Would you share a bit about your background: family, childhood, early education etc.?
Bro. Baraka: I was born on April 8, 1998, in Ukerewe, Tanzania. I am the firstborn among seven siblings: two girls and five boys. I completed my primary education in Tanzania from 2004 to 2011 and my secondary education from 2012 to 2018.
Where did your Assumptionist roots begin? Did anyone in particular have a significant impact on your life?
I had my first contact with the Assumptionists in 2014 when the Assumptionists came to the Bunda diocese to run Murutunguru Parish, my home parish. I was impressed by the simplicity and the sense of welcoming of the first Assumptionists I met, especially Frs. Bahati Antigon, Jacques Mumbere, and Landry Kambere.
Would you share some of your later education and formation memories?
After completing my secondary education in 2018, I started formation in the religious life in the congregation. I did my postulancy in Nairobi, Kenya from 2018 to 2019 when I went to Arusha, Tanzania for my novitiate. On June 3, 2020 I made my first vows in the congregation and was sent to the Spiritan Missionary Seminary to study philosophy until May 3, 2023. The same year I was sent to St. Monica’s Parish in Nairobi for pastoral experiences until July, 2024.
How did your pastoral experience nourish your growth in living out your Assumptionist vocation?
During the pastoral year, I served as a parish chaplain for the youth, choir, altar servers and the needy. This experience helped me in my interactions with different age groups and people with many different views of life and church. That time not only challenged my life as a Christian but also helped me understand people regardless of our “outward life” and positions we hold in the church. In short, the year was successful for me and helped me see how important humility is in ministry. I have happy memories of that year and so far, it has been my favorite year of formation.
How has your experience helped you live out your Assumptionist charism?
The charism of the Augustianians of the Assumption calls us to inner transformation as we reach out to others. As I grow in spiritual, doctrinal, human, and pastoral formation, personal appropriation is important to me as I reach out to others. As an agent of hope and peace working for the coming of God, I am called to spread the kingdom of God in my heart so I can share it with the people who surround me. Simplicity, humility, and frankness are my favorite virtues in my relationships and my tasks. In my view as an Assumptionist, working in education, parish ministry and formation will help me serve the church through the congregation.
What hobbies or other interests do you have?
My hobbies are swimming, reading story books and watching comedies.
