The Vincentian charism arrived in Kenya in 1962, sown in the generous hearts of the laity of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Today, more than 20,000 members are spread throughout the country, advancing the agenda of organized charity and the integral care of the poor’s needs. This lay presence has been the foundation upon which a rich and diverse expression of the charism has been built on Kenyan soil.

In 1981, the Vincentian Missionaries came from the United States, specifically from what is now the Western Province, headquartered in St. Louis. Four decades later, the mission has taken such deep root that today all the Vincentian missionaries in Kenya are Kenyan, including Brother Jim, who, although born in the U.S., has become part of the culture and development of the mission as though he were a native of the land. The current 43 members constitute a new and vibrant vice-province. Some have already been sent on mission to other countries, and others are being formed in various contexts to ensure the human, spiritual, and intellectual quality of the charism through an interdisciplinary, professional, and deeply humanist experience.

The Congregation of the Mission is committed to clergy formation, education, and the formation of its own members, counting nearly 50 seminarians. Alongside this is its relentless work in the—physical and spiritual—construction of parishes, where little by little the sense of community, communion, participation, and shared mission is being fostered.

Visit to the works of the Daughters of Charity in Thigio. Including the KISIMA school for children with physical and mental disabilities and the clinic and hospice for the elderly and critically ill.

The Daughters of Charity arrived in 2001 from the Province of Ireland. This year, in October, they will be constituted as a Region together with the sisters in Tanzania. The nearly 50 sisters in the new region include missionaries from several provinces and 33 Kenyan sisters who are being prepared intellectually and in the life of the charism to assume the future leadership of the Company in this region of Africa. Since their arrival, they have devoted themselves to multiple services caring for the poorest, in the spirit of the Constitutions in which “no poverty is strange to them and no suffering is alien” (cf. C7). Their service includes prophetic projects with the most abandoned, among them the DREAM Project—of which we will speak more later—as well as initiatives for children with physical and mental disabilities, care for the elderly, and clinical services, among many others that give life, hope, and dignity to the most vulnerable.

In 2001, the Brothers of Charity started their own house of formation in Nairobi. Their intention was to offer young English-speaking African brothers the chance to continue their professional training at an academic level as well as the opportunity to live in a community of their own.

In 2006, this house of formation was further developed into the international novitiate for Africa. On average, about 30 to 40 novices from 10 different African countries stay there for their initial eighteen-month formation, during which they are initiated into the religious life. After this period, they return to their regions for six months. Then, they meet in Ndera, Rwanda, for an apostolic formation of six months as they prepare for their first profession.

In recent years, the formation and structuring of the Vincentian Marian Youth and the Association of the Miraculous Medal have begun, the fruit of collaborative work between the Daughters of Charity and the Vincentian Missionaries. Along with them, one additional branch enriches this family: the Vincentian Congregation (VC) from India.

All of them, sisters and brothers in the charism, are beginning to organize with the hope of constituting the first National Council of the Vincentian Family, a space where they can celebrate, be formed, and discern together the tradition, spirituality, theology, and Vincentian service in collaboration, in order to embody, revitalize, and reinterpret the charism in this culture and geography at the current historical moment.

It is striking to see how the Vincentian charism continues to expand, becoming a living testimony of the Kingdom of God among the poor. As St. Vincent said: “Through our hands and with the sweat of our brow,” embracing the best of our Vincentian tradition, which illustrates the active and incarnate dimension of the love of God through service to the poor.

DREAM PROJECT: Silent and Transformative Prophecy of the Kingdom Among the Most Vulnerable

Probably one of the most impactful projects of the Vincentian Family in Kenya is the DREAM Program, an initiative that represents a silent but powerful prophecy of the Kingdom of God among the most vulnerable. This ministry is jointly led by the Daughters of Charity and the Community of Sant’Egidio.

Outreach program for the MAASAI community

The DREAM Program was launched in 2008 with a vision to provide comprehensive care for persons affected by and/or infected with HIV and AIDS. Located in Langata sub-county, within the Nairobi metropolitan area, the center has grown remarkably from its humble beginnings, when it served approximately 100 people. Today, in August 2025, more than 3,359 people are actively under the program’s care and accompaniment.

Services have evolved significantly: from basic HIV care and treatment, the program has expanded to offer integrated services that include screening and treatment for tuberculosis and cervical cancer. This holistic approach reflects the heart of the Vincentian charism: to see the full dignity of each person and respond to their needs with depth, competence, and tenderness. Dom Hélder Câmara’s expression—“When we dream alone, it is only a dream; when we dream together, the new reality begins”—takes on its full meaning in this program and becomes a prophetic action with great social reach.

Here in Nairobi, through DREAM, led and served by the Daughters of Charity, and through other initiatives, the Vincentian Family is contributing to the permanent transformation of Kenyan reality, serving the most vulnerable and embracing the best of our spiritual and prophetic tradition while responding to the cries of the poor, the cries of the earth, and the multiple calls of the Church.

Leaders of the different branches.

However, this project now faces a delicate crossroads: cuts in international aid, especially from the U.S. government, have deeply affected organizations working with highly vulnerable groups. Despite this challenge, Sister Irene, Daughter of Charity and director of the program, together with her team of 24 employees, has not lost hope or peace. Trusting in the providence of God, they are exploring alternative paths to ensure the continuity of this vital service should the cuts reach them.

This DREAM cannot stop. The consequences of a shutdown of its basic and urgent services would be catastrophic not only for the direct beneficiaries but also for their families and for Kenyan society as a whole. The work of good always encounters obstacles, but it also relies on the power of committed hearts that refuse to yield.

DREAM Nairobi

Thank you, Vincentian Family of Kenya, for intertwining your hands and uniting your hearts. Thank you for gradually laying the foundations of this first generation of the Vincentian charism in this beautiful country. May these foundations sustain programs of systemic change, political advocacy, and long-term sustainability. May we continue weaving together the four fabrics that give us life as a family: the mystical fabric, the prophetic fabric, the relational fabric, and the structural fabric, as we dreamed and discerned together at the II Convocation in Rome, in November 2024.

With deep appreciation, I extend my sincere thanks to all for the generous hospitality received. In a special way, I thank Father Benson, whose dedication and welcoming spirit made this visit so well organized and meaningful. I am also deeply grateful to the confreres at the Provincial House in Nairobi, the parishes of St. Vincent and St. Justin, the Daughters of Charity and the confreres at Holy Cross Parish in Thigio, the DREAM Project, and the Central House in Nairobi, as well as the seminarians and formators at the DePaul Centre, for the fraternal warmth with which they welcomed me. You truly embody the Vincentian spirit of communion and service.

Fr. Memo Campuzano, C.M.

The Holy Cross Parish in Thigio, currently under construction.

St. Justin de Jacobis Parish.

A dance by the students of the school within the Holy Cross Parish in Thigio during the celebration of the Solemnity of the Holy Cross on September 14, 2025.