Gerry Whelan, an Irish Jesuit, is the new pastor. His challenges will be many, but he is excited to take on the new assignment. Shortly after midnight Monday, stumbling in the dark to find the malaria medication, I realize that my mind short-circuited the link between the people at mass and the teeming throngs in the Kangemi slum. I recall the walk through the alley-like neighborhood streets. Though we were not invited into the residential compounds behind the storefronts, we gained glimpses inside.
Quarters are tight.
Garbage and open ditches with human waste are common. We walk past the home of the Jesuits' Eastern Africa provincial, Fr. Fratern Masawe, who insists on living amid the parish flock. A woman opposite the house washes clothes in two tiny plastic basins. Water is scarce yet seems to multiply like fishes and loaves to satisfy the laundry.