In a remote corner of northern Kenya, where rain falls just once a year and water shortages once sparked conflicts between tribes, a humanitarian project launched in the Romanian town of Ludus has transformed the lives of thousands of people.

The results of this mission have now taken on a human face and voice in Romania itself, with the visit of Talaso Denge Gorai, who took the name Tereza at baptism. The 24-year-old woman from the Chalbi Desert has come to say 'thank you' on behalf of her people.

It all began on August 4, 2018, with a tear and a photograph posted online. Greek Catholic priest Valer Sorin Russu, who has served for nearly three decades at the St Peter the Apostle Greek Catholic Church in Ludus, launched the project 'Kenya - Water for the People of the Desert'. He is the seventh generation of priests in his family, a lineage that has produced 54 clergymen documented as far back as 1736.

'That was when we organised the first - and it brings tears to my eyes - the first delivery of water to a community in Mangudo, where there were 4,200 people, including 2,500 children. Every day, 10 to 20 children were dying because of the lack of water. That was when we decided to intervene. We had enough money for the first delivery. I posted the pictures during the night, and by morning we had raised enough money for another four deliveries. Then it began to multiply, from four to ten, and onwards,' Father Valer Sorin Russu recalled.

What began as an emergency response to quench people's thirst and even prevent conflicts between tribes during periods of severe drought developed into an extensive community development programme, through cooperation with missionary priest Aurelian Herciu, from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest and serving at the Hurri Hills mission, and Father Cristi.

Today, donations from Romanians have funded permanent water storage tanks in the Chalbi Desert, the construction of schools and kindergartens, food deliveries and dozens of educational scholarships.

Getting supplies into the heart of the desert, however, is an adventure almost beyond European imagination. The routes are not merely difficult; their names speak for themselves about the dangers of the region: the Road of Lions, the Road of Hyenas and the Road of Bones.

'You can buy the supplies, you can raise the money, but getting them into the middle of the desert is another story altogether. You have to travel along the Road of Lions, the Road of Hyenas and the Road of Bones - names that tell you something about what has happened in those areas. So there is always an element of danger. But, of course, as missionaries, we overcome absolutely everything and go into those areas,' the priest from Ludus explained.

In the isolated communities of Demo and Burgabo, which the Romanian missionaries reached over the past two years, residents had never seen a white person or a car. Nevertheless, a bond was formed immediately. In a place where people have almost nothing, Father Sorin Russu discovered a striking philosophy of life.

'One of the village elders told me: 'We know two realities: the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening; whatever happens in between is God's will.' That is a very simple, even simplistic, philosophy, but a very profound one, because there are genuinely no expectations, and if you have no expectations, you can live a joyful life. Nobody has anything to divide with anyone else because they have absolutely nothing. There are no arguments about one person wanting more and another wanting less. And their happiness rests on a very interesting principle: if we have water, we have animals; if we have animals, we have food; if we have enough to eat, we can sell the remaining animals to send our children to school,' the priest said.

Among the hundreds of people baptised into Christianity in the Chalbi Desert is Talaso Denge Gorai, a 24-year-old woman from a family of six siblings who received the name Tereza at baptism. When the project began, her dream of pursuing an education seemed impossible. Today, Tereza is a university graduate with skills in computing, accounting and music, and is the Romanian missionaries' principal interpreter, translating from Swahili into the local dialects of the different tribes.

'Since her baptism, Tereza has become an indispensable member of the Romanian missionary communities in Kenya. She is the interpreter and the link between what the priest communicates to Christian believers in the tribal communities, conveying his words in each tribe's own dialect,' Father Valer Sorin Russu said proudly. He added: 'Her wish, before getting married - her wedding is next year - was to visit Romania, a country she had heard so much about but had never seen. It was a kind of gift because, as she really is such an important member of the team, we felt she deserved to be rewarded.'

Her visit to Romania also brought an enormous temperature shock. Accustomed to temperatures of 35-40 degrees Celsius, Tereza arrived in late autumn to find temperatures of minus 4 degrees.

'You see her dressed like a European now, but do you know what a struggle it was to persuade her to give up her traditional clothes? Only the cold made her abandon them. And we equipped her for minus 4 degrees Celsius. I am amazed at how well she is coping,' the priest laughed.

During her two weeks in Romania, Tereza visited schools, including Unirea National College in Targu Mures, where primary school pupils raised money for textbooks for 600 children in Kenya. She visited Romanian families in their homes and attended Sunday church services, where she sang, danced and shared her testimony with worshippers.

'I am impressed by the people, by their kindness and their good hearts. I met pupils at school and visited several families in their homes. Yes, I like this country, and I would love to stay if there were an opportunity,' Tereza told AGERPRES.

For her, meeting the Romanian missionaries marked the dividing line between a life without prospects and a future filled with possibilities.

'Before I met the missionary priest in Kenya, I had finished secondary school and was staying at home because I could not afford to continue my education. After the missionary priest arrived in Kenya, that was when I was able to go on to college and later work alongside them in their missionary activities. I am now a catechist in the Diocese of Marsabit, in the Chalbi Desert area. Our day begins with Holy Mass in the parish in the morning, and later we travel to our outlying communities to meet people and pray with them,' Tereza said.

Beyond her own story, Tereza brought with her the gratitude of thousands of people from the parishes of Turbi, Maikona and Bada Hurri, for whom water means survival.

Photo credit: Project Kenya

'We live with water shortages. We only have water during the rainy season, and for us in the Chalbi Desert, the rain comes just once a year. We thank Father Sorin and the Kenya Project because the transportation and delivery of water, which means life, are made possible through this project, in cooperation with the missionary priests Father Cristi and Father Aurelio. Your help, as Romanian people, is a real benefit to us. It is a blessing, an outpouring of grace,' Talaso Denge Gorai stressed.

After more than seven years, the project's results are tangible. Approximately 70 to 80 school and university scholarships have been awarded to children from the area's two main tribes, the Gobora and the Gabra. Father Sorin has made sure that every water delivery and scholarship is matched by an equivalent contribution to the other community, helping to maintain peace and balance between the two groups.

'There, a pupil who receives a scholarship makes the absolute most of it, in the sense that they devote themselves to studying. There are no pupils getting grades of five or six; they are all very good students. We already have graduates in medicine, both doctors and nurses, as well as secondary school teachers, primary school teachers, early-years educators and agricultural specialists. We have an agricultural engineer, and our very first scholarship recipient to graduate in agronomy has even gone on to work at the Ministry of Agriculture in Nairobi,' the priest explained.

Tereza, for her part, confirmed this growing sense of hope with fresh news from home.

'Just yesterday, I received a message from a young woman who has completed her studies at Egerton University, in the Faculty of Education. She wrote to the priest: 'I am very grateful. I am now completing my studies and graduating with great hope.' Thank God, she will work as a teacher. We also have a young man from Forole studying to become a nurse, and two other students. And I myself, standing here before you, am also a beneficiary of the Kenya Project,' Tereza said.

Beyond the figures and the buildings, the mission has also produced deeply moving human stories, such as that of a young man with paraplegia from the desert who was rejected by his own tribal community because of his disability. After taking him to Nairobi for several operations, the Romanian mission paid for two years of barber training and set up a small barbershop for him in his village. Today, people come to him for haircuts, and the young man no longer depends on charity but is respected and integrated into his community.

Asked how he manages to mobilise so many people, Father Valer Sorin Russu, who has 20 years of experience as the director of a Caritas branch, said everything rests on trust built over time.

Photo credit: Project Kenya

'Strangers stop me in the street and put money into my hands for the Kenya Project, at petrol stations, in shops. I do not know who they are, but they know the money will get there. When people ask why I do not help children in Romania, I tell them that for 20 years I worked with children with disabilities, older people, the soup kitchen and the home care centre here. People know what I do. I have been driving the same old, battered car for many years. We are just a drop in the ocean, but whatever problems we can solve, whatever is within our reach, we do,' the priest told AGERPRES.

Soon, Tereza will return to the heat of the Chalbi Desert to prepare for her wedding and continue her work as a catechist. But the bond between Romania and those isolated communities remains alive, sustained through prayer.

'We pray for all of you who help us. Saturday is a special day dedicated to our benefactors, when we pray during Holy Mass for everyone who supports us. And when I return to Kenya, I will tell people about the kindness, generosity and wonderful people I met in Romania,' Talaso (Tereza) Denge Gorai concluded. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Dorina Matis; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)