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ST. VINCENT PRIMARY SCHOOL
School building with classrooms.
Worldwide the Congregation is being confronted with all sorts of material and spiritual needs. The brothers, together with others, are trying to alleviate these. In the eighteenth episode of this feature we look at St. Vincent de Paul Boys’ Boarding Primary School in Mosocho, Kenya.
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St. Vincent de Paul Boys’ Mosocho is a Boarding Primary School located in Kisii County of Kenya. It was established by the Brothers CMM in the year 2011, with the aim of addressing the need for quality education in East Africa. Currently the school runs from Grade 4 up to Standard 8, accommodating a pupil population of 530.
Kenyan Education System
The education system in Kenya is known as 8-4-4, that is, eight years in the primary level; four years in secondary level and tertiary level respectively. Apparently, this system is largely examination oriented; its quality tends to be evaluated in terms of the number of students passing national examinations. In primary school the national examination taken is Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). It is the final examination administered to the learners in Standard Eight, to help determine their placement in the secondary school.
KCPE 2020 Result
In KCPE 2020 our school scored a mean of 380 out of a possible 500. This was a positive deviation from the year 2019 in which the school recorded a mean of 366. This performance was attributed to good collaboration between the school administration, teachers, parents and pupils. All are dedicated; there are regular staff meetings and team buildings, and there is strong interconnectedness. Through these, teachers were able to enhance the teaching and learning process. The humility, discipline, hardworking attitude of the candidates played a crucial role in this outcome. This places our school in the fourth position in the entire Kisii County, where we have 966 primary schools.
Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic
Just like any other school around the world, where the corona virus pandemic disrupted learning, our school was equally affected. It was quite challenging, especially to the candidate classes that were looking forward to sitting for their final exams that year. Fortunately, our teachers were able to reach out to some of our pupils and continued to guide them through online means using Zoom or WhatsApp. On reporting back to school, the school organized psychosocial support programmes to be offered to the learners. Meanwhile, teachers had undertaken some training earlier on in preparation for the school reopening. Experts were also involved where necessary to give a helping hand. Eventually our boys were able to settle down in school and this allowed the syllabus coverage to commence, and the result was quite outstanding.
St. Vincent’s values.
The school has its own vegetable garden. Residences of teachers and their families.
There are also a couple of dairy cows.
The kitchen.
In class. The boys help with the daily chores.
Clean laundry hangs out to dry.
GENEROSITY KNOWS NO BORDERS
Brother Edward Gresnigt was one of the fortunate brothers who celebrated his 60th anniversary as a religious brother on 29 August 2020. Included among the letters, cards, and e-mails conveying their heartwarming congratulations, he received an unexpected gift from the United States of America: a check for 3.210 American dollars. Alumni and other acquaintances of Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, California, had collected the money.
We go back in time. The General Board sent Brother Edward to Oxnard, California in 1965. After a few years studying he got assigned in 1967 to Santa Clara High School in Oxnard to teach religion and history. He was 25 at the time and would be part of this school for 35 years. He returned to The Netherlands in 2002. He would next go to Sigona, Kenya, to assist at the brothers’ noviciate there. That was the plan and he looked forward to it. Yet, things turned out differently. The General Chapters of 2002 and 2008 elected Brother Edward member of the General Board. In 2014 he stayed in The Netherlands and still works at the Generalate, no longer however, as member of the General Board, but as an assistant and a supporter of many.
Hymnals, walking shoes, and …
The alumni have not forgotten ‘their’ Brother Edward after all these years. The present for his anniversary testifies to that. For his international community at the Generalate he used part of the gift to purchase 12 Glory and Praise hymnals to be used in the chapel. “In Oxnard I learned many new songs which we used in the liturgy. Hymns like ‘Here I am Lord’ and ‘Morning has broken’ still bring me good memories”, Brother Edward declared. He also used part of the gift just for himself: a pair of rugged walking shoes with a good grip. That was no extravagant luxury when one remembers that in February he slipped on ice and fell on his back in front of the Generalate.
Now he also saw an opportunity, many years later, to still make a concrete contribution to the noviciate in Kenya. He decided, with the approval of the Superior General of course, to use the largest part of the money for the physical improvement of the Sigona community. He contacted the brothers there to gauge what specific needs they had, and he found that they definitely had several situations where improvements would be welcome.
Before: The outdoor kitchen with wood fire.
Building the biogas plant.
After: Ready to cook a delicious meal on biogas. Solar energy and biogas
First, the brothers had to pay high utility bills. Energy experts had already advised them to install solar panels. They would provide uninterrupted power supply for lighting and for the online courses the novices were taking; no electricity meant no Wi-Fi. The wish list also included an additional laptop to use it for those online classes. The brothers’ budget in Kenya had no funds however to invest in solar panels and buy an extra laptop.
A third wish asked for a biogas plant. Up to now the brothers cooked their meals over wood fire. They did have a gas cooker but gas tanks are expensive and so they seldom used it. But cooking on wood has its own drawbacks: it harms one’s health, costs time, and damages the environment. Owning a biogas plant would solve these problems. More so since the community has three cows and their manure could serve as fuel.
And so, this generous gift of the alumni of Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, California, moved via the Generalate in Tilburg, The Netherlands, to the CMM-noviciate in Sigona, Kenya. The seed for this gift had been planted in 1967 and in March 2021 Brother Edward received a message from Sigona: a solar panel has now been installed and the electricity bill is way down from what it was. The novices no longer gather wood and can now with the help of a new laptop focus all their attention on the online courses while they don’t have to deal with power failure. The biogas plant has been built and works satisfactorily: the brothers and novices now cook on ‘green energy’. A new generation of brothers is on its way.
Natalie Bastiaansen and Brother Edward Gresnigt CMM (The Netherlands)
FIRST TEMPORARY PROFESSIONS IN THE MIDST OF COVID-19
In Kenya, the second-year novices made their first temporary professions on 1 May 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The brothers who made their first profession and their novice master: Prosper Chungu (Zambia), Michael Kabwe (Zambia), Joseph Masereka (Uganda), and Victor Oyieko (Kenya), and Brother Richard Sure.
The Catholic Church dedicates 1 May to St. Joseph the Worker, the patron saint of all workers. The secular world has not been left behind since they celebrate the day as labour day for all workers. The Brothers CMM in Kenya celebrate this day as an entrance day of candidates (postulants) into the novitiate, and first professions of the second-year novices. On the day of the first profession novices promise to follow the Constitutions, to live in accordance with the three vows, to share our life in community and to devote themselves to the service of our neighbour.
1 May 2021 was a unique and special day, given the consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak. In the Sigona community, we were courageous in continuing the mission of the Congregation within the Church by adapting to ‘the new normal’, by following the protocols and precautions as given by the Ministry of Health. The four second-year novices were fully prepared and eager to make their first profession into religious life. There was some tension about how to celebrate this day, since the number of those being tested positive in Kenya kept increasing. All community members had to take a Covid-19 test, and one of us tested positive, so he had to be isolated. It was a relief when another fellow brother who had been in hospital was discharged, and the rest of the brothers in isolation were recovering well. When the moment was there, everything went according to plan.
The Mass was celebrated by Father Paul Wachira Muiga. He asked the nicely vested young brothers in white cassocks what they were looking for in the Church. ‘To have a focus on Jesus Christ, our Merciful Brother,’ they answered. After the homily, Provincial Board member Brother Patrick Munyua, invited, as delegate of the Superior General, the four brothers to make their professions into the Congregation. The Brothers Richard Sure and Linus Schoutsen were the witnesses, together with Father Paul.
On the same day, two of the first-year novices started their second-year in the novitiate. The Brothers Joackim Muhindu and Bonface Monyancha Ogari looked determined and filled with the spirit of brotherhood and mercy. We are grateful to God that even in this time of Covid-19, they are called to be merciful brothers, joyful and courageous continuing the mission of CMM in today’s world.
