Kenya Trip Day 13

Students of St. Aloysius Gongaza Secondary School shared with us about Kenyan life and we also shared with them about life in Hong Kong. They showed great interest and were active in class.

Stephanie, a lay missionary from Hong Kong, has been teaching in this school for four years. She has strong committment in her ministry and is willing to share with the African students.



















The way to the school on a rainy day.

Kenya Trip Day 12

African dolls made by women of the Dollicraft Project, Development Program of the St. Joseph the Worker's Parish in Kangemi, Kenya.
We visited a primary school under the development program. I showed them the location of Hong Kong on a map. My two schoolmates of the theology school at Berkeley: James (left) and Kyalo (right)


We visited the St. Joseph the Worker's Parish in Kangemi on the second last day of our visit. It's a Jesuit parish in a slum area and my two schoolmates at JSTB are now working there. I took a class on Spirituality and Morality with Kyalo and a class on Ignatian Spirituality with James. I am very happy to meet them again and know what they are doing after graduation. Kyalo told me that working in a parish was so different from studying. Studying focus more on theory and now working in reality he has to face many practical problems. I can also see how busy he is as he had a meeting soon after we left and could not join us for lunch. But I told him his work is meaningful and can apply what he learnt in class.

We chat for a while and then Anthony, the staff in charge of the development program brought us around to see various projects, including clinic and dispensary, women's project, kindergarten and primary school, etc. We were all attracted by the handicrafts and products made by the members of the women project. Each of us brought something in order to support the project. I bought an African doll and a few giraffe keyholders. They are cute.

Kenya Trip Day 11

Students of a secondary school under Christ the King Parish in Kibera, a massive shantytown in the heart of Nairobi.














Vikki, a Maryknoll lay missionary working as the Education Coordinator of the Christ the King Parish, oversees 10 education projects. She walked with us through the Kibera slum, the second largest slum in Africa, with about 1 million population. On the way, she stop and chat with people from time to time, greeting them with a big smile, saying "jumbo jumbo" (hello). She said that she treated all the people she served as friends.



















Mural of Kenyan life in the Kibera slum, on the stairwell wall at the community library of Christ the King Parish. She said, "One of my goal is to make the Keyans proud to say, I'm Keyan. If the kids embrace this idea, tribalism can be reduced."

Kenya Trip Day 10

We met Sr. Maria Angela early in the morning and she brought us to St. Mary Secondary School where she works for. It is a school located next to the slum area and accept students from the slum. Sr. Maria Angela is proud of her work as she puts lots of effort in running the school. She picked up the work as director of the school only after the violence in December 2007. She felt she was called to do something to help the youth in the slum so that they would not waste their time and being used to fight in riot or violence.

We were impressed by her commitment in running the school. She involves in everything -- from hiring a new principal and teachers, recruiting students to meeting their parents to know their family situation. The tuition fee are paid according to the ability of parents. Sr. Maria would then looks for sponsors to support the daily expenses of the school.

With heavy workload and challenges from the school and the society, she gains strength through prayers. She believes that God always guide her and help her to solve porblems. She compares faith as the root of a tree. When there is wind and storm blowing towards a tree, if the tree wants to stand firm, it must has long and strong root. Faith is just the same. When one face difficulties, the faith will becomes stronger so as to overcome the challenges. We can see Sr. Maria Angela is a strong woman despite thee many difficulties she has to face.

Kenya Trip Day 8 & 9

Chapel of Hekima College (Jesuit seminary)

with Binamungu outside University of Nairobi

I was very happy to meet Binamungu, my former schoolmate of theology school at Berkeley, in Nairobi. Bina is working in a Jesuit secondary school in Tanzania now. When I knew that I would travel to Kenya, I wrote to him immediately and asked him whether we could meet in Dar es Salem or Nairobi for reunion. Finally Bina came to Nairobi and we spent two days together, visiting the museum, the Cathedral, watching African dance and tribal villages, together with my other Hong Kong friends. We chat and share and had a great time together.

He also showed me the Hekima College where he studied undergraduate theology before. We walked around the campus and had lunch there. We shared a lot about our life and vision. I know Bina shoulders much pressure because of the keen competition of seconday school students. He tries hard to balance between the grades of students and promote value education in school, hoping to nurture mature and responsible youth who can contribute to the country in the future. I appreciate his vision and effort very much.

Kenya Trip Day 7

with Quebec missionaries, left 3 at the back row is Fr. Richard.

books of African studies















painting
"sharing knowledge"


Today we visited the Tangaza College of the Catholic University of East Africa. There is an African Studies Program in the Tangaza College and Stephanie is one of the students. Characteristics of African Culture is a compulsory subject of the program. There are more than ten topics in this subjects. Apart from lecture, students have to do field study and conduct interviews with the related persons. Since Stephanie is a lay missionary working in another culture different from hers, she wants to learn more about the African culture. I found this college emphasizes a lot inculturation of theology and how to integrate faith with local culture. I am very interested in its methodologies as it is inter-disciplinary. Maybe we can borrow some of the methods when conducting research on inculturation in Hong Kong or Asia. Thus, I bought some books and will take a look later.

In the afternoon we went to visit the Quebec Missionaries in Kenya. One of the missionaries is Fr. Richard. Fr. Richard had been working in HK for 16 years. I also know him when working in Justice and Peace Commission because he is the chaplain of Catholic Youth Council for several years. He has very good memory and still remember me. I'm glad to meet him again and he is very kind to share with our group. He is more than 65 years old now but just came to Kenya for several years and has to learn a new language Kiswahili. We appreciate him a lot for his commitment, enthusianism and passion in the missionary work. He said once they went sent to another place, they would not look back and miss the former place because they have a new mission. He said they understand the nature of missionary work. Their work is transition for local people to continue. Thus, once the mission is established, they will move to another place. Sharing with Fr. Richard and other missionaries inspired us a lot.

Kenya Trip Safari (Day 5 & 6)

travelling on a muddy road

Lake Nakuru


The journey from Masai Mara to Nakuru was dangerous and adventurous! That day was a rainly day, making the road muddy and slippery. Many cars drove through S-shape on the way and quite a number of cars was stuck in the mud, including our car. Once the tyres of our car were unable to be pull out and all of us had to get off the car to push it. Another time several youth were asked to push the car at the back. Moreover, the road was so bumpy that some of the luggage fell down from the back of the car. It was lucky that the road was not that wet at that time and all the luggage could be saved. However, unfortunately, a laptop computer of one of the tour members was out of order because it fell down from the car. Throughout the journey, I saw how hard our driver Michael in controlling the car but he tried his best to bring us to the destination safely. He did a great job indeed!

We spent our last day of safari in the Nakuru National Park. It's an amazing and wonderful place. Apart from seeing flamingo and seagull, we can appreciate the beautiful scenery of Lake Nakura in the Rift Valley. It's so gorgeous! One cannot deny the mystery of creation and realize the smallnes of human beings. The hundreds of flamingo and seagull also reminds me the movie "Travelling Birds." I really envy the freedom that birds and animals can enjoy. Living in the city and being occupied by the busy office work, sometimes I feel suffocate and want to breath some fresh air.

Kenya Trip Safari Day 3 & 4

July 22 Monday we started the safari (journey of wild life experience), heading to Masai Mara National Park. Our tour guide cum driver Michael brought us to see various kinds of animals through game drive.

Before the journey, a friend from Africa called me and sent me greetings. Since he lived in Nairobi for several years, he was familiar with the places. He tried to make contact for me before the journey. I was glad to chat with him and shared with him my coming itinerary.

The most impressive moment on the first day of safari is a particular moment when watchig a lion. During the two-hour game drive, either sitting or standing in the car, we tried to take pictures whenever we saw animals, near or far. Until I found that the battery in the camera was almost used up, I stopped taking pictures and just look at the animals with my eyes. At that time, suddenly I discovered that looking at something with my eyes attentively was so different from looking through the camera. Through my own eyes, the lion look more clear, real, beautiful and attractive! From this, I think about our attitudes of seeing things. We often want to use the hi-tech equipments to catch the beautiful memories. However, using our eyes and heart to look at people and things so as to keep the image in our mind would keep the memory more real and better. Do I use my own eyes and heart to see things all the time? Do I use the vision of God to look at the reality? This awareness reminds me to open my eyes and heart to see and listen what I would experience in the rest of my journey, especially the many people we would meet in the exposure trip.

We continued the safari on the second day. We set off early in the morning, at 6:30am and saw many animals enjoying their breakfast-- eating grass. The more impressive scene for me is the beautiful golden ray shining on the grassland in the morning. Just one day before, we saw various kinds of animals on grassland throughout the journey. The grass look dull and nothing special. But just one day after, looking at the grassland at a different time gave me a total different impression. It looks so awesome and beautiful! From this, I reflect that looking at the same thing at different time with different perspective and attitudes may have different impression and brought out different meanings too. Both subjective factors (such as subjective )feelings, observation and insight) and objective factors (environmental factors) may affect one's judgement and perception.

In the evening during bible sharing time, we read the story of Jesus appeared before Mary Magdalene. This story has special meanings for me. I was deeply touched by this story in a retreat some years ago. Moreover, some years ago when I experienced the death of a schoolmate, another schoolmate used this story to encourage me, reminding me Jesus was besides me during the difficult time. Now when I read this story again, it reminds me again I have to be sensitive to the surrounding environment and people around us. Maybe God is sending us some messages through them. Our vision may be blurred by our confusion and saddness and cannot discern clearly.

Kenya Trip Day 2

Day 2 Sunday

Today we went to Our Lady of Guadalupe's Parish to attend our first mass in Africa. This parish located nearby Tumaini Centre. It's just a few minutes walk from our living place. It is a brand new experience for me. It's somewhat a mixture of African and Mexican culture with a choir leading the whole church community to sing and clap hands. The whole mass is so lively and the songs are beautiful.

I feel God has its special appearance in different places and culture, so as to bring out the message of love and salvation. With less rules and restrictions but more flexibility, I feel the liturgy in Nairobi is inculturated and easier for participants of the mass to commit and feel God's presence. The whole mass is so impressive for me...an unforgettable experience!

Before and after mass, I saw Stephanie so busy at saying hi to friends in church. It somewhat shows her active involvement in church. She introduced all these people to us and we shaked hands with them one by one. They were friendly and chat with us for a while, knowing we are from Hong Kong to visit Stephanie. I do not see loneliness but happiness on Stephanie.

After mass, we went to a shopping mall to exchange money. It is a big modern mall. Then we went to the market to have a walk and buy some souvenirs. It reminds me the African handicraft and art souvenirs from Mathieu and Kaf. They gave me an African woman picture and a mask sculpture and I still keep them with me. Though the handicrafts in this market is not as beautiful as those from Mathieu and Kaf, I still bought two hand-made pictures, so as to support the local economy.

Kenya Trip Day 1

chapel of the Tumaini Centre

Day 1

Today I set off to Kenya, the first time I travel to Africa. I felt so excited. My dream of going to Africa comes true! After a 12-hour flight, we arrived the Nairobi airport at around 6pm and was still bright. Gracie, Miu, Wawa and myself were so excited when we got off the plane. Everything was smooth and we met Stephanie, the lay missionary from Hong Kong in Tumaini Centre, the place where Stephanie lives and we will stay there in the coming two weeks.

When I read the daily readings today, a few lines comes to my eyes and catch my attention, saying: "Look! My servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights, I will send my Spirit upon him, and he will spread the truth to all nations." (Mt. 12:15-18) I think of Stephanie immediately. She was the beloved servant and was sent to Kenya to spread the good news. She does not cry out with loud voice but witness among the poor and needy in a slum through teaching in a secondary school with students whose parents being affected by Aids/HIV carrier. She leads a simple life and not much material rewards, but lives and teaches happily as an instrument of God's peace.

I look forward to the forthcoming exposure trip in the coming two weeks in Kenya. Stephanie will show us her school, introduce other missionaries to us, and accompany us to visit various church projects and parishes. May the Holy Spirit guide us throughout this journey.