“The greatest gift we can give to any person is not a big house or a piece of land, but rather education” declared the Archbishop of Mombasa, Msgr. Martin Kivuva, addressing the Sisters of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Loreto (IBVM). In his speech on the occasion of the centenary of the Institute, the prelate gave thanks for the service they provide in East Africa. “Without education, there can be no country,” said Monsignor Kivuva, who is also president of the Bishops’ Conference of Kenya (KCCB). “Education is the key to the development of a society, it is the driving force and the sisters of the IBVM pay special attention to boys and girls in schools. They have made a big difference in society”.
“Many countries in the world pay school fees to university for their citizens. I am sure that we can do the same if there is no waste of government resources and no corruption. It is very painful to talk about this – the Archbishop pointed out. We say that education is free in Kenya, but we have not yet achieved it”, he said, urging presidential candidates in the next general election, scheduled for August this year, to consider free education as one of the objectives to achieve after his election. “We can make our nation an enviable country if children study, the schools are collapsing due to mismanagement”.
Sr. Lucy Nderi, responsible for the Province, remembered the missionaries who laid the first foundations and helped the growth of the Congregation. “The sisters of Loreto are invited by God, by the Church and by the needs of the world, to enter into a deeper listening and continuous discernment on how to carry out our commitment and make our charism alive and relevant in Africa and in the world” – Sister Lucy said. According to what was sent to Fides, the event was attended not only by former and current students of the IBVM schools, but also religious, clergy, government officials, and people from all walks of life, to whom the Archbishop addressed his appeal to offer greater support to the educational field.
The IBVM East African Province comprises three countries and was founded in 1921. It has 24 educational institutions: 21 in Kenya, two in Tanzania, and one in Ghana.
