He is a force of nature, Father Antonio Bianchi, and he has made history in the missions of the Consolata Fathers in Kenya.
A few days ago he turned 100 years old, and we who met him a short while ago can assure you that not only is he still in the prime of his faculties, but that even though his lean, petite physique no longer supports him as it once did, he is able to recall stories and anecdotes of this country like few others.
A native of Verbania, a Piedmontese town on Lake Maggiore, he was ordained in 1946 at the Consolata missionary institute in Turin, being assigned to Portugal. There he began to cultivate a passion for the last and street kids in the suburbs, and his passion for soccer led him to found a soccer school that, after 75 years is still active and bears his name.
In 1954 he moved to Kenya and has not left Africa and his works of assistance to young people since. Father Bianchi, tireless, has seen the capital's suburbs grow out of all proportion and the very poor slum communities form. Sixty-eight years of humanity in Kenya is quite a record, as is having been active until practically the day before yesterday, despite a few aches and pains from which he always recovered surprisingly quickly.
"Father Bianchi's dedication and energy were an example not only for those who came after him from Italy," says Father Gerardo Martinelli, another Consolata dean in Kenya, "but also for generations of Kenyan churchmen.
Best wishes from Malindikenya.net, centenarian Fr. It is a pleasure to meet you and we will be back soon to greet you and have you tell us about a life full of good, optimism and hope.