Sister Marie Louise – Molo (Kenya)
PROJECT 12 of 72
MISSION
Location
Diocese
Nakuru
Country
Kenya
Continent
Africa
GPS coordinates
-0.24917 35.73264
Time zone
UTC+3 (EAT)
CONGREGATION
Congregation
Sisters Ministers of the Sick of Saint Camillus
Motherhouse
Lucca
Diocese
Lucca
Country
Italy
Continent
Europe
Congregation Feast Day
20 May
GPS coordinates
43.84279 10.51113
Time zone
UTC+1
Contact person
Sister Marie Louise
Mother General
Sister Lucia Walker
Website
TRAINING ORGANIZATION
Name
Misericordia di Viareggio
Location
Viareggio (LU)
Country
Italy
Continent
Europe
GPS coordinates
43.86770 10.25000
Time zone
UTC+1
Start date
25/05/2022
End date
31/03/2023
Tutor
Gemma Borin
REAL SPACE
Project manager
Sister Marie Louise
Start date
14 2023
Type
Pane di Misericordia
In the Molo community, the sisters have a 17-hectare field that they use for livestock farming and agriculture; expanding this activity made it possible to launch the social enterprise supported by spazio + spadoni.
Sister Marie Louise arrived in Italy on 25 May 2022 and, a few days later, began serving and training at Misericordia di Viareggio. She was deeply moved by seeing men and women voluntarily serving the marginalized and those in need. Since she would return to Kenya at the end of her training in Italy—specifically to Molo in Nakuru County, where she would put the “Pane di Misericordia” into practice through agriculture—Marie Louise also trained at the Cooperativa Calafata in Lucca to deepen her knowledge and gain practical farming experience.
Molo is a town of more than 150,000 inhabitants in western Kenya, extending along the Mau Forest. The settlement was founded primarily because of the area’s fertile land and abundant vegetation. Molo has seven neighborhoods and, according to the Kenyan National Potato Policy, is Kenya’s second-largest potato producer. Due to the violent intertribal clashes it has experienced over the years, it has become a very poor area.
In 2018, the Sisters Ministers of the Sick opened the Lorenzino Dispensary in Molo, an outpatient clinic whose main area of work is providing healthcare support to patients seeking help with the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, bronchopneumonia, typhoid, malaria, amoebiasis, and other illnesses.
In February 2023, Sister Marie Louise attended the English-language course on the Works of Mercy at the Convento di San Cerbone and returned to her community in Kenya on 31 March of the same year.
Learn more
In Molo, Kenya, One Year of Service to the Works of Mercy Is Celebrated
Kenya: An Encounter Between Hope and Mercy
Kenya: spazio + spadoni Forum on the Works of Mercy in Nairobi
Timeline
2021
12.07 | Relationship begins
The partnership between spazio + spadoni, the Sisters Ministers of the Sick, and Misericordia di Viareggio begins
2022
15.03 | Training
The Misericordia and the Congregation coordinate to welcome Sister Marie Louise appropriately
25.05 | Sister arrives
Sister Marie Louise arrives in Viareggio, where she is welcomed by her fellow sisters, who have a community in the city
31.05 | Project evaluation
The project Sister Marie Louise intends to develop upon returning to her community in Kenya is agriculture
6-9.06 | Training
Technical training by spazio + spadoni at the Convento di San Cerbone (LU)
1-31.08 | Training
Agricultural training at the Cooperativa Calafata (LU)
7-11.09 | Convention Fare Spazio al Coraggio
Sister Marie Louise actively participates in the Convention created and promoted by spazio + spadoni at the Convento di San Cerbone (LU)
15.10 | Meeting with the Mother General
2023
25.01 | Training
Serving with the Misericordia
1-10.02 | Training
Training on the Works of Mercy, information technology, civil economy, and social enterprise at the Convento di San Cerbone (LU)
18.02 | Training
28.03 | Project evaluation
20.05 | Project evaluation
An updated agricultural project is submitted
22.05 | Project evaluation
The updated project is discussed together
24.05 | Apostolate
30.05 | Project evaluation
Monitoring
14.06 | First funding disbursed
The funding is intended to create the conditions needed to launch the social enterprise: clearing the land, purchasing seeds and tools, and renting a tractor
23.06 | Training
5.09 | Testimony
2024
24.01 | Project evaluation
Financial report submitted
19.02 | Project evaluation
Revised business plan submitted
17.04 | Project evaluation
The Congregation considers changing the project
2025
February | Potato harvest at the social enterprise
17.05 | Presentation of diplomas to Works of Mercy volunteers
On the occasion of the Congregation’s feast day, diplomas are presented to the Works of Mercy volunteers one year after their activities began
Photos and videos
