St. Peter’s Parish, Kaburugi

Kaburugi is a village north-west of Thika, in the Diocese of Murang’a: a Kikuyu farming community of about twenty thousand people, of whom some five thousand are Catholic. The parish began on 13 December 1998 — the first parish of the Sons of Divine Providence in Kenya.

The first parish priest was Fr. José Martins Dos Reis, with Fr. Marek Krakus and Fr. Raymond Ahoua, who would later become Bishop of Grand-Bassam. The parish gathers the local churches of Kaburugi, Kawendo, Kiranga, Mahuti, Manyika, Muruka and N’gararia. The community numbers five religious — three priests and two brothers — and the parish runs two nursery schools.

This was the first Orione Centre in Kenya, opened in February 2005. It was born from a discovery: going from house to house, the fathers found more than forty families hiding children with disabilities. Not neglecting them — hiding them, out of shame and fear.

The Centre began with fifteen children. In December 2005 a bus arrived, and the bus changed everything: dozens of children who could never have reached the Centre now could. Today it serves some forty to sixty children, and its daily bus routes cover around 120 kilometres.

The work includes education, physiotherapy and a multisensory room, a feeding programme, and vocational training in horticulture and hairdressing for those over fifteen.

Over the years the Centre has been led by Fr. Marek, Fr. Malcolm and Fr. Alejandro Ruiz, with a teaching staff led by Mrs. Beatrice Nyambura.

• 2013 — First Lady Margaret Kenyatta. Visited and called for more centres like ours. Read on Nation.africa ↗
• 2022 — H.E. Hon. William Samoei Ruto, PhD, CGH. At the time of the visit, Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya; today its President. Citizen Digital ↗ · Don Orione ↗

In February 2022 the Centre received the visit of the then Deputy President and now President, William Ruto, who pledged food support for five years. Since 2023 the Centre has worked with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile) on paediatric rehabilitation workshops, a cooperation running through 2025.