O u r    H i s t o r y

St. Al's History began with the founding of Christian Life Community (CLC) in Kenya in 1989. CLC is a world-wide, Catholic lay movement that follows Ignatian Spirituality. When Fr. Terry Charlton, SJ, a Jesuit from the Chicago Province in the United States, was assigned to teach theology at Hekima College Jesuit School of Theology in Nairobi in 1990, he also became the chaplain of Christian Life Community, which had been created to provide its members with an opportunity to live reflective Christian lives in the service of others.

In the late 1990s, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa worsened, CLC looked for ways to respond. In 2002, CLC members together with others formed Hands of Love Society (HOLS) to provide ministry to those affected by HIV/AIDS in Kibera, a Nairobi slum that is home to nearly 1 million people. By 2003, CLC had raised enough money to send 12 HIV/AIDS orphans from Kibera to private high schools to begin their first year of secondary education.

Members of HOLS were frustrated, though, as they saw some of the students they'd sponsored struggle in the schools they attended. Their attempts to provide additional service to the students were sometimes stymied by the schools. Late in 2003, HOLS learned there would be a nearly four-fold tuition increase at the school which most of the students were attending.

In early December, at a HOLS meeting, Joseph Oganda, HOLS director, suggested starting a new school. Joseph brought this plan to Fr. Terry and CLC on December 13. The start of the upcoming school year, though, was less than a month away. It seemed impossible. But we agreed that starting a new school would allow us to more ably respond to the needs of HIV/AIDS affected students in Kibera and was the best possible course of action.

The next month was a whirlwind of activity as a temporary site for their school was sought, and Fr. Charlton approached the Chicago Province and some of its donors with requests for startup funding. The school was overwhelmed with applications as soon as it announced it would open. The school, somewhat miraculously, opened its doors on January 19, 2004, in space rented from a local grade school. We ended up beginning with 21 second-year students and 35 first-year students.

In early, 2008, St. Al's will begin construction of a new school that can serve more of Kibera students. Please take a moment to learn more about our future plans.