Sweet Transformation

Maryknoll Lay Missioner, Theresa Glaser, offers an update and reflection on her work at the St. John Bosco Rehabilitation Center in Kenya. This recently included the transformation of a dilapidated room into a a new library.

MISSIONER NEWSLETTER – Spring 2026

Theresa Glaser, Kenya

Headshot of Theresa Glaser, with the headliner of "Missioner Update." A quote from the article, This transformation will give rise to, spark and inspire the same within our students..." An image a of a young student smiling while working on a worksheet at his desk next to the quote.

There is a room in the St. John Bosco Rehabilitation Center, which was serving to store cast-off, broken furniture. The roof leaked. The walls were gouged and in dramatic need of paint. Like the dark side of the moon, people rarely even saw it when they passed through to find the office of our social worker.

One afternoon, one of our veteran students asked if he could read a small story book to me. We sat side by side and he read the book without faltering from beginning to end. It occurred to me then that we needed a place where an older child could sit and read a story to a younger one, and the idea of transforming that terrible room into a beautiful library was born.

An image of the old classroom, next to the new classroom.

To the left, is how the room originally looked. After some TLC, that same corner is enjoyed by a student.

Over the long break between school years, members of my staff, and myself, worked as a team. My favorite fundi (handyperson/repair person) constructed new furniture, a teacher and patron painted multiple coats on walls, furniture and the floor. Matron, a social worker and teacher covered piles of new books with plastic. The result was more beautiful and functional than we had even imagined. All of this was made possible by generous friends and donors to this ministry.

Our hope is that this transformation will give rise to, spark and inspire the same within our students.

3 students huddle together to review a book in their recently renovated library.

One of those students is 7-year-old Peter is new to SJBRC this year. He lives alone with his father who has a disability. Their home is a mud structure within a notorious slum near Kitale. He is small for his age and missing his two front teeth, but he grins engagingly in his new surroundings.

Peter has never been to school before. He had to be taught how to hold a pencil. He appears to be a little dazed and dazzled, but still willing to participate in this mysterious process of learning. He is one of ours now, and we will prepare him for formal school, follow and support him through primary, secondary and even higher education. He has been given a rare and wonderful opportunity to change the pattern of his life.

Having been given this opportunity to work with children and families from extreme poverty, my heart has been battered, stretched, challenged and changed. The pain of it could not be sweeter.

Please consider supporting my mission work with a donation via the button below.

If you are able, I invite you to walk with me as a “COMPANION IN MISSION.” Companions in Mission are friends and generous donors who give financial gifts on a regular (usually monthly) basis. For more information, visit Become a Companion in Mission. Thank you so much for your generosity!