Father Joe's Visit

As I’ve written before the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers are celebrating their centennial this year. As part of their celebrations, Father Joe Healy came to Kitale this weekend with two cameramen as they are making a documentary about the work Maryknoll is doing in Kenya. He spent Friday visiting our ministry sites.

Kathy was thrilled with the way things turned out for her. She is now working at St. Raphael Clinic in Matisi, a slum of Kitale. On Monday they opened a maternity ward at the hospital with a Mass by Bishop Crowley. Can you believe that on Friday morning their first baby was born. During his visit Fr. Joe was able to bless this special baby whose name is Raphael.

Nothing quite so exciting happened while he was visiting our schools. While at St. Anthony’s he was able to address the entire student body while they were still on morning parade. Fr. Joe is a real sports enthusiast so the boys were excited to have someone discuss sports. He visited John’s maths classroom and decided that he didn’t want any part of teaching high school maths but was able to tell a couple of stories.

At St. Monica’s he visited my Form I English class for a few minutes. We then went down to the playing field and sang several songs for him. Of course in Kenya, you don’t just sing you must dance. At one point even John O’Donoghue and Fr. Joe got into the act.

Sunday Maryknoll was honored during the 7:00 am Mass said by Bishop Crowley. That evening we all had a wonderful meal at Karabuni Lodge with the Bishop. It truly is an honor to be a part of the Maryknoll family.

To see more photos click here.