The Diocese of Victoria's newspaper, The Catholic Lighthouse, received a national award at the 2011 Catholic Media Convention, which was held in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The newspaper won The Propagation of the Faith 2011 Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Award - Honorable Mention, under Diocesan Newspaper category – Interviews with Missionaries – for the story, “Sister Rebecca: Kenyan Daktari Ya Watu, Wanyama Na Mtu Ya Duka” (Sister Rebecca: Kenyan Doctor, Veterinarian and Shopkeeper). Sister Rebecca Janacek, IWBS, of Victoria, has been a missionary in Kenya, Africa, since 1987.

Cynthia Brewer, editor, wrote the story; Regina Matus-Janak created the layout of the story; and Sister Laura Toman, IWBS, and Sister Rebecca provided the photos. The story was published in the August 2010 paper and can be seen on the diocesan Web site at www.victoriadiocese.org, on The Catholic Lighthouse page under The Catholic Lighthouse On-line title. An excerpt from the story is included below.

Sister Rebecca: Kenyan Daktari Ya Watu, Wanyama Na Mtu Ya Duka (Doctor, Veterinarian and Shopkeeper)

By Cindy Brewer

Sister Rebecca, a registered nurse, has been ministering to the Pokot people of the Pokot district in northwest Kenya since 1987, and speaks both the Pokot and Swahili languages.The people are pastoralists; their lives depend on theircattle and goats, thus the battle with AK-47s to protect their livelihood from cattle rustlers – a notorious problem. The Pokot territory, an arid and forgotten land, encompasses 693 sq. miles, an area approximately 10 by 60 miles with a population of about 15,000. The family unit is patriarchal with the men practicing polygamy, having several wives.The large families live remotely in two to three wood ormud, round huts encircled as one homestead (manyatta) toprovide protection.

Sister Rebecca’s home base is in Barpello, E. Pokot, Kenya, where she works with seven other religious - two priests and five sisters - at the Kenya Foundation of the Mexico City Incarnate Word Sisters, which now also includes native Sisters, and the Victoria Community of theIncarnate Word. Barpello, the established mission, is about 12 hours northwest of the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi, and 30 miles (four hours) from the Rotu Mission.

In an effort to multiply the foundation’s health programs,Sister Rebecca spent from January to September 2006 conducting a needs assessment to determine the most important needs of the Pokot people. She and two lads with secondary-level educations conducted the assessment. She and each lad, for a week at a time, would travel by foot from one round hut to another, each with their own tent, collecting data about the resources and population, before returning to Barpello. At the time, all water collection was done by the women, carrying two to five gallon containers on their backs, from one-half mile to 20 miles from their homes. Collection can occur from one to four times daily depending on the season and closeness of the water points. This hardship caused women to have spontaneous abortions, and children wer eleft in the care of older children while mothers were away. To reach basic health care facilities it could take from twoto five days walking through the bush. From this process, she and the Pokot people concluded that access to clean water, healthcare, food and education were their most important needs. 

Read the entire article online here on page 12.