Cecil Agutu is a third generation Catholic. His grandparents converted to Catholicism. "My grandfather was a polygamist and before converting, he had practiced the religion of African animism. Together with my grandmother, they converted to the Catholic Church thanks to the work of the Catholic missionaries of the Society of St. Joseph in our rural district," he recounts. He is the second of six siblings, three sisters and three brothers.
Cecil is spearheading an initiative to build a new parish known as Uganda Martyrs Achego Catholic Church in his hometown, Kagan, which is located in the rural county of Homa Bay in Kenya.
The objective of this parish is multiple, because it would not only serve the faithful of the county, but the project will also contribute to improve the health, education and employment of its inhabitants.
First, this parish will bring together the 21 chapels that depend on it and serve 3,080 Catholics and a larger community of 30,553 inhabitants. "This is a noble project that will do enormous good for many families," Cecil tells the CARF Foundation.
In addition, the construction of the parish church will result in the creation of a hospital whose services will improve the health of the faithful and the community in general.
The parish will also have a water well.lack of drinking water is the greatest need in the area, as there is no river or piped water supply from the county government. This well will supply drinking water to 1,055 people from families living in the vicinity of the church. In addition, it will increase the level of education through improvements to the Achego Primary and Secondary schools that are sponsored by the Catholic Church. Finally, the construction of the church will lead to the creation of vital infrastructure and generate employment.
Cecil recounts the main challenges of evangelization in his diocese of Homa Bay in Kenya: "Several traditional cultural practices persist that are detrimental to the dignity of the people and the spread and practice of the Catholic faith. Among these are polygamy and widow inheritance which is the cultural practice whereby a relative of a man who has died takes over the widow. The spread of sects and other heterodox communities is also common. On the other hand, there is a low human and spiritual formation of the people.
