Features
V de P: Serving Kenya in hope
by Alice Daly DC
Alice Daly was asked to set up a conference of the St Vincent de Paul Society in the Ngong province, near Nairobi in Kenya. She faced the task filled with hope.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society is a feature of many parishes worldwide and an expression of Christian caring for the less well off in our midst. It creates a circle of friends where everyone both gives and receives, in mutual recognition of our interdependence and giftedness.
After two years of working in Ireland as physiotherapists, we decided to pack it in enough was enough! and spend a year travelling the big bad world. As students, we both had spent a short time in developing countries, and wanted to go back and make a little difference. So now, with time and skills on our side, we set about to find a place to volunteer for two months. After some research, we came upon the Daughters of Charity and were set up with a project in Nigeria.
On Saturday 16th June 2007, members of the Vincentian family gathered in All Hallows College for a Vincentian Spirituality Day, the theme of which was You dont have to be Vincentian to work here
or do you? The day was organised by Fr Eugene Curran CM and Sr Claire McKiernan D.C. and was facilitated by Sr Ellen Flynn DC, Chief Executive of The Passage, Central London. The mission of The Passage is to provide resources and accommodation for homeless people.
Sister Lindalva Justo de Oliveira, Daughter of Charity (1953-1993)
This October the Church celebrates its 81st World Mission Sunday. The traditional understanding of being a missionary was based on a sending out theory. According to this, evangelization is a transformative activity through which a secular world is transformed into a Christian World. This concept of mission has since been re-interpreted by many theologians.