Some Causes of Poverty Among The SCC Members Op Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish
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Date
1999-03
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
Last year I met people from Our Lady of Guadalupe parish who lived in great poverty
and I became interested in exploring the causes of their poverty. Our Lady of Guadalupe
parish covers about 70,000 population with approximately 12,000-15,000 Catholics. It is
impossible to have exact figures since the area covers 16 Small Christians Communities
(SCCs) and people are constantly moving.
At the present, the 16 SCCs are the following: Kianda, Olympic, Fort Jesus, Makina
Sokoni, Makina Stage, Makina B., Makina D.O., Makina Makongeni, Karanja Road,
Woodley/Kilimani, Dagoretti City Council, Jamhuri Park, Jamhuri Estate, Ole Odume,
Ayany, Kenya Science Teachers College.
Guadalupe parish caters for three milieux of people: 60% are very poor and
predominantly from Kibera, 35% are middle class and only 5% are upper class. Thn poor
living in the area of this cosmopolitan parish experience hardships due to various
problems, such as single parenthood, unemployment, tribalism within the communities,
street children and orphans, mostly left by AIDS victims. Poverty in its different aspects,
that is economic, moral and spiritual is tackled by offering to the needy counselling,
awareness programmes and small income generating projects as well.
A Catholic movement called St Vincent de Paul Group is active with the purpose of
helping the poorest of the poor residents in the area of the parish, regardless ai• their
religious belief. However, the economic possibility of the group is limited since its main
source of income is the monthly collection of the parishioners and a few donations from
nearby religious congregations.
The Social Group is another constituted group whose members are trying to find an
answer to poverty by helping people to start their own small businesses. They think that
providing financial help in the form of loans can be a possible answer towards
sustainable development and financial self-sufficiency. So far they have helped a few
people to set up their own small businesses and are in the process of monitoring the
trend of this enterprise.
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Keywords
Poverty, SCC Members, Poverty in Kenya, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction, Catholic Social Teaching on Poverty