The Kakuma refugee camp lies some 831 kilometres northwest of Nairobi. It is the second largest in Africa. Refugees arrived in Kakuma in 1992 and the camp currently hosts over 300,000 refugees, mainly from Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi.
The Salesians began their presence in Kakuma in 1993. They run the only Catholic parish within the Kakuma refugee camp, with ten chapels scattered around the camp. Here the pastoral ministry is truly one of first proclamation and direct evangelisation of children, teenagers and adults who are generally very open to Christian values and the Gospel message.
An important aspect of Salesian work in the field is the Don Bosco Technical Institute, which with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offers technical skills to refugees in seven centres. Through courses in masonry, electricity and solar energy, motor vehicle mechanics, hydraulics, tailoring, welding and manufacturing, secretarial, computer and literacy, refugees are provided with the professional skills that will help them integrate within their country or wherever they will eventually be relocated.
The Salesians are also concerned with the host community, the Turkana people, who are fundamentally nomadic. Being traditionally dedicated to pastoral activity, the illiteracy rate among them is very high, as children are sent to the forest to look after the animals.
At the end of his visit to Kakuma, the General Councillor for the Missions expressed his congratulations to the AFE Provincial and his confreres for their commitment to Korr and Kakuma. He stressed that "every Province needs a missionary presence because it is a credible sign and stimulus for the missionary commitment of the confreres. The often difficult and demanding missionary presence gives new vocational enthusiasm and revitalises the charismatic identity of the confreres of the Province." And in the same way he stressed that "the missionary commitment of the Province is the thermometer of the missionary spirit of the confreres."
After his visit to Kakuma, before leaving for Rome on 1 March, Fr Maravilla also met the 37 prenovices of the AFE Province and the 52 theology students at the Salesian centre in Utume, Nairobi.
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