(The Catholic Ambassador Magazine, Summer 2018, Vol. 34, Pg. 11-13)

As Director of the Mission Development Office for the American Region, Fr. Aloysius Nzekwe, MSP, oversees fundraising in the United States to support MSP missions around the world. Much of the money raised in the U.S. is sent to help people served by MSP missions in developing regions of the world. Fr. Aloysius traveled last year to some of these areas served by his fellow missionaries. He explained the motive for his journey was to see “where the money is going and what the money is doing, the situation of the people, I just wanted to have a firsthand experience of what the people are really going through.” Turkana County, Kenya In December, Fr. Aloysius traveled to Losajiat, Turkana County, Kenya—where he spent Christmas, and to Mai Kambu, Katsina State, Nigeria. Father Aloysius was especially excited about Kenya—to finally see the place where he has sent much aid from the U.S. One third of the way into his three-hour trip from the nearest city to the missionary site, though, his excitement waned. “When I started, I thought, ‘oh, wow!’ And then out there in the country, there is nothing. It’s all sand and stone. A few dry trees, but nothing,” he recalled. The long, hot drive in an open jeep on rocky, bumpy, dusty trails wore him out. “With the truck bouncing, and there was so much dust, it’s like you drink the dust,” he said. Once recovered from his journey, Fr. Aloysius witnessed his fellow priests, Fr. Joseph Ibiwoye, MSP, and Fr. Francis Akpomedaye, MSP, in action. He was more than impressed. “I was personally inspired by the dispositions of the priests themselves, because very early in the morning they are ready and they are heading into the interior villages. They celebrate eight Masses each weekend in villages that are often more than an hour apart,” he said. Residents of this rural desert area in the far northern reaches of Kenya are mostly a nomadic people. The celebrations are more than just Mass. MSP priests bring food. As owners of the only vehicle in the region, when someone is extremely ill, priests transport the patient many miles to the nearest health clinic—a distance normally walked by the local people. It can mean the difference between life and death.


“So when you start your Mass, you are checking on every person’s welfare—their living conditions, hygiene, everything. It’s basically a whole human development program. And the people love it because they are learning a lot that is improving their lives,” Fr. Aloysius said. Most residents are pastoral nomads, moving with their sheep and goats from village to village in search of pasture. Their homes consist of makeshift stick huts. Rain is scarce in this desert region. The average annual temperature is one of the highest in the world at 84.2°F (29°C) with an average rainfall of just 7.32 in. (Wikipedia). Some years, it doesn’t rain at all. “They were just coming out from the drought when I was there. Many of them lost everything they had,” Fr. Aloysius said. “It’s a part of Kenya where the drought hits people so much that people literally starve.” Fr. Joseph kept more than 30 goats at the mission house. Only five survived the drought. One project being explored by the MSP is the feasibility of building a dam and concrete-lined reservoir to collect water after big rains. A Spanish missionary group constructed something similar in the northern region of Kenya. The Kenyan government gives aid to its citizens in times of drought, but if money is provided, recipients have no means of transportation to a place to procure their needs. It is no use purchasing seeds that cannot germinate during a drought. As a result, people sometimes consider money to be a treasure or trophy to hide instead of something to spend, Fr. Aloysius explained. “We provide food aid from MSP to all these communities, so the priests load their trucks with sacks of grain as they go visit in the villages,” he continued. “One of my experiences there made me realize how much our work here affects the lives of the people in Kenya. “We drove into this village and everybody came out singing, praising. I didn’t understand what they were singing but I could hear Fr. Joseph’s name, so I asked him to interpret,” Fr. Aloysius said. The parishioners sang, “Fr. Joseph has come. Life has come. Every good thing has come.” His presence means wellness, Fr Aloysius said. Salvation means surviving to the people in these villages under their care. In 2016, Fr. Joseph started to build a church at one outstation and asked the U.S. mission for assistance. He used a disbursement of $7,000 to finish the roof and build an adjoining office and bedroom, allowing a visiting priest to stay over for two or three nights. Residents at other outstations ask when Fr. Joseph and Fr. Francis will come build a church in their village—because these new churches have become a source of life for the people. The parish home is St. Stephen’s. That site includes a school and the main residence for Frs. Joseph and Francis. After visiting, Fr. Aloysius believes the next most urgent need for the Losajait mission is a truck with an enclosed cab—for the health and well-being of the priests, as well as the critically ill local residents whom they transport to the clinic. The MSP also intends to build a dormitory for girls who attend St. Stephen School, a program described on page 4. Katsina State, Nigeria One of the most urgent needs for rural community members near the MSP mission of St. Patrick’s Church Mai Kambu in Kafur LGA (Katsina State) is clean water. “This is an area where they have to go to a stream that is dry and dig up sand to see whatever water is trapped underneath,” Fr. Aloysius explained. “You dig to some level and then water starts seeping through. But it is either milky or brown, and there is no way any human being should drink that, but that’s all they have.” MSP had constructed a water project that Fr. Aloysius wanted to inspect in person when he traveled there last year. It was having problems. After visiting, he advised the pastor, Fr. Stephen Ojapah, MSP, to build two new water projects and to fix the broken well. Fr. Stephen serves this vast area that consists of a central parish plus more than a dozen outstations. A predominantly Muslim region of northern Nigeria, the parish is located in the Kafur region. “It is very interesting because no one realizes the number of Christians in that area,” Fr. Aloysius said. “But even the Muslims there now appreciate the work Fr. Stephen is doing because he is not just working for Christians. He is empowering the local people. He is bringing in education. He is there as a missionary, but he is really embarking on human development projects that affect the lives of almost everybody in the community.” The water project is one example of an improvement open to all residents, not just Christian families. While there, Fr. Aloysius met with the local chief, a Muslim leader who has very high respect for Fr. Stephen. “I have not seen a Muslim leader respect a Christian leader to that extent before,” Fr. Aloysius said. Public education in this region is quite scarce, with few schools to serve a large geographical region. Expanding educational opportunities is another area in which Fr. Stephen has made an impact upon Christians and Muslims alike. “You have one government school for ten to fifteen communities, so for a child to be able to get to that school, if you’re not in the community where the school is located, you have to be a certain age, probably 10 or 15 to walk that distance or to ride your bicycle there,” Fr. Aloysius said. Young children, from 6 years old to 14 or 15, never have an opportunity to attend school in some villages. One school already existed by the main St. Patrick’s Parish center . Fr. Stephen wants to construct a teacher’s residence there. Teachers are available through Nigeria’s obligatory one-year service program for university graduates, so if a residence is built, more qualified teachers will be available, thereby improving the school’s standards. The new residence project is expected to cost $4,000 to $5,000. Fr. Aloysisus’ visit to the two MSP African missions accomplished his mission to better understand local needs and to see funds at work, bettering the daily living conditions of populations served by MSP.