, the Institute of Social Ministry was founded by Fr. Francesco Pierli, a Comboni Missionary who has worked in Africa as a Missionary for many years. The Comboni Missionaries are still fully involved in its running and growth. The inspiration of such an Institute was embedded in the following socio-cultural realities of Africa:
The time of transformation of Africa: The nineties marked the slow process of democratization of many African nations. This meant that grassroots people started owning their continent and facing the challenges of contributing to the global world. Symbolically, in 1994 ISMM started its programs, concurrently with the first democratic elections that were held in South Africa and the beginning of the African Renaissance.
The African Synod: In 1994 this synod took place in the wake of the tragic Rwandan genocide. Among the great challenges of the synod there was the appeal and resolution for a transformed society by the local Churches and the civil society, envisioning integral human development, justice and peace.
The Jubilee 2000:  It expressed the link between faith and love of neighbour. Besides the traditional pilgrimage to the holy places and sacramental practices, the late Pope John Paul II encouraged all the faithful to obtain a plenary indulgence by making a ‘pilgrimage’ to the poor and the suffering. This meant visiting Christ in the poor, underscoring the link between faith and social responsibility. Moreover, the thrust for mission is not only concerned with the proclamation of the Gospel, but also with a movement toward the social dimension of evangelization. This has a focus on human rights, justice and peace, realities of social and structural sin and the development of the social teaching of the Church in dialogue of prayer and action with people of all faiths.
The challenge and vision that comes out of this long history and within which ISMM is founded, is:

• The regeneration (Renaissance) of Africa centered on its human, cultural, material and    generally local resources and its openness to the whole world.
• The stress on the link between faith and social responsibility, and
• The task of animating the Christian communities to play their role in the social mission of the African Church.

ISMM acknowledges the call for dialogue with the civil society, the state, regional and international bodies, and all faiths through ministerial commitment. Moreover, ISMM has been inspired by the option for the poor, a fundamental feature of the dynamics within the history of salvation. ISMM is guided by the Catholic tradition but all students are encouraged and accompanied to personalize their studies by elaborating on the social dimension of their own faith tradition. Students belonging to any religious Congregations, as well, are encouraged to elaborate on the social potential of their own charism.

ISMM trains Social Ministers, people who believe that God’s redeeming initiative invites human participation and commitment, who are called to side with the poor and marginalized in the promotion of human dignity, social justice and the common good, for which they are trained as catalysts and facilitators of awakening people’s and social conscience, community building, and structural transformation of the society and whose action is generated by an incarnated spirituality.

7)   Holy Trinity Catholic Mission Kariobangi North
The Parish covers an area inhabited by 500,000 people and it is situated between two constituencies: Starehe and Kasarani. It includes also the slum of Mathare.
It is subdivided into 4 zones: Central, Huruma, Ngei (St.Martin), Korogocho (St.John).
The parish counts an overall population of some 67,000 faithful spread over the parish territory. There are over 74 Small Christian Communities stretching out all over the territory and some 230 leaders (3 for each Community).

The Kariobangi Catholic Mission can trace its beginnings way back to 1961 when the Holy Ghost Missionaries started to approach the then remote area for prayer and follow up of the Catholics that had originally settled in the area from upcountry in search of work. It is recorded that some priests were already celebrating Mass in the area of Babadogo, which by now has become the autonomous Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In 1966 a missionary priest called Fr. Thomas Meagher CSSP started to celebrate Mass in the Social hall of Kariobangi village while visiting Catholic homes every Thursday. By 1969 the population of Catholics was already estimated to be one thousand faithful in a territory stretching from Babadogo, St. Benedict, Dandora, through Umoja, Doonholm to Embakasi. In 1970 a plot was purchased for the proper church and Father’s residence buildings. The present Church building was estimated to cost Kshs 600,000/= (Six Hundred Thousand Shillings only) The Catholic families were requested to fundraise Ksh 200,000/= while the missionaries and their friends would provide 400,000/=. This was achieved with the support of the then Vice President Daniel Arap Moi’s by a Harambee that raised 32,000/= shillings in one go.
In 1973, the Holy Ghost Missionaries handed over the Mission to the Comboni Missionaries in the persons of Fr. Romeo De Berti and Fr. Milani Gino.
The Comboni Missionaries have accomplished a great deal of undertakings carried out by many missionaries of different nationalities who worked with great zeal, enthusiasm and foresight.
Currently the Comboni religious community is made up of 7 members: Frs. Paolino Twesigye (parish priest), Mario Porto, John Bosco Nambasi, John Webootsa, Paolo Latorre and Daniele Moschetti and Brother James Iriga Gitonga, the last four residing at Korogocho.
Currently there are 6 Comboni Sisters who carry out most efficiently the pastoral work and human promotion in the parish with a dispensary, a dress making school for underprivileged girls from the neighbouring slums, home based care for the sick in Korogocho and other projects. Two lay Comboni missionaries, Susan Coopersmith, and Michael Florino, and a lay missionary Gino Filippini, offer their professional skills in human promotion in the parish.

By 1975 the huge Church building had been overcrowded by the numbers of the faithful, thus the establishing of out-stations like Babadogo, Umoja and Embakasi which successively became fully fledged Parishes. Doonholm and Kariobangi South followed suit.
At the moment, Holy Trinity Catholic Mission at Kariobangi is happy to be called mother Church to several daughter parishes that are even growing faster than before.

Due to the population boom, the parish is divided into four Zones and three Mass Centres.
In the Western Zone there is St. Martin de Porres with 18 Small Christian Communities. In the same direction we have Huruma Zone with 10 small Christian Communities. The Central Zone, where the main Church is situated, has 20 Small Christian Communities. The Eastern Zone comprises St. John’s Church-Korogocho with 26 Small Christian Communities. We estimate the population of the present parish area to be around 500,000 people, out of whom 67,000 are baptized Catholics both from up country and indigenous Nairobians. Half the parish area or even more can be classified as slum.

During and after the post election violence Kariobangi became a battlefield, and many people fell victims. The Church, that used to be full, was literally empty every Sunday for about two months. Since that time, life has not been the same in Kariobangi Mission.  Following the disagreements on who won the elections, tribal instincts and violence took over, and this left hundreds of people killed, several people maimed and raped, thousands displaced, houses looted and burnt to ashes, and life put on a stand still. The Church and Christian Communities had to pay a dear price.

To start the process of healing, reconciliation and reconstruction, we have reawakened the spirit of witness by embarking on house to house evangelization so that Christian life can assist to normalize the interpersonal relationships.

To maintain the vision and aim of our being in this mission we use the following approach:

• Christian life founded on and maintained by the WORD of God and the Holy Eucharist.
•  Parish administration and evangelisation based on focused planning and team work.
• Well selected, elected and continuously formed Christian leaders.
• Consistent planned meetings from the Small Christian Communities to the Parish Pastoral Council.
• Attention to the social gospel, based on the ministry of care and Christian charity (Social Services)
• Homely environment at our church centres and respect for all the people of God.
• Seminars for all parish groups, services and ministries.
• Written guidelines for every existing ministry, movement and association in the Parish
• The catechumenate for children, youth and adults with convinced catechists.
• Well-organized and focused youth ministry
• Personal Christian witness from the pastoral agents.

The parish does its best to make sure that every person and any relevant group get the attention they deserve.
Conclusion:

Holy Trinity Kariobangi is a tremendous complex family of the people of God where both the Wheat and the Weed grow together. Challenges of poverty and misery are evident all over the place. All the same, one can clearly see the Holy Spirit at work even when it would seem humanly speaking impossible. One can see the poor helping the poor, those with nothing sharing everything available; the smiling face of the terminally sick; the simplest trying to share the WORD of God with those willing to listen. Yes, the miracles of God witnessed every day where they are less expected.

8) PRESENTATION OF KOROGOCHO SLUM

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
Kariobangi Parish – Eastern Deanery - Kasarani Constituency.

1.  A vision of slum mission

A lot has already been said and written about global urbanising trends, shifting the majority of the globe’s population from rural to urban areas. 
Peripheries of big cities in the South of the world have a profile of extreme human suffering, though not constituting “emergency” situation, but the norm!  They are the by-product of the dominant “development model”, as it is often called, and globalisation.  Here people live in de-humanising conditions, not only is socio-economic terms, but also because of cultural alienation and community/family breakdown.  The high rate of change make cities the melting pots where new cultures are forged, a new humanity is in the making, often under the influence of the negative forces of wild capitalism and its “counter-values” (cf. Redemptoris Missio 37.b).

2. Mission Statement

As a Christian and religious community of Comboni Missionaries we are called to proclaim (in words and deeds) and encounter as a community living among the poor, Christ the Human One, incarnated and suffering in the miserable condition of the urban marginalized, and being the Good News of liberation for them.

3. Spirituality

Living within the urban environment, very complex and fast-changing, requires a deep insertion among the poor in order to be in a position of truly accompanying them, to be able to listen to them carefully, and basically to journey together towards a liberating encounter with Christ.

Thinking of the African context and Comboni’s legacy of “regeneration”, the icon of the Gospel Transfiguration is another model for the journey of re-awakening of the African living traditions of peace, harmony, etc. and positive cultural transformation in the light of Jesus’ identity.
Some basic attitudes are necessary so as to carry on this type of missionary activity, namely:

1. DIALOGUE:  with the countless socio-cultural, religious entities present in the slums
2. COMMUNITY BUILDING:  both at the level of Small Christian Communities and of civil society
3. CULTURAL COMMITMENT:  to introduce the values of the kingdom within the on-going, fast redefinition of cultural trends
4. FIDELITY: to be present is not enough; we need also continuity, stability, and perseverance in our commitment.
5. HOSPITALITY: this is crucial for relationships and community living; it requires a very simple and sober lifestyle

4. The Korogocho slum

Korogocho slum houses some 120,000 dwellers crammed within one single square kilometer. It is made up of 7 villages called: Highridge, Grogan, Ngomongo, Ngunyumu, Githaturu, Kisumu Ndogo/Nyayo and Korogocho.
It is one of the more than 200 slums of Nairobi, covering together a mere 5% of the city territory. 2,5million people out of the total of 4 million Nairobians live in the slums.
Korogocho ranks fourth in the size of population after Kibera, Mathare and Mukuru Kwa Jenga. It is an illegal settlement born in the early eighties. Over half of the land is State property and the rest is privately owned – it seems – by a single person, Mr. Gatheca. The slum is multi-ethnic, counting some 30 ethnic groups: Kikuyu, Luo and Luhya are among the major ones. The Chief and the Administration Police have a permanent residence at the very centre of Korogocho village.
The slum socio-economic reality is very poor: there are no public services and the absence of the State is keenly felt. There are 2 City Council schools with over 3,500 children and many other informal private schools, mostly inefficient. It is well to note that 70% of the Korogocho population is less than 30 years of age. The most relevant problems are: prostitution, unemployment, drug addiction, alcoholism, rapes, criminality, and domestic violence. There is also a massive presence of street children who try to escape from police round ups in the city finding a hideout in the slums. Also many illegal firearms find a place here, furthering criminality which is now moving to the city.

5. Why an inserted Comboni community in the heart of the slum?

The aim of the community is to accompany the poor in the process of their integral liberation. This is the fruit of the community desire to recognize the Poor Christ in marginalized brothers and sisters in order to serve Him and become conformed to Him. In the Church document “Fraternal life in Community” published in 1994 it is stated:
“..In recent years, poverty has been an issue which has involved religious very intensely and which has touched their hearts…how to evangelize the poor. But religious have also wanted to be evangelized by their contact, with the world of the poor. In face of the impoverishment of great masses of people, especially in abandoned and marginal areas of large cities and in forgotten rural areas, “religious communities of insertion” have arisen as one of the expression of the preferential, and in solidarity, evangelical option for the poor.”
The community of insertion is a great advantage to the urban ministry and parish area because it is physically, psychologically and spiritually present among the poor and marginalized and, as such, it can give a lot of new insights for the implementation of the missionary/pastoral planning of the parish as a whole. When insertion among the poor becomes a true experience of God for the poor and the religious community then the poor will be truly evangelized and, in turn, we too are evangelized. As pastoral agents we are called to cultivate an authentic spirituality of incarnation based on genuine encounter between God’s Word and His world. This process of making Christ alive to the people requires a change of heart through learning how to wait, to listen, to forgive and to persevere. If this is done in a spirit of openness, it will transform completely the spiritual and human life of the pastoral agents.

6. The Comboni Community of Insertion at Korogocho

In 1983 the existing two Small Christian Communities built the first chapel in an outstation of the central parish. From 1990 Fr. Alex Zanotelli went to live in the yard of the informal school for poor children. A year later he moved to Githaturu in the old chapel which, in the meantime, had been replaced by a bigger one in the area of Highridge having the catholic community increased numerically. Adjacent to the chapel a community informal school was built which served and still serves some 850 children from poor families, with kindergarten and primary school.
Since 1990 a small Comboni community has been living fully within the slum reality with all its problems and richness. A valid choice, lived in full awareness and sobriety, but above all seeped in spirituality, sharing and in solidarity with the slum poorest. The missionary presence, along with the growth of the Christian community, has addressed the pastoral and human needs existent in the territory. Along the years many projects of human promotion have been realized like the informal school, the kindergarten, the rubbish recycling co-operative, the care of the sick, etc.
The religious Comboni community is currently (2008) formed by Frs. John Webootsa, Daniele Moschetti, Paolo Latorre, Brother James Iriga Gitonga, and a lay missionary, Gino Filippini.
The community has hosted and accompanied, for periods of one year in turn, during the last seven years, more than 25 pre-postulants of various religious congregations on agreement with their superior provincials and vocation promoters.

7. The land of Korogocho

It is government property for the great majority, but a good piece is in the hands of a single owner: Mr.Gatheca. Our compound is in fact on the borders of these two properties. The church/hall, the library and the court-yard of the informal school are on crown land/state property, while the foot-ball ground and the amphitheatre are on Mr.Gatheca’s which has been drained, reclaimed and fenced, over the years, after years of general neglect since it was a dump site for garbage, human waste and others, next to an abandoned quarry, now turned into a large pool.

8. Neighbouring Parishes and territories

The territories bordering with Korogocho are: Kariobangi North and Dandora Parishes (Eastern Deanery) and Baba Ndogo Parish (Ruaraka Deanery). Between Dandora and Korogocho lies the only City Council dumping site, the cause of great health hazards (dioxin and cancer), insecurity (Mungiki and hidden illegal fire-arms), and exploitation of under-paid labour. Other churches and mosques have joined the Christian community in asking the government to relocate the dumping site.

9. The St. John’s Christian community

We have 26 Small Christian Communities spread all around the Korogocho territory. We follow also three prayer groups: Mukuru Recycling Centre made up of scavengers who work in the dumpsite; Ujamaa, Tanzanian lepers who go begging in the city and live in a degraded area called Grogan; Bega kwa Bega, a cooperative for handcraft of women who try to resist the tough life of Korogocho. We reckon the practicing faithful to be around 3000. All the pastoral activities have always been coordinated with the central parish of Kariobangi. We notice also the presence of youth groups: under and over 16, the liturgical dancers, altar boys and girls, the Sunday school for the youngest. The children catered for, between the school and the community, are over a thousand. We celebrate two Sunday Masses, one of which is the Misa ya Sinodi (The Synod Mass).

10. Baraza St. John (Zonal Council)

The Baraza is composed of 63 leaders: 3 from each Christian community (at least 1 woman for gender balance and 1 young person), democratically elected every three years. The Baraza meet every Wednesday evening for a couple of hours, twice a month to discuss emergent problems and possible solutions and the other two times for moments of spiritual and human formation open to the whole Christian community. It is an important organization for programming and realizing the evangelization and human promotion in the territory. The Baraza elects an Executive body of 10 people who hold the office for 3 years. Responsibilities are shared among the members: chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, vice-secretary, treasurer, vice-treasurer, ambassador and 3 youth representatives. They prepare the Zonal Council agenda and implement the baraza’s resolutions. Three representatives attend the monthly Parish Pastoral Council at Kariobangi.

11. Support Groups (Hudumas)

To express concretely the caring and charitable activity of the Small Christian Communities, 12 support groups have been set up. Each group has a representative from each SCC for every specific service which is offered to the whole Christian community in the territory. They are autonomous, have their leaders and have days and times to meet and organize the services. Each Huduma chooses its leaders every three years.
The support groups are: Justice and Peace, Faith + funerals, Liturgy + ushers, Council of Leaders (Baraza), Catechists, the Poor, the Caring for the sick, Legio Maria, the Eucharist Extraordinary ministers, Alcoholic Anonymous, Pro-life, Widows.
There are also four Associations: Catholic Women Association, Pioneers, Korogocho Women Awareness Programme (KWAP), St. John Sports Society (SSS).

12. Formation

Biblical and human formation of the leaders, youth and children has been a priority for the last 18 years. There are many formative moments through the year and a workshop of a couple of hours on specific topics for all the community is given every other week: for example on Aids, the sacraments, alcohol/drugs, Bible, care for the sick, counseling, etc. A specific formation is also given to those directly involved in the performance of each particular service (Huduma). Six times a year, Bible Weeks are organized, open to the whole community.
This formation courses are often supported by the projection of videos and documentaries that help to absorb more deeply the message we want to convey.

13. The Synod Mass (Misa ya Sinodi), funeral and prayer for the sick

The Christian community, jointly with liturgists from the Catholic University (CUEA) , other priests and missionaries, has endeavored in these 18 years to inculturate the liturgy with symbols and signs meaningful to the Kenyan and African cultures and traditions. It is in this way that the “Misa ya Sinodi” has been celebrated at Korogocho along the past years. This Mass respects all the canons of the roman rite, but is enriched with rites and symbols that the people feel to be their own. This initiative was a response to “Ecclesia in Africa” (nr.94) of the First African Synod about inculturation of the liturgy. Other booklets of prayers and liturgical celebrations have been prepared to answer the requests of our reality, such as the prayers for the sick and funerals.
The community wishes to submit it to the competent diocesan authority for approval.

14. Catechumenate and Catechists

We count 100/120 new candidates to the catechumenate every year. They are conducted by 15 well prepared catechists, all volunteers. The catechumenate lasts 20 months, in association with the central parish. All the sacraments are registered in the office of the parish.

15. Collaboration, networks, advocacy and lobbying

In 2002 the Christian community of Korogocho, together with the Kibera Christ the King parish, founded the Kutoka Network in Nairobi to unify the parishes bordering with the slums that intended to fight for the improvement of the conditions of life in the slums, including the land.
There is also a good relationship with pastors of other churches and we meet for formative encounters, prayer and community initiatives. We are among the founders of KOSLA, Korogocho spiritual leaders association.
As a religious and Christian community we are committed to the campaign for the debt cancellation in collaboration with the Catholic Economic Justice, other NGOs and various organizations.

Recently we have managed to put together an interfaith network advocating for the relocation of the Dandora Dumpsite which is causing several problems: insecurity, health, and struggling to give a dignified job for the thousands of people working within the dumpsite.
In 2004 the Kutoka network, together with NGOs and other stakeholders, managed to lobby and stop the evictions and demolitions for more than 300.000 slum dwellers. Since then we have established a network between Korogocho and Italy through a campaign dubbed “Viva Nairobi Viva” asking the conversion of the total debt which Kenya needs to repay back, transforming it in national development investments. Other networking is with international organizations like UN Habitat and UNEP which are based here in Nairobi. Another important role played by the community has been coordinating several initiatives during the 5th World Social Forum held in Nairobi in 2007, for the first time in Africa, and to organize the 1st Comboni Social Forum at the same time.

16. Projects at Korogocho

Over the years the Christian community, in collaboration with the missionaries, has strived to meet the most urgent needs in the territory, aiming at making the projects self-supporting.
Here is a brief description of the projects now in progress, all of them sustained by pastoral formation.
Bega Kwa Bega: A women’s autonomous co-operative which produces excellent handicraft.
Boma Rescue Centre: A day centre situated by the dumping site, to rescue and re-educate some 100 street children who work in the dump.
Korogocho Street Children Programme (KSCP): Street work and a centre for over 40 children who sniff glue.
Alcoholic Anonymous: Support for alcoholics to help them overcome the addiction.
Adult education: 1 centre where adult people (more than 100 and especially women) learn how to write and read and other skills.
Napenda Kuishi Home: A rehabilitation center at Kibiko on the Ngong Hills, 40 Km from the slum, for the rehabilitation of alcoholics and street drug dependent children.
Assistance to the sick: Medical and spiritual assistance to the sick in their homes, with a special attention to HIV-positive. With the support of the Comboni Sisters.
St. John’s Sports Society (SSS): 7 sports to bring out young men and women’s talents, to avert criminality, alcoholism and drug abuse, joining human and spiritual formation.
St. John Informal School: 650 poor children from various ethnic and religious groups, who attend the primary informal school and receive a daily hot meal.
St. John Nursery School: The community kindergarten attended by 150 children.
Library: visited and used daily by over 400 youth and children of the slum. It houses some 7000 books.
Mukuru Recycling Centre: A 40 members autonomous co-operative that recycles materials collected from the dump and town collection.
Pro-life: A concrete help given to young mothers tempted by abortion. Sustained by the Comboni Sisters.
Hair Dressing: A school of hair-dressing for young women in difficult situations. Sustained by the Comboni Sisters.
Ndoto Art People: A studio of “African” art for talented self-taught people.

17. MILGAP UN HABITAT AWARD 2006

In 2006 St John Catholic Church’s “People United for a New Korogocho” was granted the MILGAP UN Habitat Award, as the most interesting, innovative and effective project in the slum of East Africa, for the eradication of poverty through the empowerment of the people of Korogocho.

9)   Provincial house/Procure

• Community dedicated to the service of the Province in the areas of leadership/authority/animation, finances and economic matters.
• It is “the house” of the Province and cultivates a spirit of welcoming to all confreres.
• It offers spaces for meetings, celebration of assemblies and days of recollection…
• The economic service includes administration, formation and animation of local bursars, reflection about finances (poverty, solidarity …), assistance in the processing of documents, purchase of tickets… It also provides services to local Churches: Southern Sudan, Kenya…

10) COMMITMENTS “AD PERSONAM”

The Comboni Missionaries of Kenya offer a number of services to the Churches of Africa through the qualified work of confreres specialised in various field of formation, information and social initiatives, in line with the Comboni Charism.

a) Kenya Episcopal Conference (KEC) and AMECEA: Fr. Rinaldo Ronzani works on secondment with the KEC and AMECEA in the liturgical and catechetical fields. The main commitment is the preparation of liturgical books (the new Liturgy of the Hours, Missal, Ordo, etc), and catechetical material (A Catholic Catechism) for the English-speaking Africa.