by Sr. Liana de Jesus   Brazil/ Kenya   31.12.2021

During this past year we have experienced many situations that have influenced our lives in one way or the other. Events around the world,  living pos-Covid19, has challenged our creativity and has helped us survive in many countries. Our compassion, solidarity, care and charity are values revived in many places, trying to release the pain and to bring hope to many people. During this Christmas season, the light which stands out around the shepherds and the light that Jesus is, fills our hearts.  My hope is that this light which is Jesus may enlighten our minds so that we may truly direct our lives with the hope that our call holds for this Christmas.

I am Liana de Jesus, I would like to tell you how my mission is going in Kenya, Riara community.  After I arrived in Kenya from Brazil my life has changed a lot.  Every day I am in the process of growth with different opportunities in this mission, allowing myself to be influenced with the values of life.  I work in the  Mirror of Hope Project run by one of the AMMM Associates in Kibera.  During the past two years. I have also  participated in different workshops, seminars, such as  safeguarding and leadership at De Saint Paul University. At the Mirror of Hope we have had many other seminars and workshops, prepared by the organization and from Sr. Stella Ovientaoba MMM that work in the same ministry.

This year I had the opportunity to benefit from the ASEC Program in Finance. The ASEC program has offered me great experience and encouragement over the past 4 months.  I am Brazilian and I have faced challenges with English during the course, but this has not prevented me from learning and enjoying the values from the programme.  I thought I would not be able to fully engage in the course, due to the English challenges, but the teachers and friends were very good and they always helped whenever I faced difficulty in understanding the topic. I really experienced great support from the MMM and the group of teachers and students of ASEC.

During this time, I also needed to monitor some sisters in the community and I was so happy to be able to practice this in my own community.  The postulant directress allowed me to mentor the postulants in the  Basics of Technology and Leadership.  The postulants were so eager to learn;  some of them didn’t know how to use Microsoft Word except for typing with difficulty. I was able to explain to them the functions of the keyboard, the programme Word, and some other things like, how to take a picture at the zoom meeting, translation, to insert pictures in documents etc.  I will continue mentoring them even after finishing the ASEC Programme.  I learnt many skills in Basic Technology and Leadership and I want to share these with my sisters and in the ministry.   I discovered that living in the formation house gives me energy and a good view of the future. I feel happy and engaged in this new community. A very happy new year to you all.