Social Service
The reorientation of the monastic community did not involve diminishing our social services to the surrounding
communities. On the contrary:
- In connection with our own water supply clean drinking water was brought to all the surrounding villages,
be it to Mpowora and Njenga from Ndanda, to Mwena and Mkalapa from Mwena camp, a special line to Liputu and
Nangoo and finally in cooperation with the Japanese Government even to Masasi town.
- In cooperation with local farmers a co-operative agricultural scheme was set up including a large
pool of assorted heavy agricultural machinery in the service of the farmers. Unfortunately after 1990
this scheme could no longer be sustained, because of lacking cooperation of its leadership.
All these outside activities did not prevent us from developing our own monastery and bringing it up to
an appropriate standard for the future community.
- Still directed to the pastoral care, since 1984, a retreat center was started with a special focus on
church personal like catechists, sisters, parish councils, youth-leaders, choir-leaders etc. Other courses
were on marriage encounter and meditation, especially for young monks and sisters.
- In the beginning the living quarters at Ndanda abbey were of rather poor quality, built from clay with
iron roofs, without any privacy. The first modern building was in 1928 the hospital, followed in 1934 by
the sisters house. The new church in 1938 stood there as a huge, lonely temple. It was only in 1954/56 that proper
living quarters for the bishop and part of the community were erected. Finally in 1998/2000 a new wing was added,
comprising 18 self-contained rooms and the long missing community facilities like the chapter room, recreational
facilities, library and archives, a computer room and a hall for festive meetings. In addition this new wing
closes the monastic area creating a natural clausura.
Another step long overdue was renovating and rearranging the Abbey church according to the norms of the
Vatican Council.
