Georgia Cobb had no idea what to expect when she left Phoenix to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, yet she resolved to approach her new surroundings with a heart open to God’s graces. She found those graces early into her trip when she visited St. Vincent de Paul preschool in a neighborhood called Kibera.
“Kibera is a slum in every sense imaginable,” Cobb noted. “The homes there are made out of corrugated metal, wood, mud and any other scrap material that can be found. There is open sewage running between the buildings.”
Cobb arrived in Nairobi on June 1, with seven other young adults from the Diocese of Phoenix. Together, they formed the second cohort of the Engage Your Equal (E.Y.E.) program.
Bishop John Dolan created E.Y.E. to encourage young adults to engage with Catholic communities abroad and develop an understanding of the universal Church. Last June, the inaugural cohort spent two weeks in Nairobi. This year, four mentors accompanied diocesan young adults in the immersion program in the same location.
A parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas in Avondale, Ariz., Cobb had travelled to 29 countries before Kenya. As Dylan, a preschool student in Kibera, introduced her to his neighborhood and family, Cobb felt God’s presence at work in a special way.
“At this preschool in one of the poorest places of the world, Dylan changed my life,” Cobb shared. “Dylan reminded me that physical possessions do not equal happiness, and that as children of God we are all seeking endless love.
“I learned more about love from a 4-year-old in Kenya than I have in my past 27 years.”
Patricia Walsh, an E.Y.E. participant from St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in Anthem, Ariz., also spoke of her experience engaging with locals in Kenya. For Walsh, Engage Your Equal offered a unique opportunity for social justice outreach, and she applied to the program in part because of the name itself.
“Engage one’s equal captured Pope Francis’ ethos of encounter and promoting human dignity,” Walsh commented. “I was basically sold on the program by the name alone.”
In Kenya, Walsh and the other participants met with religious sisters from the Daughters of Charity at the community’s school for children with disabilities. The school originally opened as a typical elementary program, yet it evolved to serve the needs of the disabled community after a mother sought help for her child. The Daughters of Charity now serve 83 children with disabilities at their school.
The school’s story touched Walsh in a personal way. “I felt affirmed both in my work on the Diocesan Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities and as a person with a disability myself,” Walsh stated.
“I felt filled with the Holy Spirit listening to the Daughters of Charity who are fighting to promote the human dignity of individuals with disabilities.”
Another E.Y.E. participant, Christa Sadler, built connections in Kenya through language and liturgy. Received fully into the Church at the Easter Vigil this year at St. Gabriel the Archangel in Cave Creek, Ariz., Sadler was eager to experience the global Church for the first time.
When she arrived in Kenya, Sadler purchased a bible in Swahili. Each day, she asked the people she encountered to write their name and favorite bible verse inside it.
“By the end of our time in Kenya, my book became full of names of people that I will never forget and a special note of scripture that has spoken to each of them,” Sadler recalled. “No matter where we are in the world, what we look like or what our background may be, the words of God impact us all.”
Sadler, along with the other members of the E.Y.E. cohort, attended Mass in Swahili and participated in liturgical dance and song that reflected Kenyan culture. Even as they appreciated the cultural nuances of Mass in Kenya, the group recognized the universality of their liturgical experiences.
“Worship and praise are something we all understand, even if it looks a little different based on where we are in the world,” Sadler said. “Everyone I met was my brother or sister in Christ, and we all received the same Eucharist.”
After two weeks in Kenya, the E.Y.E. cohort returned to Phoenix in mid-June. They spent several days on a post-trip retreat, and they reflected together on the fruits of their immersion trip. Over the coming months, the E.Y.E. members will develop projects to bring their experiences in Kenya to the young adults of the Diocese of Phoenix.
With a deeper understanding of global Catholic solidarity, the group is prepared to nurture relationships and community in Phoenix. They shared that they cherish the kindness, love and community they experienced in Kenya’s Church and hope to reflect Kenyan hospitality as they engage with diocesan locals.
“There is a real beauty in being Catholic because we are all connected as a family within the Eucharist, regardless of time or location,” Cobb shared. “Kenya reminded me of that reality: the stranger becomes a friend, the friend becomes someone you care for … and the Church connects us all in love across time and space.
“I hope that when others encounter me now, they will always feel welcome with the hospitality and love that I encountered in Kenya.”
