Summer Abroad 2026 - Kenya

My time in Kenya has deepened my Dominican life by allowing me to see, talk with, and listen to the Kenyan brothers. In Kisumu, I learned about the environment where our brothers work and pray in the Kenyan church. There are many Catholics here, with lots of parishes supported by the brothers, as well as many outstations. These outstations are places where Catholics gather for Mass once a month because there aren’t enough resources to build a church in every area and there aren’t enough priests. I also discovered more about the history of how Dominican provinces in the US helped form the vicariate of St. Joseph in Kenya. I was surprised and happy to learn that Fr. Bert Ebbens helped renew the vicariate's beginnings by purchasing the land in Kisumu where the current novitiate and postulancy now stand. It’s inspiring to know that the first provincial from the Southern Province of Martin de Porres played a role in building up the Dominican community in Kenya. Hearing about the history of the friars from Fr. Wiseman in Kisumu, and then visiting the Thomas Aquinas seminary that the Dominicans from the Eastern Province had established in Nairobi in the early 1960s, helped me appreciate the ongoing work of those who came before us and the results of their efforts. 

Even the apostolate we took part in during the summer at Kisumu Urban Apostolate Programs (KUAP) (aka Pandipieri) had some connection with the friars, as Br. Steve Sese had worked at this ministry during his postulancy and novitiate. My time at Pandipieri had a significant impact on my understanding of poverty. Pandipieri is an NGO in Kisumu that supports the community in many ways. They offer HIV and TB testing, provide medication for people living with HIV, and give medical care to children whose mothers are HIV positive. They also provide nutrition and clinical support to malnourished infants and toddlers. For children aged 4 to 8, they offer education. The organization teaches business skills to help poor families earn more income. They also run a rescue program to help children leave the streets and return to their families, offering counseling to both the children and their parents to help keep families together and improve their lives. 

We got to experience almost all facets of the work Pandipieri is doing by joining different teams and departments as they went about their daily work. One of the most formative experiences for me was coming to terms with the reality of kids who have run away from their homes and are now living on the streets, not going to school, sleeping in parks at night, and not having enough food to eat each day on the streets. There are children who run away from home as young as 9 or 8 years old. They run away for many reasons, some including physical or sexual abuse from parents, divorce, polygamy (favoritism of one wife and family over another), emotional neglect, greed, death, lack of food at home because of poverty, fear of going to school, curiosity about making money in the city, and many other reasons. They live on the streets, scrounging for food or scavenging for scrap metal or plastic to sell so that they can eat. It was a heartbreaking experience to hear, see, and learn of this reality. 

The saddest moment and most confusing for me in my own faith life was going with the social workers to uptown Kisumu to find runaway children living on the streets. We found so many, more than I could have imagined. It’s truly tragic. The first child we found was a 16-year-old boy named Wesley, whose father had died, and whose mother had left after her husband’s death. Pandipieri’s main goal is to reunite children on the streets with their families. But what will become of Wesley? Of other children like him? There are few systems of aid and support for children like these in Kenyan society, aside from some orphanages run by NGOs. Every day, more and more children come onto the streets, and those in power in the government of Kenya do very little to help; the politicians take no responsibility to feed and shelter the young of their country. 

Later on that day, we met a boy named Collins who was living on the streets while studying to be a motorcycle mechanic. Francis (one of the social workers) said that Pandipieri would be willing to help and financially support Collins as he completed his certifications, and to provide a place to eat and sleep so that he could pass his certification. “I wanted to ensure he comes to Pandipieri to stay with us while he finishes his course because without adequate food and sleep he has no hope of passing that course. Who can study well when his stomach is hungry? Or when he is sleep-deprived?” is what Francis later told me. I felt deep pain in my heart when I reflected on what I had seen. Around where we spoke to Collins, there was a local park, and I saw a group of 20 kids asking, begging us to buy them food because they were starving. Right across from them was a restaurant where they hoped we would buy food for them. Instead, we told them to come with us to Pandipieri, where we would give them food. The leader of their group said, “We can’t go to Pandipieri”. He had been to Pandipieri before and had run away twice when they had tried to reunite him with his family. He was therefore blacklisted from Pandipieri since Pandipieri did not want to waste its resources on a kid who does not want to leave the streets; instead, they wanted to use those limited resources to help a child who does want to leave the streets and return to their family. But the pain I felt was when I thought, “How long, Lord, till these children hit rock bottom and decide to go home?” 

Another thought that led to my confusion, surprise, and sorrow was wondering how these kids manage to survive on the streets. The social workers informed me that they survive by begging, scavenging for scrap metal and plastics to sell, stealing, or taking small jobs at restaurants just to earn enough for food. Sadly, some children end up eating more on the streets than they did at home, while for others, life on the street is even harder. It hurts to see hungry children. I believe God is calling people to help, but it is heartbreaking when those called turn away or ignore the needs of the poor. Still, groups like Pandipieri give me hope because they show that some people are listening. I pray that politicians in Kenya will also hear God's call to support these children, and see them not as troublemakers, but as brothers and sisters who deserve respect, dignity, love, food, shelter, and care. 

At Pandipieri, I met 12 boys and 1 girl who had run away from home. People call them “street children.” They stay at KUAP, where this NGO gives them food and informal schooling so they do not fall behind in their education. The staff also tries to reunite these children with their families, hoping to teach parents not to beat or emotionally abuse their kids, and to help them learn skills to earn enough money to feed their families. Pandipieri can provide porridge for infants and children, but there is no daily omena (small fish) for the mothers and fathers in these slum families in Kisumu. A small NGO like this can only do so much. It cannot take on all the responsibilities of the government. Still, the Kenyan government has stepped back and told NGOs like Pandipieri, “It’s good that you are doing what you are doing. Do more because we will not do anything about it.” I used to think that if more NGOs helped care for their communities, the government would not need to do as much. Now, I see more clearly that the government has a real responsibility to care for the poor. Poverty in Kenya shows what happens when NGOs are left to handle everything without a proper system of laws and policies. Looking back, I wish I had learned more about the role of NGOs and how they should ideally work with the government, churches, and the wider society before coming to Kenya.