Two Dominican Sisters and a volunteer will join Dr. Margaret Lombe, a Springfield Dominican Associate, on her annual pilgrimage to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northwest Kenya, July 3-20, 2026.
Sister Anita Cleary, OP, a Springfield Dominican, Sister Helena Im, OP, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, Calif., and Kathryn Raistrick, an artist and long-time volunteer with the Dominican Sisters, will join Dr. Lombe at the Jesuit Relief Services (JRS) program at the camp.
JRS Kenya also operates two temporary protection houses for survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SVGB); they manage and support secondary schools in Kakuma and provide physical and psychosocial support to over 300,000 individuals.
Sharing spinning wheels
“This journey started out as a simple way to share some of the spinning wheels from Jubilee Farm,” said Sister Anita, who was a founding team member at Jubilee Farm, the congregation’s ecology and spirituality center, which was recently sold. “All of the weaving and spinning items from the farm are not needed at the new location,” she explained “Many of the items had been donated, so when the invitation to share them with individuals who might be able to use them to support the income for their families, it seemed like a wonderful way to pass on the gift.”
They will be traveling with spinning wheels and drop spindles and other supplies in their suitcases, and will teach their use. The group also anticipates meeting with members of the Dominican Family living in Kenya to learn about their ministry in areas of extreme poverty and their accompaniment of war refugees and asylum seekers. They hope that experiencing life through the eyes, ears, and hearts of people in Nairobi and Kakuma will help them articulate for audiences back home “the breath and the depth of the interdependence our lives in our Common Home,” Sr. Helena said.
The three travelers have already learned from the team at Jesuit Relief Services the interrelationship between humanitarian aid funding and continuing food insecurity in the region.
No "theoretical proclamation of peace"
None of the delegates are strangers to what Pope Leo has recently reminded the world through his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas: “…as long as there are people in the world who are excluded from the development befitting human dignity, the Christian community cannot be content with a theoretical proclamation of peace.” (MH 36) “No person or people will be treated as expendable in the processes of development,” the document continues.
Sister Anita ministered for three years in Peru, Kathryn, a regular volunteer at Jubilee Farm, has accompanied the sisters in ministry at the U.S.-Mexico border and worked for many years as a case manager aiding deaf and visually impaired persons, and Sister Helena’s ministry has included training health promoters with the Mayan people in Chiapas, Mexico. She is a committed apprentice in teaching Restorative Dialogues and non-violent communication.
Dr. Lombe is the associate professor and chair of the Macro Practice Department at the Boston University School of Social Work. Deeply engaged in the study of global health equity, her connections at the camp have facilitated the logistics for the delegation.
Dominicans, formally the Order of Preachers, is an 800-year-old religious Order founded by St. Dominic Guzman to preach the Gospel in the turbulent contexts of global political conflict. There are thousands of Dominican Sisters, brothers, priests and laity who continue in the mission of the Order around the world.
