CARITAS
CARITAS
Caritas is the Development and Humanitarian arm of the Catholic Church. Caritas Kitale was established in 1998 as Development and Social Services Department and in 2016 transformed to Caritas Kitale. Caritas Kitale works closely with the most poor, dispossessed and vulnerable population in the urban and peri-urban, rural and marginalized lands of Trans Nzoia and West Pokot Counties. Caritas strives for a world where the voices of the poor are heard and acted upon, where each person is free to flourish and live in peace and dignity and where our natural environment given by God is managed responsibly and sustainably in the interests of the entire human family. Caritas working areas are Livelihoods, Humanitarian, Gender and Development, Capacity building, Environmental conservation and Research, communications& advocacy.
1. Capacity Building
2. Humanitarian
3. Livelihoods
4. Women & Gender Development
5. Information, Research & Advocacy
Our Projects
The official Diocesan Tree planting exercise and environment conservation was launched on 3rd April, 2023 by Our Bishop Henry Juma Odonya at Mary Immaculate Primary. We applaud and appreciate Our Bishop for being number environmentalist in our Diocese and for making the function successful. Partners Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Seed Company we appreciate you. Our Vicar General, all our Priests, institutions that attended and our team thank you and let us continue with the spirit. We urge all stakeholders to come together and continue with Conservation and Protection of our environment, foster environmental education and plant trees.
Our partners Caritas Italiana and Sun24 we appreciate you for making this project successful for the needy and vulnerable within our Parishes to access clean energy
Sun24 has developed a way for smallholder farmers to make free organic fertilizer that will double their crop yield. Our aim through this project is for every farmer to easily make their fertilizer in two (2) years.
Most African farmers burn piles of maize stalks after every season. They make large piles, light the piles on the side, the pile explodes into smoke and they let the embers burn to ash. (Left pile in the video.) Instead, we train farmers to light the pile on top. The smoke magically disappears. The farmers then smother the embers with dirt to make free BIOCHAR.
Biochar is an amazing organic fertilizer. It is nearly pure carbon that will improve soil forever. (Chemical fertilizers destroy soil after years of application.) When “charged” with nutrients, biochar is a better fertilizer than expensive chemical fertilizers. We train farmers to charge their biochar by soaking it with their family’s human urine. Urine is loaded with nutrients which are absorbed by biochar.
When planting maize or shortly after the plant emerges, a handful of biochar can be applied to each stalk. The farmer will double his yield. With our partners each institution i.e. school or farmer has to sign a contract with Caritas Kitale so that after harvest some maize is shared with us to further the project.
There are several interventions in the pipelines which together with our stakeholders we will share with you in due course.
Caritas Kitale has established permanent tree nurseries in Goseta – Kitale region, and Kapenguria In West Pokot. The nurseries are intended to provide seedlings to Christians and other people who wish to plant trees as a way to mitigate the effects of climate change. This is one way the Catholic church in Kitale is responding to Pope Francis’ call in his encyclical “Laudato Si” on care for mother Earth.
