MARALAL, SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 (CISA) – The Franciscan Auxiliaries Lay Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (F.A.L.M.I) are returning to Italy after serving in Kenya for over half a decade.
This is after the Superior of the congregation in Italy wrote to the Catholic Diocese of Maralal requesting for the release of the sisters to go back to the mother house in Italy.
“I’m sad because I was one the first sisters to come and open our home in Archer’s post parish, and now here I am, closing it down,” says Sr Elisa Borghi in a September 18 interview with CISA.
Sr Elisa who is the older of the two sisters remaining in Kenya, says it is with sadness that they have accepted the will of God to leave the country without any successors.
“It was not easy for Samburu women to heed calls to vocations because in their culture, marriage and having children is of utmost importance,” she says.
The congregation did not get any indigenous vocations from Kenya, who would have taken care of the ageing sisters.
The remaining Italian sisters, 81 year old Elisa Borgi and 77 year old Matilde Casula have to go back to Italy where they can receive care due to old age.
The sisters have been serving in Archer’s post parish as teachers, medical professionals, social workers and catechists.
In Africa, they worked in Tanzania and Malawi but have since vacated Tanzania, leaving only four of their members working in Malawi.
After they leave Kenya, their ministries will be taken over by the congregation of the Little Servants of the Sacred Heart.
“I thank God for gifting us with the sisters. They literally raised me since I was a young boy and many other people who are doing well in different areas of life, priests, doctors, engineers, soldiers and many others. They made a big difference in Archer’s post,” says Fr Ambrose Lepartingat, Parish priest of Archer’s post Parish.
