The presence of the Daughters of St Paul in East Africa can be traced to the year 1964, when the first sisters landed from Congo where they were already established. They landed in Uganda, making it the first community to be established. Earlier on in October 1963, the sisters had come to visit with the aim of meeting the Archbishop of Kampala, His Grace Joseph Kiwanuka, the first indigenious bishop in Uganda. Their meeting bore fruits with an agreement that there would be a Book centre in Kampala.
On 2nd February 1964, four Daughters of St. Paul arrived in Kampala Uganda. They immediately set out to search for an appropriate place for the Book Centre. They eventually got one shop in the heart of the city. It was officially blessed in June, 1964 with the participation of all Bishops of Uganda, many missionaries and local authorities. The Book Centre withstood the difficulties of the time, which included the economic and political instabilities. To date the Book centre stands strong and its one of the most active in the EAMZZ Province, thanks to the perseverance of the sisters.
The presence of the Paulines in Tanzania came about by the insistance of Cardinal Rugambwa. In April 1970, Cardinal Rugambwa visited the mother general of the Daughters of St. Paul and asked insistently for the presence of the sisters to take care of the cathedral bookshop. In agreement to his request, two sisters were sent from Rome to Tanzania. On 20th September 1970, the sisters landed Dar, and were welcomed by His Eminence Cardinal Rugambwa himself. Within no time, the sisters quickly settled down and assumed the running of the Cathedral bookshop of Dar-es-salaam. Gradually the Book centre became a true centre of light and evangelization to the people of Tanzania. With time, the sisters terminated theire contract with the diocese and embarked on their own bookshop. On 27th March 2010, Paulines Books and media Centre was inaugurated. Henceforth, the bookshop picked up and todate one of the busiest Bookcentres in the Province.
Due to the Political and economic instabilities in Uganda, and the insistence of Cardinal Otunga of Nairobi, it was decided that another community had to be established in East Africa and that was Kenya. The Cardinal kept on asking the sisters each time they came to Nairobi for shopping when they would come to Nairobi and stay to run the bookshop at the cathedral. On 15th February 1976, 3 sisters landed in Nairobi to start the new foundation At the stage of assuming responsibility and after signing the contract, the sisters faced a challenging momemnt, the bookshop was at the level of bankruptcy and the accounts not in good shape.The sisters persevered and thanks to their wise administration, the bookshop prospered and up to date, it is a centre of life at the service of the people kenya.
The need for another community in Kenya arose because of the sister students who were studying in Tangaza and Cuea. The distance was quite long and it was time consuming. On 13th April 2012, our new Gabriella house was completed and blessed. The first group of the students moved in even before its final completion. The book Centre too was opened because the sisters, besides their studies needed to do apostolate for their sustainability. To date, Paulines Book centre- Gabriella house situated in Langata- Karen takes care of the needs of mainly the students from the institutions around and the religious community around Karen. However it remains dependent on the main Paulines Publications Africa.
With time, the need arose to have a Paulines Communication Centre with a book centre that was entirely owned by the Daughters of St Paul, since the catholic bookshop belonged to the diocese, they were only doing administration there On 9th December 2015, the centre was complete and inaugurated in Nairobi, within the premises of the regional house, with a beautiful book centre, recording studio and a large hall for seminars and animations. The centre acts as an outlet for the materials published by Paulines Publications Africa and a uniting centre for the Gabriella book centre and the Paulines Books and media centre- Kisumu branch. It also serves the people within the location of Westlands and all those who don't want to go through the stress of the jam of town to catholic bookshop. With time it has pickep up nicely. .
As the Daughters of St. Paul increased in number and territory, there arose a need to spread to other dioceses. Arrangements started with the Archbishop of Kisumu to see the possiblity of establishing a presence in Kisumu Archdiocese. An agreement was reached and with the generosity of the Dominican fathers the Paulines finally landed in Kisumu. On 26th November 2022 the community together with the bookshop was blessed. The bookshop initially started in a container within the compound as the sisters continued to look for a suitable place for a Book centre. The sisters felt the need to move to town became the current place was out of town where by it favoured only a few who had the means. With the generosity of Fr Caroly the parish priest of the Cathedral parish- St Theresa's Kibuye and the Archbishop, the sisters were given some rooms within the premises of the cathedral which were turned into the current Paulines Books and Media centre- Kisumu. It was opened and blessed by His Grace Maurice Makumba on 25th March 2024. The book centre is indeed beneficial not only to the people in kisumu but the entire Western region.
The presence of the Daughters of St Paul in Zambia was requested by Bishop Medardo Mazombwe. His dream came true when the sisters finally arrived on 12th April 1994. The sisters quickly settled down and started working and managing the catholic bookshop in Lusaka. The first Paulines Book centre was opened on 15th April 1996. Immediately the people started flocking the centre as if they were just looking forward to it. In 2004, the bookshop moved from Unity House at Kulima tower to Design house due to some challenges faced. The sisters thought to have another book centre. With the construction of their residence in Longacres, they added a floor for the new Paulines Book and media centre. The book centre was opened on 25th January 2023.
The Daughters of St Paul in Juba were founded on 25th January 2008 at the request of the Episcopal conference. After so many years of the Civil war in South Sudan , in 2005 a peace agreement was signed. The Archbishop of Juba His Grace Paolino Lukudu invited the Paulines to help with the formation of the people who were resettling back home. The sisters heeded his cry for help, and Sr Josette and Sr Mary Moraa were to sent to begin that foundation. The sisters really started from Bethlehem, with almost nothing but armed with faith and trust in the Lord. With time the sisters established a Paulines Books and Media Centre in Juba. Todate, the Book centre is considered as the best, well furnished bookshop in Juba town, at the service of the people of all walks of life from children, christians, politicians etc.
The sisters from Zambia had visited Malawi a couple of times and the Archbishop of Lilogwe His Grace Remi Ste-Marie and later his successor H.E Tarcizio Ziyaye repeatedly requested the sisters to come and stay, promising them a piece of land where they would establish their community and Book centre. That dream came true when on 20th February 2015, the two pioneer sisters Sr Praxides and Mary Moraa landed in Lilongwe, being accompanied by the whole Zambian community. The sisters quickly established themselves settling in a house given to them by the generosity of the Archbishop. The community was officially established on 25th April 2015. In a short time the sisters set up their first Paulines Books and media centre Situated in the Maula Cathedral premises, using a large container that was used to transport the books from Nairobi. With time the sisters moved the Paulines Book centre down town to a place that is more accessible by the public and indeed they continue to evangelize to the people of Malawi.
The EAMZZ province in the year 2023, gave birth to another community in Harare, Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Bishops Conference officially handed over the management of the Catholic Book Centre to the Daughters of St. Paul on 1/08/2023. We dedicated the first year of our management to renovating and restocking the bookshop so as to give it a more Pauline identity as well as to have variety of publications at a fair price so as to respond to the spiritual needs of the people of God. At the beginning of this new Pauline foundation, our main focus was to make ourselves and the Pauline mission known through book displays, vocation work and Bible animation projects in different parishes, dioceses and learning institutions across the country. At the moment we thank God because our Pauline mission is growing steadily. We are receiving more and more souls who are interested in purchasing our materials both in our book centre and during book displays. We are still determined to improve and increase our stock for both books and religious articles so as to sufficiently satisfy the needs of everyone who enters our book centre. It is our prayer that our apostolate will continue to grow and bear more fruits so that the word of God may reach far and wide in Zimbabwe.
Paulines on the move for the Gospel in Africa and beyond
