STORY: BEATIFICATION CEREMONY

LOCATION: NYERI, KENYA

DATE: MAY 23, 2015
SOUND: NATURAL WITH ENGLISH & SWAHILI SPEECH
SOURCE:
MEAACT(MINISTRYOFEASTAFRICANAFFAIRS,COMMERCEAND
TOURISM)

DURATION: 2:44
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
SHOT LIST
1. VIEW OF CANOPIES/PEOPLE AT THE BEATIFICATION CEREMONY
2. ELDERLY WOMAN RAISING HANDS IN WORSHIP
3. PEOPLE SITTING AND LISTENING
4. VIEW OF PEOPLE MILLING AROUND AT VENUE
5. VIEW OF VIP PAVILION
6. CAMERA OPERATORS FILMING THE CEREMONY
7. CAMERA OPERATOR ON THE PHONE
8. VIEW OF VIP PAVILION
9. KENYAN FLAG
10. KENYAN PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA AND OTHER GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS STANDING
11. PRIESTS WITH UMBRELLAS PREPARING FOR HOLY COMMUNION
12. IMAGE OF SISTER IRENE STEFANI PRINTED ON AN UMBRELLA
13. PRIEST GIVING HOLY COMMUNION TO CATHOLIC FAITHFUL
14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUSTUS MATHENGE, PSYCHOLOGIST, SAYING:
A thing like this makes people come to know that theres a place called Nyeri,
and look how beautiful the place is? Were proud of it. This kind of thing coming
here and to bring the President here, and there are all these people from
outside the country, its beautiful.
15. MAN WEARING SHIRT IN KENYAN COLORS FOLLOWING THE PROCEEDINGS
16. PEOPLE SEATED, LISTENING TO SERMON
17. SOUNDBITE (English) MAKIKO MATOYA, DEVELOPMENT WORKER, SAYING:
The people who are in Japan, they just take their information from the media.
They have never seen how it is in Kenya indirectly. They just see the newspaper,
TV, and through the media to take their information. I think it is better for me
to tell them, just come to see how it is in Kenya and if they come they will
realise that Kenya is a good country for them.
18. VIEW OF PHOTO BOOTH
19. PHOTO PRINTER

20.
21.
22.
23.

JAMES KARERI, PHOTOGRAPHER, TAKING PHOTO OF A CLIENT

PHOTO PRINTER
ARTIFICIAL PLANTS AT BASE OF PHOTO BOOTH
SOUNDBITE (Swahili) JAMES KARERI, PHOTOGRAPHER, SAYING:
Weve always heard about the Sister and her good deeds, thats why we are
here so that we can also learn to live like she did, so that we can help each
other.
24. VIEW OF TRADER SELLING T-SHIRTS NEXT TO A SCHOOL BUS
25. TRADER SELLING T-SHIRTS BEARING THE IMAGE OF SISTER IRENE STEFANI
26. WATER BOTTLES ON SALE BEARING THE IMAGE OF SISTER STEFANI
27. VIEW OF MAIN ROAD IN NYERI
STORY
Thousands of Catholic faithful, clergy, government officials, residents and visitors
gathered in the Kenyan town of Nyeri today (May 23) to witness Africas first Catholic
beatification ceremony for Sister Irene Stefani, an Italian nun and missionary who
lived and died in Kenya.
Sister Stefani was known as Aurelia Jacoba Mercede until she joined the Consolata
Missionary Sisters and changed her name in 1911.
She arrived in Nyeri in 1915 and gained fame over the years for her generosity and
extraordinary empathy for the sick, wounded and aged. She died in 1930 at the age of
39, after contracting plague from infected patients that she insisted on treating.
Catholic authorities say that reports of her kindness, and a miracle attributed to her
intercession, moved Pope Francis in 2014, to approve preparations for her
beatification.
The event is a critical step towards sainthood for the woman known as Nyaatha,
which means person of mercy and compassion in the local Kikuyu language. She is
beloved in Nyeri and its environs, for her selfless service to wounded World War One
soldiers and ailing locals alike.
A thing like this makes people come to know that theres a place called Nyeri, and
look how beautiful the place is? Were proud of it. This kind of thing coming here and
to bring the President here, and there are all these people from outside the country,

its beautiful, said Justus Mathenge, a psychologist who travelled from Nairobi about 150 kilometers away - to attend the event.
Nyeris county government and Catholic Church representatives have put extensive
plans in place to not only honor Sister Nyaatha, but attract visitors to the area, which
boasts of several natural attractions like Mount Kenya - Africas second highest peak,
the Karuru Falls - Kenyas tallest, the hideouts of Mau Mau fighters, the Aberdare
mountain ranges and Treetops Hotel, where Princess Elizabeth was staying when she
became Queen of England.
The people who are in Japan, they just take their information from the media. They
have never seen how it is in Kenya indirectly. They just see the newspaper, TV, and
through the media to take their information. I think it is better for me to tell them,
just come to see how it is in Kenya and if they come they will realise that Kenya is a
good country for them, said Makiko Matoya, a Japanese development worker who
has been living in Nyeri for the last two years, and took time off to attend the
historical event.
Throngs of entrepreneurs and traders flocked to the grounds of Nyeris Dedan
Kimathi University, where the event was held, hoping to cash in on the large numbers
of faithful, while being fully aware of the events significance.
Weve always heard about the Sister and her good deeds, thats why we are here so
that we can also learn to live like she did, so that we can help each other, said James
Kareri, a photographer doing brisk business at his stall near the the events venue.
Local authorities - in conjunction with the Vatican - have planned three days of
ceremonies that will see Sister Irenes remains moved from the sarcophagus where
they were kept after exhumation in 1995, to their final resting place.