Kenya: Fire engulfs warehouses at Turkana mission

Flames were several metres high

A major fire broke out in warehouses at the Missionary Community of St Paul the Apostle in Lobur, Turkana, Kenya - near the Ethiopian border on 24 May. The fire started when a worker tried to chase away a swarm of bees with smoke. Some embers set fire to materials in one building and soon flames several metres high ripped through the adjoining seven warehouses. No one was injured, because it was a Sunday, but a spokesman said they are still assessing the damage to to the buildings and their contents, which he said is "considerable" - "a total loss."

Lobur is located 250 km from the city of Lodwar at the foot of the Kacheriongor mountain range. The Lobur mission runs four nutritional nurseries, scholarship programs for children and young people, irrigation and water projects, an agricultural programme greening the desert (Furrows in the Desert Program), women's empowerment activities to promote peace in the region and a primary health care program with its own health unit and a mobile clinic operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In the next few years the Mission plans to develop an existing nursery and create an elementary school, a market area, and urbanize the new settlement.

Although Covid-19 has not reached this remote part of Kenya, the community here has also been under lockdown for several weeks, and has been preparing for the pandemic by making their own soap, disinfectants and masks.

If you would like to support the mission please see: www.justgiving.com/campaign/covid19Turkana