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Good works for inmates follow priest to grave

Good works for inmates follow priest to grave
Swiss Catholic priest Peter Hildebrand Meienberg. PHOTO/COURTESY

“May the Lord welcome you home… we refuse to mourn you, we will celebrate you. You were an extraordinary priest. May your legacy live on,” inmates said during a memorial service for a Swiss Catholic priest Peter Hildebrand Meienberg.

The service, held at Lang’ata Women’s Prison yesterday, was characterised by song, dance and poems, as prisoners celebrated the departed priest.
The 92-year-old clergyman died on December 3 and left an indelible mark on prisoners, having served them over the years. Going by the tributes from inmates and Prisons officers, Fr Peter’s life and times is nothing but exemplary service to human kind.

The priest, who was a Missionary Benedictine of St Otmarsberg, arrived in Africa in 1961 and lived decades of exciting and innovative years.
He first worked in Tanzania for 10 years before moving to Kenya in 1972.
Serving and former prisoners had kind words for the priest, saying he contributed a great deal towards enhancing a conducive environment, in the process of rehabilitation.

Sense of identity
“You valued knowledge very much, both primary and secondary education, run smoothly courtesy of Faraja Foundation. We prisoners, like other Kenyans, are abreast of affairs nationally and globally,” said a prisoner, Jane Manyonge, in her poem ‘The Sunset of a Saint’.

“Biting cold we felt, we clothed sweaters to keep us warm, beds and mattresses for a good night sleep, water tanks to quench our thirst. It is said it doesn’t require many words to speak the truth. You were a saint in life and so are you in death… farewell the son of Europe and Africa, a true friend of prisoners,” she eulogised.

Two other Lang’ata women prisoners Ruth Kamande and Priscillah Cherono condoled with the priest’s family, saying they had lost a person who gave them a sense of identity.

They said change came their way through Fr Peter, recounting that they were not even allowed to wear sweaters, so pneumonia and colds were common within the prison back then.

“We have come a long way. Today we attest to Fr Peter’s greatness. In his absence we feel desolate, saddened and empty because he was everything to us. He made us feel worthy, accepted and loved. We are not mourning his loss but celebrating his life. We felt safe around him, he made our lives in prison bearable,” said Cherono.

Kamande added: “It is clear that Fr Peter realised his purpose, and began to work towards it and accomplished it. Construction of a daycare centre gave mothers in prison ample time to study as their children are well taken care of.”

Unmatched strides
Fr Peter Kimani, the Chaplain of Kenya Prisons Service, led a mass in honour of the departed priest.

The Commissioner General of Prisons, Brig (Rtd) John Warioba, led the inmates in celebrating Fr Peter, saying he supported prison reforms in unmatched strides.

“The Prison Service has lost a friend and a support system, that was a pillar to prison reforms. In honour of Fr Peter, we can only individually and collectively strive to grant his wishes to be sustainable and even enhanced for improved conditions of prisoners,” said Warioba.

His remarks were delivered by Prisons Staff Training College Commandant Wanini Kireri.

It was through Fr Peter that inmates were for the first time able to access newspapers.

He helped in rebuilding cells, introduced beauty pageants to give inmates a sense of pride, gave beds and mattresses and went a long way in helping prisoners reintegrate into society.

Moved by the squalid conditions prisoners lived in, he founded the Faraja Foundation, which was his vehicle to reform Kenya’s prison system.

Wanini said her first interaction with the priest was in 2003, when he asked her to give inmates old newspapers to keep them informed.

“Fr Peter passionately served the inmates and prison officers. I worked with him for three years before my transfer to Shimo la Tewa,” recounted Wanini.

Warioba said that Fr Peter spent the better part of his life working to make the lives of priosners better.

Kind person
He served as a prison chaplain for Lang’ata prison from 1999 to 2014 and in Nairobi Remand Home from 2000 to 2014.

“He was a very kind person who went out of his way to ensure comfort of others. We will always remember Fr Peter for the support, he provided to infrastructure development in prisons through Faraja Foundation, which he founded,” said Warioba.

He also assisted in the construction of day-care centres in Lang’ata, Embu, Kericho, Busia and Naivasha prisons for children below 4 years accompanying their mothers in prison.

During his mission, there was construction of resource centres at Lang’ata women and Nairobi West prisons, renovations and upgrading of kitchens at Meru, Kamiti, Langata, Nairobi Remand and Kisumu’s Kodiaga prison.

He also ensured construction of urinary pits for inmates at Nairobi West Prison as well as visitors’ sheds in Lang’ata women’s prison, playgrounds and a bakery.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Fr Peter donated 10 water tanks, computers for virtual courses, toiletries to more than 30 prisons and material to make three-ply masks.

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