Building Resilience: Kathyaka Parish Development 

Southeastern Kenya is one of the country’s most drought-prone regions, where families depend heavily on rain-fed agriculture and livestock for their survival. As rainfall has grown increasingly unpredictable in recent years, communities around Kathyaka Parish face recurring cycles of failed harvests, water scarcity, and strained access to healthcare and education.

Rather than address these challenges one at a time, Maryknoll supports a coordinated set of parish development initiatives designed to build lasting resilience. Projects include clean water systems that reduce the hours families spend collecting water each day, agricultural improvements that help farmers adapt to changing conditions, renovations to local healthcare facilities, support for schools, and small income-generating initiatives that diversify family livelihoods beyond farming alone.

This coordinated effort embodies the Catholic Social Teaching themes of Solidarity and the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, recognizing that lasting change requires addressing water, health, education, and livelihood together rather than in isolation. It also reflects Maryknoll’s founding charism of integral mission, understanding that proclaiming the Gospel and improving the material conditions of a community’s daily life are not separate tasks but a single, unified act of love.

Gifts to this project support practical, community-driven solutions, from wells to clinics to classrooms, that help families in Kathyaka Parish overcome recurring hardship, strengthen their day-to-day quality of life, and build a more secure and self-reliant future.