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Home / Awards / Servitor Pacis Award / 1999 THE SERVITOR PACIS AWARD RECIPIENTS 1999 - Giuseppe Argese Born 10 November 1932 in Martina Franca, Taranto, Italy, Br. Giuseppe Argese, IMC has been serving the people of Kenya with his fellow Consolata Missionaries for over 40 years. After his basic schooling in Italy, which was interrupted by World War II, he became a mason’s apprentice at the age of 15. Expressing a deep desire to help others, he came into contact with the Consolata Missionaries and took his vows on 1 November 1953. A dedicated and skilled worker, Br. Argese helped build many structures, such as the formation house for his Institute in Turin and a dam on the Pesio alla Certosa river. At the same time he sharpened his talents through a correspondence course with the Istituto Svizzero di Tecnica in Luino. Noticing his drive and generosity, his superiors determined that the impoverished people of Africa desperately needed his services. Br. Argese arrived in Kenya in 1957, and aided in the construction of the cathedral of Meru as well as churches in Maua and Tuuru in the mission of Amung’enti. He also trained many of the local masons and specialized workers. In 1959, he embarked on his most noteworthy activities - the planning and building of numerous waterworks. With tenacity and determination, he helped build aqueducts in Egoji, Murinya-Kiirua, Nkabone, Riiji, Mikinduri, Tigania, Isiolo, Nkubu, Nthambiro, Timau and Kathita-Gatunga. In the early 1960s, Br. Argese began work on the Tuuru Water Scheme, which aimed to provide water to poliomyelitic and abnormal children living in the Tuuru Home for Disabled Children and to the population of Nyambene. In operation for 27 years, the aqueduct of Nyambene now extends over 250 kilometers and provides over 8 million liters of water a day to about 250,000 people in northeastern Kenya. This first phase of the Tuuru Water Scheme completed, a second phase followed, bringing water to Mutuati and the third phase aims to take water towards Garissa, which lies at the edge of the desert. Nicknamed Mukini - which means “quiet man” - and also affectionately called “a silent bear,” Br. Argese has used his gifts to find and canalize small rivers and streams, which today bring water to people who had previously walked four days and waited in long lines to collect a mere four liters of water. There are now several emergency connections to the aqueducts and an emergency basin which ensure a continuous flow of water, even during the months of the dry season. Br. Argese has been concerned with the development of the human person, long before it became a popular phrase at the United Nations. Believing that man must be built before he can be a Christian, he has always thought that once water arrives, the quality of life improves. There are now public drinking fountains and more than 1,000 private connections to the aqueduct in Tuuru, and the health and hygiene of the people and livestock in the area are much improved. The Tuuru Water Scheme and other activities are flourishing and have led to the expanded growth of fruits, vegetables, and even vineyards. The local authorities have justly honored him for these works. For his hard work and charity in bringing life-giving water to the people of Kenya in the name of Christ, the Path to Peace Foundation is pleased to bestow upon Br. Giuseppe Argese the title of “Servitor Pacis” - Servant of Peace.
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