Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
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| Sr. Dr. Lucy Wanza, the Regional Superior of the LSOSF delivering for for distribution to the needy |
In response to the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (KCCB) request for well-wishers to support those affected in the society with whatever donation they have, a Kenya-based order of religious women of the Little Sisters of St. Francis (LSOSF) has heeded to the appeal and reached out to families affected by COVID-19 in St. Mary’s, Mukuru Parish, Kenya’s Nairobi Archdiocese.
“We the Little Sisters of St. Francis – East of the Rift valley Region in Kenya join the entire Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops in response to the urgent appeal to assist our brothers and sisters suffering due to COVID-19 pandemic,” the Regional Superior of the LSOSF, Sr. Dr. Lucy Wanza stated in a letter addressed to Caritas Office, Nairobi Archdiocese and explained, “This pandemic has economically affected nations today because of the loss of jobs and any other source of self-sustainability especially those in urban centres where most of the people survive on hand to mouth.”
The religious nuns who collected contributions from their communities, collaborated with Caritas Nairobi to help them identify a needy group within the society to send their donations and landed at St. Mary’s Mukuru Parish, a slum locality within Nairobi Archdiocese.
“Our target was to reach 100 families, but for today, we met with the leaders and some few beneficiaries of about 10 families and gave a bag of assorted foodstuff; flour, rice, sugar, oil, bar soap and salt, to each family. We then left the other foodstuff for 90 families to the Parish priest who through the leaders will distribute to other vulnerable people staying in the slum,” Sr. Wanza said in an interview with AMECEA Online Friday, May 8.
“We realized that some of the people could not move to where we were because of sickness and other reasons but we are grateful that they will get something to help them even if it is small,” she added.
Explaining the situation on the ground Sr. Wanza said, “The parish is situated in the middle of slum and the people have nothing to feed on. So many people are needy and since the guidelines to curb the spread of Coronavirus require people to stay at home, most of them are so idle and looking desperate.”
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| A cross section of the recipients of the donation |
The Congregation of the LSOSF intends to collaborate with other well-wishers and donors so as to continue supporting the needy in the society before the operations in the country normalizes.
“Looking at the situation, we want as a congregation to be in touch with the community and so if we can get monthly support from well-wishers and donors since this pandemic is not ending soon, we will appreciate and continue supporting the community as much as we can,” the regional superior said and added, “We cannot help the whole world, and on our own we cannot make it. So we appeal to well-wishers to help us so that we can reach the needy in our society.”
The religious nuns asked everyone to be responsible and join in the fight against the spread of this pandemic as people continue to adhere to the directives given by the government and the World Health Organization (WHO).
“It is a responsibility of every person to follow carefully to see ourselves get back to normalcy,” the Sr. Wanza said and added, “We continue to urge our communities to adhere to the Government regulations and practice the containment measures provided by the Government and Ministry of Health aimed at keeping the virus at bay, (as) we the sisters continue to pray tirelessly for the end of this pandemic worldwide.”