My name is Alice Auma Odhiambo from Kisumu County in Kenya. I am the firstborn in a family of four. I’m a pre-postulant among the daughters of St. Paul. I came to know about the daughters of St. Paul early this year through my parish priest.
When I visited the community of the sisters, I liked the warm welcome that made me feel at home. That first impression kept on lingering in my heart for the rest of my stay in the community for sure it was a nice experience. They engaged me in the bookshop where I also had a nice experience though sometimes it was tiresome because some would come asking for a book I was not aware of the price and even where it is kept. The experience I had when we stayed two in the community brought a clear picture of the hard-working nature of a daughter of St. Paul. I enjoyed my stay in the community where after some time I was invited for the Come and See program in Nairobi.
I was happy to meet my companions from different parts of Kenya and other Countries like Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan. I learnt a lot from my companions, and also from different classes we had with sisters. I also learnt more about the pauline mission and the different apostolates e.g. apostolates in the printing where I learnt about folding the signatures and gathering them. All in all, I enjoyed my stay for the three months. Through the classes, I learnt about Pauline prayer life, mission apostolate community life etc.
A few weeks after completing the Come and See Program, I was invited to join the pre-postulancy stage in Kampala-Uganda which I was eagerly waiting for because it was to be my first time out of the country. I liked the warm welcome we received from the sisters in the community especially my young sisters in formation. Kampala being a new environment am still trying to fit in but so far so good. My first mission in Bweyogerere was not easy because I could not understand anything during the Mass. It was said in Luganda and I could only manage to join in clapping when it was time to clap and a bit of smile when I saw people happy. Though I didn’t know more about the Ugandan currency, I tried to be there by making myself busy at least by helping in packing the books but with time I will learn. At least since I came almost one month now I have started learning something e.g. stapling books I wish to learn more like cutting books and printing.
Am learning slowly by slowly through the orientations given to me by different companions that is the postulants and other pre-postulants. I wish to learn well and enjoy my stay in Kampala.