Brother Jean Marie Mwamba Kabaya, Comboni missionary Congolese: “Being close to the youth”

I have now been in Nairobi for a year as a formator at the International Brothers Centre, the last stage of formation for those young people who decide to consecrate themselves to the Mission as Brothers.

I know the capital of Kenya because I was trained in this same community and in 2015, I obtained my doctorate in Philosophy here. Even if it is not the first time that the Congregation has asked me for this service – I had already been a formator of postulants in Togo and in my country, the Democratic Republic of Congo – before coming I deepened my studies in this field at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome.

The community is made up of 14 members: seven missionary Brothers and two formators – Brother Christophe Yata, from Togo, and myself – our community hosts five scholastics, young Comboni candidates for the priesthood who have just arrived in Kenya and are learning English. In total, eight nationalities are represented in the community.

Our community life is quite well structured. From Monday to Friday, everyone studies. While the scholastics advance with the language, the Brothers continue their classes at the Institute of Social Ministry of the University of Tangaza, located about 30 minutes by car from our house. The afternoons are dedicated to manual labour, catechism, and study. There is no shortage of sports, festive meetings, or choir practice, all interspersed with essential moments of prayer. Every day we have the Eucharist at seven thirty in the morning.

We have a chicken coop, we raise rabbits, and we cultivate a small vegetable garden. Since I arrived, we have never bought legumes because we produce them ourselves. These tasks, in addition to their economic value, help the Brothers understand the value of work and the need to commit to self-financing projects and then, when they are sent on mission, do the same with the people.

The weekends are dedicated to the apostolate. We are divided into three groups. Some go to the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, very close to our house; others to our Comboni parish in Kariobangi; and the remainder to the Kibera neighbourhood, also close to the community. In the first two, Brothers and scholastics accompany the groups of children and young people, while in Kibera we collaborate with an NGO that distributes food and other emergency aid among the poorest families. I usually accompany the students to Kibera, where many people live in overcrowded and very difficult conditions.

Among my responsibilities as a formator is that of preparing catechesis, which forces me to always have an attitude of research and ongoing formation. I also follow the formation of the young people and at least once a month I meet each of them. I am happy that they open their hearts and tell me about their difficulties, which, at the same time, challenges me to be consistent in my missionary life. I am aware of the trust that the Congregation has placed in me, so I try to respond as best I can, despite my personal limitations. I try to apply what a teacher taught me about this process: knowing when to be close to young people and when to distance myself and let them walk alone.

My greatest joy as a formator and educator is seeing the people you have accompanied succeed in life. I have only been in Nairobi for a year, but in my country, I have had very beautiful experiences, such as when former postulants who are now priests laid their hands on me after their first masses as a sign of blessing. It gives great joy to see how the young people who arrive at the formation houses with language difficulties and with very little knowledge of what consecrated and community life means, gradually mature humanly and spiritually.

On the other hand, my greatest suffering as a formator is having to tell a young person to go home. At the Pontifical Salesian University, they told us that we must know how to make decisions, no matter how difficult the circumstances. It is difficult to write a negative report about anyone because each person is a mystery and you are never one hundred per cent sure about your opinion. I am happy, although also a little worried about the decrease in missionary vocations of Brothers in our Institute. I pray that the Lord continues to send holy and capable vocations of Brothers for the Mission.

Comboni Missionaries