Kenya prepares to welcome African Vincentian leaders

The “All Africa Assembly” runs until Saturday of this week

Starting today, July 20, 2022, Kenya is hosting the 2nd “All Africa Assembly”, which will bring together the national presidents of the 42 countries in which the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is present on African territory. The last event of this nature took place in 2015, in South Africa.

The 2nd “All Africa” Assembly will offer several lectures, celebrations, exhibitions, debates and exchanges of experiences between countries, on various themes. The idea is to discuss the problems of the region and seek creative solutions to address these challenges. At the end of the work, the “Statement of Nairobi” will be approved, with some points that the African countries commit themselves to fulfill until the next event, in 2027.

The communication team of the Council General International will cover the event. Every day, summaries will be published. We thank the National Council of Kenya for hiring a professional photographer who will be in charge of the images of the event.

“I want to thank the various countries, including the United States, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, and Kenya itself, which have made large donations to the organization of the Assembly so that the main expenses could be covered, especially airfare, which is very expensive in Africa. Without your economic support it would have been impossible to hold our event,” thanked brother Renato Lima, 16th President General International.

The day before

On the eve of the Assembly, July 19, in the morning, a Holy Mass was celebrated by three Vincentian priests at the same place of the event (Retreat House of the Dimesse Sisters). Afterwards, brother Renato Lima de Oliveira gave a talk to about 300 Kenyan brothers and sisters. After the presentation, there was a question & answer session.

In the afternoon, a small delegation of the Council General International, accompanied by brother Urbanus Muthai, National President, visited the Bishop of Ngong, Msgr. John Oballa Owaa. The audience was extremely pleasant, and the bishop showed great support for the work of the SSVP. At the end of the visit, the bishop gave a special blessing to all the participants of the Assembly.

The SSVP of Kenya, founded in 1930, has 40 Conferences, 5 Area Councils (equivalent to the Central Councils), 700 members.

Check the provisional program of the event, subject to changes, by clicking here.

See PDF

More details about the Assembly, click here.

Click here to watch the welcome speech given by our President General.