The counties of Nakuru, Narok and Rusinga located mid-west of Kenya are the latest beneficiaries of CSP as ANCOP expands its program in this country. In the past year ANCOP’s Child Sponsorship Program has been operating in two key Kenyan cities of Soweto and Eldoret providing for the educational needs of over 80 poor Kenyan children.
In our recent visit to Kenya in April, my husband Jun and I – CFC Country Coordinators for Kenya and CSP Coordinator (myself) coordinated with members of the clergy and nuns managing various schools to initiate the CSP Program and to ensure its continuity.
The highlight of our mission trip was meeting with various archbishops and bishops of Kenya who welcomed us warmly and expressed appreciation of our work in CFC and in ANCOP. Among them were Bishop David Kamau of Nairobi, Bishop Maurice Muhatya of Nakuru, Bishop Philip Anyolo of Homabay, and Archbishop Martin Kivuvu of Mombasa. Our meetings were facilitated by Fr. James Kairu, a Kenyan priest based in Vancouver, BC.
His Lordships strongly encouraged us to continue our work, and to be patient and faithful in our efforts to help the poor.
Bishop Maurice Muhatya of the diocese of Nakuru committed full support to the program as he entered into a contract agreement with ANCOP towards the educational support of 15 seminarians in his diocese. Present during the signing of the agreement was the diocese’s Vocation Director Fr. David Ngigi.
In Narok, 32 children in grade school became the recipients of CSP at St. Clare School with the Contract of Agreement I signed with Sr. Elizabeth Paragua, the school head. Fr. Moses Khisa of the Franciscan Capuchins in Rusinga Homabay signed the contract for the initial scholarship of 15 children in his school.
For further expansion of our CSP program, we visited Songa Mbele na Masomo – in English, “Moving Ahead in Education.” It is an informal education centre that caters to physically and intellectually-disabled children from the slum. We committed to initiate the CSP project which we expect will greatly impact the children beneficiaries and their families.
“Asanteni sana!” or thank you in the local language are words constantly uttered by the bishops, priests, nuns, and the family beneficiaries who are so grateful with ANCOP’s intervention program. They expressed great hope that ANCOP’s CSP will continue to grow and reach out to more of the countless poor children in Kenya needing help for education.
In the words of the clergy working alongside ANCOP, “The clergy and the people of Kenya truly appreciate CFC’s help in strengthening families and its compassion for the poor.”
For us and the CFC ANCOP team in Kenya, we are just grateful for this opportunity to love and serve the less fortunate and to be able to help pave the way for them to reach their dreams.
By Malou Clarito, ANCOP CSP Coordinator, Kenya