In 1960, four Vincentian Sisters from Untermarchtal went to the Southern part of Tanzania to alleviate poverty and misery and to serve Christ in the poor. This year – exactly 60 years later – another mission has been started: Sister Lucia and Sister Magdalena from Germany and Sister Dorothea Maria and Sister Zeituni from Tanzania have gone to Kenya. There, the Congregation is taking a leap of faith in a new country and a new ministry. In Kibiko near Nairobi, the Sisters are helping to build a rehabilitation center which will house a special school for children with multiple disabilities. In Kenya many children are excluded from society because of their physical and/or mental handicaps. They are often sent away and shunned by their families. Sister Elisabeth, the General Superior, stated: “The Center will serve as a sign that every person has an inalienable dignity from God, whether disabled or not.” It is important to strengthen the unity of the Sisters from Germany and Tanzania through means of this international convent: “In a time in which people are more and more separated, it is our task to build bridges.”

After its completion, the Huduma project (“solicitude” in Kiswahili) will accommodate 110 children. There is still a long way to go. The Sisters came to an empty house in January which still needs much work. It is as though the year of 1858 is being repeating, a time when the Chronicler described the beginning of the congregation in Schwäbisch Gmünd / Germany: “Every room looked empty to the person entering.” But the article went on to state: “Can a beginning be more miserable and at the same time more promising…” With the hope that the Chronicler will one day be able to write the same about the mission in Kenya, the Sisters confidently proceed step by step.

Lea Stokmaier