St. Matias Mulumba Catholic Parish is a homogenous parish comprising workers’
housing estates in the industrial area of Thika, 40 kilometres northeast of
Nairobi, Kenya. The approximately 15, 000 parishioners come from all the ethnic
groups of Kenya, their average age being around 30 years old.  One Thursday
night I attended the weekly meeting of the Pastoral Council which included a
representative from each of the 30 Small Christian Communities (SCCs).  I was
told these weekly meetings are an ongoing workshop in pastoral theology, the
curriculum being the daily life in the communities.   Experiences of each SCC
are shared, pastoral topics are discussed and decisions made.  Discussion often
focuses on examples of discrimination, injustice, corruption and unrest: unfair
employment policies, bribery, robberies in the workers’ housing estates, workers
getting fired for questioning company policy, etc.  This particular evening the SCC representatives discussed the poor dirt roads in the housing estates —
often just mud holes in the rainy season.  A local government official was
invited to the meeting and the SCC leaders brought pressure on him to rectify
the situation.  A grader from the City Council arrived the next day to fix the
roads.