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Kitui delegates impressed by hospitality in archdiocese |
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By The Catholic Spirit
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Wednesday, 07 October 2009 |
The Catholic Spirit photographer and reporter Dave Hrbacek interviewed Father Robert Mutui, 47, and Vivianne Mulonzya, 34, while they were in St. Paul recently with a delegation from Kitui, Kenya. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Kitui have been exchanging delegations since a partnership was formed by the Center for Mission in 2004.
Father Robert Mutui, who was ordained 20 years ago, oversees all the
pastoral programs in the Diocese of Kitui, along with serving as vicar
general.
What did you most enjoy during your visit?
“Coming here, staying with the families, meeting and interacting with
the people here, it has become more than just a partnership — a
friendship that goes deeper. It’s kind of a family relationship now.”
Father Robert Mutui
So, you’ve made some friends here?
“Lots of friends now. I have visited schools and talked about Kitui and
the children in school in Kitui. And, they’re very interested. They’re
all looking for pen pals. They want to come to Kitui and visit those
young people there.”
Was there anything that surprised you?
“You have so much water here. At home, water is so scarce. Everything
flows out of water. And so, that set me to thinking how we could make
water more available to the people there [in Kitui]. The situation is
because the rains have not come. If we had water like here, [we would
have] the possibilities of people growing their own food and the cows
having their own pastures and that kind of thing.”
Anything else people here should know about Kitui beside the water shortage?
“One of the elements that we could share is the sense of hope that the
people have in Kitui, that Christian hope that God will intervene at
his own time and that we need to play our part as being God’s children,
and by sharing the resources that you have here. . . .
“I think this is a way of having hope that God is there for his people.”
Has the partnership enriched your faith?
“It has in many ways. Back at home, you hear that people in the U.S.
and Europe have lost their faith, church attendance is quite low.
Coming here, we still find people practicing their faith. It’s
encouraging. But, as regards to partnership, back at home, the
delegates who have come to visit Kitui have been exposed to our way of
worship, the way we practice our faith by placing them in the parishes.
They attend Masses, they attend small prayer groups, we call them small
Christian communities.”
In what ways would you like to see this partnership continue to develop?
“The way I envision the partnership to progress is by creating more awareness in the archdiocese here and
. . . participating in the activities and also in the sacramental life
because the sacraments really give us the bond together. We share a
commonality there.
“Also, expanding it back home in the communities. . . . We’re hoping
that those who come for the next visit will go to new parishes and,
that way, we’ll create more friends.”
Anything you would like to add?
“I was impressed by the family faith formation, how the parents
catechize their children. We have a similar model, but it’s not the
same shape as you have. So, that’s something I’m going to bring back
with me. I’m going to try to get families more interested in
catechizing their family members, other than leaving the catechetical
classes to the catechists alone.”
Vivianne Mulonzya is coordinator of the HIV/AIDS programs for the Diocese of Kitui.
What were the highlights of your visit?
“Being in America for the first time, it was full of excitement. Coming and meeting new friends.
“We also visited schools and I could see children wanting to know more
about Africa and Kenya. They were very open and free. They could say
anything they hear about us. So, it was a good experience to bring the
real highlight of what Kitui is to them.”
Mulonzya
What do you do in Kitui?
“For the HIV/AIDS people, what we do is social support. We do
counseling and we also provide material support for those who are real
needy. We provide the food, we provide the shelter to some. We also do
some legal advocacy for some families.
“We also offer treatment and health care support [for orphans].
“Most of the children are left with their old grandmothers and their old grandparents. They also need to be supported.
“We also train the community to get them involved in the care and support of all those who are infected [with HIV].”
Was there anything that impressed you during your visit?
“Yes, it has really touched me, seeing people who can think of others
in a totally different country, totally different culture, totally
different background. . . . I feel that is a real love and it has
really touched me and my whole country.
“The places where we have been hosted, we were taken part and parcel of
that family; that is a good gesture, united by one faith.”
Is there anything else you would like to add?
“Much is needed to be done in the creation of awareness. The faithful
should know and understand what the partnership is, the vision, the
call.
“Schools need to be told what is the partnership and what is Africa.
What we have learned is that most of the youth in school here don’t
know what is real Africa. They have just small bits [of factual
information]. So, they need to be told and get to know what the
partnership is.”
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